Buddhist monks at a monastery in the Indian Himalayas have won a Grammy award for their Tibetan chants.
The monks' CD, Sacred Tibetan Chant: The Monks of Sherab Ling Monastery, won best traditional world music album at the Grammys, which are to music what Oscars are to films.
The CD, released last year, features senior chanting masters Kalzang Yeshe, Norbu Gyaltsen, Tinley Gyurme and six other monks.
A spokesman for the Tibet government-in-exile said he was delighted at the news from Los Angeles.
"It is international recognition of the rich spiritual music of Tibet," spokesman Thupten Samphel told the AFP news agency.
The recording was made at the monastery and was aided by one of its centres in New Zealand.
LA ceremony
The CD contains sacred Tibetan chants, meditation prayers and other rituals observed at the beginning and end of the day at the Sherab Ling monastery.
Some of the sacred chants date back to the 7th Century, when they originated in monasteries and were brought to India by devotees.
Sherab Ling is the seat of Tai Situ Rinpoche, a renowned Buddhist monk of the Karma Kagyu sect.
He was responsible for the selection of the sect's spiritual leader, the 17th Karmapa, who fled Tibet three years ago.
The monastery is about 60 kilometres (37 miles) from Dharamsala, which has been the seat of the Tibetan government in exile for more than four decades.
The Dalai Lama and thousands of his followers fled Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against the Chinese.