The word losar is a Tibetan word which means New Year. The word is composed of two characters: lo and sar. Lo means ‘year’ and sar means ‘new’.
Celebration of Losar, Tibetan New Year, at the Tsurphu Monastery.
The celebration of Losar can be traced back to the Tibetan pre-Buddhist period (127 BC – 629 AD). At that time Tibetans were followers of the Bon religion, and held a spiritual ceremony every winter. During the ceremonies, people burnt a large quantity of incense to appease local spirits, deities, and protectors. Later this religious festival developed into an annual Buddhist festival.