Tibetan New Year, known as Losar is a very important festival for Tibetans which is held every year according to the Tibetan Lunar Calendar. The Tibetan New Year is always after the western new year and festivals and celebrations of all kinds have been held everywhere in Tibet since ancient times to the present time. Most ancient Tibetan festivals would celebrate in the end of cold weather, or before planting in spring and harvest in autumn, it was formed for a long time and gradually has become a kind of tradition habit.
Nowadays,
many people from country side go to work in the cities and many family members
in the city work in different places do not get time to gather but Tibetan new
Year is a really good time for family gathering together, almost everyone comes
back home during Losar and it becomes kinds of habits for the family members,
especially for paresnt to wait for the gathering of family members. Each
parents hope their children will be reunited with them at home during Losar,
housewives are waiting for their husbands come back to celebrate Losar. At
these really special days, Tibetans also have many significant customs.
According to historical records, Tibetans had
our own calendar, Hundreds of years later, the YongZhong Benism (the original
religion of Tibet) can accurately calculate the winter solstice return time and
take it as the beginning of the year, forming festivals and various rituals.
Many customs and lifestyles of modern Tibetans are also handed down from the
age of ancient Shangshong Kingdom. Shangshong Kingdom was before the king
Songtsan Gampo reunited Tibet and they practiced Bon religion by that time .
Each
year, at the beginning of the twelfth month of the Tibetan calendar, people
begin to prepare new year’s products. In the middle of twelve month of Tibetan
calendar, each household successively makes a kind of bun called, Kasai in
Tibetan. The ingredient of Kasai is white flour, sugar, milk, water, deeply
fried in the butter. There are many kinds of buns and every single family has
buns to offer during Tibetan New Year as a snack which is the symbol of auspiciousness
and good luck for the new coming year.
When
Losar is very close to arrive, each family must prepare a rectangular Chema, a
bucket is filled with Tsampa, fried wheat grain, ginseng fruit and
other food mixed with butter, which is painted with highland barley spike,
cockscomb and color flower board made of butter. Piles of Kasai which is made
of barley wheat flour, deep fried in the oil called Derkha in Tibetan to offer
the Buddha. And they also prepare a sheep’s head made of colored butter. All of
these have the meaning of celebrating for having a good harvest and wishing
good weather and prosperity for people and animals in the new year. Two days
before New Year’s Eve, people will clean the house clearly, put new card pads
and paste New Year’s pictures. On the gate, a symbol of eternal auspiciousness
is painted with lime powder to show that life is abundant and safe. On that
night, the whole family was busy until the night. This evening, each family
will have the dough noodles (Gutu). We specially make some dough with different
shapes, such as stone, pepper, charcoal, wool, etc. each shape has a saying. Example,
stone indicates hard heart, charcoal
indicates black heart, pepper indicates spicy mouth, and wool indicates soft temperature.
People who eat these different dough will spit out on the spot and see what
they get in their dough ball. When everyone in the family opens it, it gives
sense of humor and makes everyone laugh at the new year’s Eve. This is a kind
of special family gathering supper and entertainment activity. In the evening
of new year’s Eve, every family arranges all kinds of food in front of the
Buddha statue.
Whatever
kinds of festivals that Tibetans have, we always first think the God and so
called three jewels of Buddha. Whatever we eat or drink or wear, we always must
offer to the three jewels of Buddha before eating or drinking ourselves so
during the Tibetan New Year, it is very important to make offering to the
Buddha in the family’s chapel to pray for peace, happiness, prosperity, good
luck for all the sentient beings in the coming New Year.
At
the first day of the new year, the young crops, oil seeds, different kinds of
fruit, dried nuts, butter, cheese, milk, butter lamp, sheep’s heads, and five
grain cups are placed on the tea table in the shrine before eating yourselves. In
the very morning of the first day of the new year, the housewife carries back
the “auspicious water” from the river, she wakes up the whole family,
sits down according to the rank of generations, and the elders bring the five
grain dipper to each of them to grab a few grains first, throw them to the sky
to express the sacrifice to the gods, and then grab one point in turn and put
them into their mouths. Since then, the elders have wished “Tashi Delek”
(good luck) in order, and the descendants have congratulated “Tashi Delek Phunsum
Tsok” (good luck and prosperity ). After the ceremony, they ate the
ginseng fruit cooked in oatmeal and butter called Droma Dreisil which is the
symbol of the auspiciousness and good luck and then toast each other with
barley wine. On the first day of the new year, sweeping the floor is generally
forbidden and unlucky words are not allowed, visitors are not allowed to visit
each other. On the second day of the the new year, relatives and friends go to
visit each other to celebrate the new year and give each other Khada, Tibetan
scarf. Men, women, old and young are all dressed up for the festival. They meet
each other and say “Tashi Delek” and “happy festival”. This
activity lasts for fifteen days or even longer. During the Tibetan New Year, in
the square or open grassland, everyone is singing and dancing in a circle and
string dance. With the accompaniment of six stringed guitar, cymbals and other
musical instruments, people step on the ground hand-in-hand to celebrate.
Children set off firecrackers. The whole area is immersed in the festive
atmosphere of joy, celebration and peace. Singing Tibetan Opera in urban and
rural areas, dancing together In the pastoral areas, and singing all night
long. People also engaged in wrestling, throwing, tug of war, horse and Yak racing,
archery and other activities.
As soon as twelfth of the Tibetan lunar calendar comes, every household begins to make New Year’s reserves. In the first few days of the New Year, no matter in the farming or pastoral areas, men of all ages should shave their hair and woman’s hair should be washed and braided. For example, if a man has long hair at the New Year, and a woman does not wash and comb her hair at that day, it means that her family or their heart is full of grief and she has no intention of dressing up in this year. Washing, combing and dressing are good luck for the coming year. From 28th of twelfth Lunar month, Tibetans begin cleaning the inside and outside of the house, village walkways, corners, and even the drawers inside the house. When cleaning the ceiling and chimney, you need to choose a good day, such as 3, 5, 7, 9, etc. Then, the whole family kneaded a witch with Tsamba, and poured the leftover “Gu Tu” and bones into the bowl. Holding the witch and scraps of food, then running outside by a woman, a man lit a group of hay closely with the woman and read: “devil out, devil out!” Let the hay burn to ashes with the witch and the leftovers. At the same time, the children set off firecrackers to drive away demons and usher in the auspicious New Year. It is believed to drive all the evils spirit, bad luck and all the disease out of the family and bring all the good luck for the New Year.
In the
new year, you should wear the most beautiful clothes and the most precious
jewelry. Even those with poor financial conditions should prepare a new year’s
robe and one or two decorations. Of course, come from the nature of Tibetan
people’s love for beauty. However, it is said that wearing new clothes during
the new year means pleasing God.
On the first day of the Tibetan New Year, the host held “Chema” in both hands to bless the guests. The guests pinched some Tsampa and highland barley from “Chema” and threw them into the sky. Then they tasted some in their mouths and said: “Tashi Delek” (good luck). Then, the hostess held the copper pot with Khadha in it and toasted the guests frequently. During the festival, blessings are everywhere, toasts are everywhere, singing and dancing are everywhere, whether you know it or not about the traditional habit, you can’t pass without drinking three bowls.
From the
second day of the Tibetan New Year, people began to visit each other, start New
Year’s greetings and treat each other. During the Tibetan New Year, people say
“Losar Tashi Delek (happy New Year), etc. From the second day of the New
Year, the performance team of playing traditional Tibetan drama. Relatives and friends visit each other for
three to five days or till 15th of the first lunar month. The person
holding the blessing of auspicious words and read loudly outside the door, then
others hurriedly holds “Chema” and greets each other: “Tashi
Delek Phunsum Tsok!” (wish you good luck and happiness!) “A Ma Ba Dro
Gong Kam Sang!” Wish the hostess have a long and healthy life “.
On the third
day of the Tibetan New Year, the “ridge God” was worshipped. On this
day, people boarded the roofs of all houses, put brand-new prayer flags on the
roofs, then simmered and burned cypress branches, threw Tsamba into the air,
and the waving prayer flags and the rising “smoke” carried people’s
wishes to the sky.
On
the third day of the first month, Lhasa people come in groups to a mountain or
close to a river, where they planted Sutra flags and streamers to worship the
mountain gods and water gods. Then they are singing, drinking and laughing in
the leeward and sunny place.
The Tibetan New Year is the biggest festival of the year, to celebrate this festival as a good beginning of the new year. After the new year, people put into normal work and production. Celebrating the new year is the starting point and the beginning. People hope that this starting point and the beginning is so important for the New Year. Maybe this is a good wish for celebrating the Tibetan New Year in the best way. Celebrating the Tibetan New Year is no exception. During this period , train and plane tickets will reduce the price, it will provide a convenient condition for people who want to travel to Tibet. If you plan a Tibet tour during the Tibetan New Year, you will indeed experience a real life of Tibetans and extremely have the best and authentic Tibet Festival Tour experience.