Introduction
A
major festival of the Tibetan Buddhists is the Losar Festival or Monpa Festival. Losar is, itself a
compounded form of two root words in Tibetan language; where LO means 'New'
and SAR means 'Year'. It is celebrated to avert any negativity of the Old
Year and to welcome the arrival of a New Year.
Losar Festival : A Brief Background
The beginning of celebration of Buddhist Losar Festival can be traced back to Pre-Buddhist
Tibet when People practiced 'Bon' religion and in spiritual ceremonies every
winter, large amount of incense was offered to appease the deities and
protectors. Ultimately, this religious festival evolved into an annual
Buddhist festival during the reign of Pude Gungyal, the ninth King of Tibet.
Also said that in ancient times, Ladakh experienced turbulent periods due
to starvation, diseases, drought and other problems. People assumed that the
King Jamiang Namgyal (1555- 1610) had a 'donkey toe' and could not rule.
Fortune favoured the Lamas. They decided to take over and the King was thus
brutally killed. The Lamas unveiled it as the victory of good over evil and
the beginning of a new era.
Losar Festival : Customs
On the occasion of festival of Losar or Monpa Losar, it's traditional to wear new clothes. People
greet each other with the customary New-Year greeting of "tashi delek"
(good luck) and visit monasteries, stupas, shrines to make offerings and
donations in form of food and other gifts to the monks and nuns there.
This is a time when one gets to enjoy ghutuk (soups made from different
kinds of vegetables and even wine) the whole night.
Spring-cleaning, whitewashing of homes, hoisting of fresh prayer flags,
removal of auspicious strings on the door called tharchoks - preparations
for losar begin almost a month before the festival begins.
As a matter of fun, ingredients such as chilies, salt, wool, rice and even
coal are hidden in one's dough balls and given out. If a person find
chilies, he/she is considered talkative. If a person finds coal, he/she is
regarded to have a 'black heart'. Finding wood, coal, rice etc are
considered as a 'good sign'. These are taken lightheartedly.
Losar Festival
: Rituals and Traditions
Though the Tibetan calendar has twelve lunar months and Losar begins on the
first day of the first month, preparations in the monasteries begin earlier
on the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth month, a day before the Tibetan New
Year's Eve. Hectic preparations are made on the last day for the New Year
with the finest decorations called 'Lama losar'.
Various kinds of rituals are organized to avert negativity of the Old in
the New Year and to ward off all forms of evils.
Finally, on the dawn of New Year, the Dalai Lama leads the abbots of three
great monasteries, lamas, monks join the ceremony and offering prayers. The
monks of Namgyal Monastery recite the invocation of Palden Lhamo. On
completion all assemble in the hall called Excellence of Samsara and
Nirvana.
To wish the His Holiness Dalai Lama good luck for the coming year,
consecrated long-life pills (tse-ril) are offered by the representatives of
the three great monasteries and Tantric Colleges, etc. Then entertainers
(garma) perform a dance of good wishes, followed by a debate about Buddhism
by two senior monks, where a whole spectrum of Buddhist teaching is briefly
reviewed. Requests are made to His Holiness and holders of the Samara
doctrine to serve for life-long through their enlightened activities. It is
concluded with a ceremonial farewell to His Holiness.
Second day is reserved for a secular gathering in the hall of Excellence of
Samsara and Nirvana. His Holiness exchanges greetings with monastic, lay and
foreign dignitaries.
On the third day, people and monks celebrate in all colours and enjoy New
Year. Earlier, before the Chinese came in Tibet, Losar was celebrated for
fifteen days or more. In India now, it has been minimized to two days.
Read More
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Important Indian Festivals |
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