The Tibetan New Year, also known as Losar, is the most important festival in the Tibetan calendar. It often falls on the same day as the Chinese New Year, sometimes with one day or occasionally with one lunar month difference. This year it falls on 22nd of Feb, (Weds). As Li Ningjing tells us, the celebration of the Losa in Tibet is now in full swing.
Tibetan New Year, or Losar is celebrated over a period of 2 weeks. According to the Tibetan calendar, it goes from the first day of the first month to the fifteenth day. Activities are scheduled on a daily basis, but the highlight celebrations are for the first three days.
Dekyi from Lasha tells us that normally Tibetan families do not go out on New Year's Day. So, on New Year's Day, her family stays at home praying and celebrating amongst themselves.
"On New Years Eve, we set out our offerings in front of the family shrine. The offerings are intended to bring good harvest and good fortune. So for the New Year's day, the first thing we did after we got up and washed, was to pray before the shrine for good fortune in the new year. After that, the whole family sat down in a circle and exchanged good wishes and blessings. Then we ate torma, a kind of food that's considered to be auspicious and able to bring blessings."
Dekyi says, preparations for the New Year celebrations began several days in advance.
"We started celebrating the coming of the New Year two to three days before it actually comes. We eat a kind of Porridge soup called Gudu. After that, every family performs a kind of ceremony on the New Years Eve to drive away bad demons, bad deities and bad luck in preparation for the coming of the New Year."
