Throwing offerings of tsampa flour during Losar
(Photo by Alison Wright from The Spirit of Tibet)

Tibetan New Year, February 7, 2008: Year of the Earth Rat

The Tibetan New Year Festival, Losar, can be traced back to the time before the introduction of Buddhism in the sixth century C.E. when the Bön religion was predominant.

Every winter, a spiritual ritual was performed in which incense was offered to calm the spirits, deities and protectors of the land. It was said to have been started when an old woman introduced the measuring of time based on the different phases of the moon.

This later evolved into an annual Buddhist festival. Since the 13th century, Losar has traditionally fallen on the first day of the first month of the calendar year, which is lunar-based—unlike our solar western calendar.

However, before the coming of a new year can be celebrated, unfinished business and unhappy memories must be dealt with. And so, on the 29th day of the last month in the old year, there is a festival called Gutor, in which everyone whitewashes and cleans their houses. The last day of the old year is spent preparing for the new year. People go to monasteries to make offerings, and to participate in the ceremonies conducted during the day. Many rituals take place that are designed to chase away any evil spirits. One of these is a play in which the lamas perform masked dances to symbolize the triumph of good over evil. New Year's Eve is Lu Yugpa, an opportunity to banish evil spirits from the old year and clear the way for starting the new year right.

In modern times the preparations for Losar consist of collecting fresh roasted barley flour for phyemar (this symbolizes good wishes); lophud, a young wheat sprout that is the symbol of the birth of a new year; chang, a mild barley beer; sweet rice; tea; butter; fried biscuits; sweets; fruits and butter lamps.

A complete collection of these seasonal foods is always placed on the family's Buddhist altar as an offering. The entire neighborhood is cleaned and houses are freshly painted. New clothing is sewn and new curtains are put over the doors and windows. There is a saying in Tibet, "Losar is Lekar," meaning the new year is new work!

On the first day, at sunrise, the wife runs to collect the year's first bucket of water. She burns incense at the well or river, ties a white scarf around the tap or nearby tree and gives a food offering of the first portion of the special foods for the celebration to appease the nagas (subterranean serpents and spirits).

Hanging prayer flags at the lingkhor during Losar
(Photo by Alison Wright)

Ceremonial dancers

A special breakfast is prepared, everyone wears new clothes for the year, and a special Buddhist practice is performed at the family altar. When the formal family ceremony is over, the household members run to their neighbors' houses shouting "Tashe Delek!"—literally, "Good Fortune!" As on Christmas morning in the west, on the morning of Losar the children love to fill their pockets with sweets and show off their new outfits.

According to Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal, "Each new year is an echo of the changing cycles and Losar reminds us of the true nature of impermanence. Everything that is born is bound to die. The old year is gone and will never exist again. The new year gives us the opportunity to come together and celebrate; to notice and appreciate each moment, in the moment, and to realize the blessings of the teachings."