Losar

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Losar (Tibetan: Template:Bo-textonly, Wylie: lo-sarTemplate:Main other; "new year"[1]) also known as Tibetan New Year, is a festival in Tibetan Buddhism.[2] The holiday is celebrated on various dates depending on location tradition (Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Ladakh) [3][4] The holiday is a new year's festival, celebrated on the first day of the lunisolar Tibetan calendar, which corresponds to a date in February or March in the Gregorian calendar.[1] In 2025, the new year commenced on February 28 and celebrations will run until March 2. It also commenced the Year of the Female Wood Snake.[5]

The variation of the festival in Nepal is called Sonam Lhosar and is observed about eight weeks earlier than the Tibetan Losar.[6]

History

File:Bundesarchiv Bild 135-S-16-20-16, Tibetexpedition, Neujahrsfest Lhasa.jpg
Losar celebration in Lhasa, 1938

Losar predates the arrival of Buddhism in Tibet and has its roots in a winter incense-burning custom of the Bon religion. Tibetan new year is counted by the current year added to 127 BCE the year of the founding of the Yarlung dynasty. During the reign of the ninth Tibetan king, Pude Gungyal (317-398), it is said that this custom merged with a harvest festival to form the annual Losar festival.[1]

The 14th Dalai Lama (1998: p. 233) frames the importance of consulting the Nechung Oracle for Losar: Template:Quotation

Tenzin Wangyal (2002: p.xvii) frames his experience of Tibetan cultural practice of Losar in relation to elemental celebrations and offerings to Nāga (Tibetan: Klu): Template:QuotationLosar is celebrated in the city of Dharamsala in India[7] and in other Tibetan Buddhist communities.

Practice

File:Monk Dancing at the Tibetan Losar (New Year).jpg
A Tibetan monk performance during Losar at Domthok Monastery in the Kham region

Losar is celebrated for 15 days, with the main celebrations on the first three days. On the first day of Losar, a beverage called changkol is made from chhaang (a Tibetan-Nepali equivalent of beer). The second day of Losar is known as King's Losar (gyalpo losar). Losar is traditionally preceded by the five-day practice of Vajrakilaya. Because the Uyghurs adopted the Chinese calendar, and the Mongols and Tibetans adopted the Uyghur calendar,[8] Losar occurs near or on the same day as the Chinese New Year and the Mongolian New Year, but the traditions of Losar are unique to Tibet, and predate both Indian and Chinese influences.

As well as that, the Sherpas are associated with Losar and enjoy Losar in the high altitudes of the Nepal Himalayan Range. Prior to the Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1950, Losar began with a morning ritual ceremony at Namgyal Monastery, led by the Dalai Lama and other high-ranking lamas, with government officials participating, to honor the Dharmapala (dharma-protector) Palden Lhamo.[9] After the Dalai Lama was exiled, many monasteries were destroyed and monks imprisoned. Since that time, Tibetan Buddhist practice in Tibet has been difficult to observe publicly.

Losar forms part of the culture of Ladakh for Buddhists residing in that region.[10]

In Tibet, various customs are associated with the holiday:

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Losar celebrated on the first day of the lunisolar Tibetan calendar in Bhutan is called Dawa Dangpa Losar.[11] The losar customs in Bhutan are similar to, but distinct from, customs in neighboring Tibet.[12] Modern celebration of the holiday began in Bhutan in 1637, when Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal commemorated the completion of the Punakha Dzong with an inaugural ceremony, in which "Bhutanese came from all over the country to bring offerings of produce from their various regions, a tradition that is still reflected in the wide variety of foods consumed during the ritual Losar meals."[12] Traditional foods consumed on the occasion include sugarcane and green bananas, which are considered auspicious.[12] In Bhutan, picnicking, dancing, singing, dart-playing, archery (see archery in Bhutan), and the giving of offerings are all traditions.[12]

The Dalai Lama blesses many Buddhists in Dharamsala during Losar, from the young to the old, and they form a queue[7] to manage the number of people who visit the Dalai Lama's temple to do this.

Dates

The Tibetan calendar is a lunisolar calendar. Losar is celebrated on the first through third days of the first lunar month.

Gregorian Year Year of Rabjung 60-year Cycle Tibetan Year Losar Date*** Gender, Element, and Animal
2008 rab byung 17 lo 22 2135 February 21 Male Earth Mouse/Rat**
2009 rab byung 17 lo 23 2136 February 10 Female Earth Ox[13]
2010 rab byung 17 lo 24 2137 March 1 Male Iron Tiger[14]
2011 rab byung 17 lo 25 2138 February 18 Female Iron Hare/Rabbit**[15]
2012 rab byung 17 lo 26 2139 February 8 Male Water Dragon
2013 rab byung 17 lo 27 2140 February 26 Female Water Snake
2014 rab byung 17 lo 28 2141 February 15 Male Wood Horse
2015 rab byung 17 lo 29 2142 March 6 Female Wood Sheep/Goat**
2016 rab byung 17 lo 30 2143 February 23[16] Male Fire Monkey
2017 rab byung 17 lo 31 2144 February 11 Female Fire Bird/Rooster
2018 rab byung 17 lo 32 2145 March 2 Male Earth Dog
2019 rab byung 17 lo 33 2146 February 20 Female Earth Pig/Boar**
2020 rab byung 17 lo 34 2147 February 9 Male Iron Mouse/Rat**
2021 rab byung 17 lo 35 2148 February 27 Female Earth Ox
2022 rab byung 17 lo 36 2149 February 17 Male Water Tiger
2023 rab byung 17 lo 37 2150 February 6 Female Water Hare
2024 rab byung 17 lo 38 2151 February 10 Male Wood Dragon
2025 rab byung 17 lo 39 2152 February 28 Female Wood Snake
* Note: Rabjung (Wylie: rab byung) is the name of the 60-year cycle of the Tibetan calendar that started in 1027 CE, and is currently in its 17th cycle.
** Note: These year names have more than one translation into English with different terms used by different groups.
*** Note: Losar is celebrated by some international communities at more or less the same time it is celebrated in Asia. For example, for a year when Losar starts on February 1 in Asia time zones, it may be celebrated by some in United States time zones on January 31. Losar celebrations are normally for three days.

See also

References

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  1. ↑ a b c William D. Crump, "Losar" in Encyclopedia of New Year's Holidays Worldwide (McFarland & Co.: 2008), pp. 237-38.
  2. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  3. ↑ Peter Glen Harle, Thinking with Things: Objects and Identity among Tibetans in the Twin Cities (Ph.D dissertation: Indiana University, 2003), p. 132: "In Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, India and other areas where Tibetan Buddhism is practiced, the dates for Losar are often calculated locally, and often vary from region.".
  4. ↑ William D. Crump, Encyclopedia of New Year's Holidays Worldwide (McFarland & Co.: 2008), pp. 237: ""Different traditions have observed Losar on different dates."
  5. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  6. ↑ Tibetan Borderlands: PIATS 2003: Proceedings of the International Association of Tibetan Studies, Oxford, 2003, p. 121: "Yet though their Lhochhar is observed about eight weeks earlier than the Tibetan Losar, the festival is clearly borrowed, and their practice of Buddhism comes increasingly in a Tibetan idiom."
  7. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  8. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  9. ↑ J. Gordon Melton, "Losar" in Religious Celebrations: An Encyclopedia of Holidays, Festivals, Solemn Observances, and Spiritual Commemorations, Vol. 1 (ABC-CLIO), 2011), pp. 530-31.
  10. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  11. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  12. ↑ a b c d James Mayer, Losar: Community Building and the Bhutanese New Year Template:Webarchive, Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Smithsonian Institution (February 15, 2013).
  13. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  14. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  15. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  16. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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