Losar (; "new year"
[William D. Crump, "Losar" in ''Encyclopedia of New Year's Holidays Worldwide'' (McFarland & Co.: 2008), pp. 237-38.]) also known as Tibetan New Year, is a festival in
Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism is a form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet, Bhutan and Mongolia. It also has a sizable number of adherents in the areas surrounding the Himalayas, including the Indian regions of Ladakh, Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, D ...
. The holiday is celebrated on various dates depending on location tradition (
Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...
,
Bhutan
Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...
,
Nepal
Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...
,
Arunachal Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeast India. It was formed from the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and India declared it as a state on 20 February 1987. Itanagar is its capital and la ...
,
Sikkim
Sikkim ( ; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Koshi Province of Nepal in the west, and West Bengal in the ...
and
Ladakh
Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory and constitutes an eastern portion of the larger Kashmir region that has been the subject of a Kashmir#Kashmir dispute, dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947 and India an ...
) The holiday is a
new year's festival, celebrated on the first day of the
lunisolar
A lunisolar calendar is a calendar in many cultures, that combines monthly lunar cycles with the solar year. As with all calendars which divide the year into months, there is an additional requirement that the year have a whole number of months ...
Tibetan calendar
The Tibetan calendar (), or the Phukpa calendar, known as the ''Tibetan lunar calendar'', is a lunisolar calendar composed of either 12 or 13 lunar months, each beginning and ending with a new moon. A thirteenth month is added every two or three y ...
, which corresponds to a date in February or March in the
Gregorian calendar
The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It went into effect in October 1582 following the papal bull issued by Pope Gregory XIII, which introduced it as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian cale ...
.
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.
The variation of the festival in Nepal is called
Sonam ''Lhosar'' and is observed about eight weeks earlier than the Tibetan Losar.
History
Losar predates the arrival of Buddhism in Tibet and has its roots in a winter
incense
Incense is an aromatic biotic material that releases fragrant smoke when burnt. The term is used for either the material or the aroma. Incense is used for aesthetic reasons, religious worship, aromatherapy, meditation, and ceremonial reasons. It ...
-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
A harvest festival is an annual Festival, celebration that occurs around the time of the main harvest of a given region. Given the differences in climate and crops around the world, harvest festivals can be found at various times at different ...
to form the annual Losar festival.
The
14th Dalai Lama
The 14th Dalai Lama (born 6 July 1935; full spiritual name: Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, shortened as Tenzin Gyatso; ) is the incumbent Dalai Lama, the highest spiritual leader and head of Tibetan Buddhism. He served a ...
(1998: p. 233) frames the importance of consulting the
Nechung Oracle
The Nechung Oracle () is the personal oracle of the Dalai Lama since the second Dalai Lama. The Medium (spirituality), medium currently resides in Nechung, Nechung Monastery established by the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, Dharamsa ...
for Losar:
Tenzin Wangyal (2002: p.xvii) frames his experience of Tibetan cultural practice of Losar in relation to elemental celebrations and offerings to
Nāga
In various Asian religious traditions, the Nāgas () are a divine, or semi-divine, race of half-human, half-serpent beings that reside in the netherworld (Patala), and can occasionally take human or part-human form, or are so depicted in art. ...
(Tibetan: ''Klu''):
Losar is celebrated in the city of
Dharamsala in India
and in other Tibetan Buddhist communities.
Practice
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
Beer is an alcoholic beverage produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grain—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), rice, and oats are also used. The grain is mashed to convert starch in the ...
). 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
The Uyghurs,. alternatively spelled Uighurs, Uygurs or Uigurs, are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of Central Asia and East Asia. The Uyghurs are recognized as the ti ...
adopted the
Chinese calendar
The traditional Chinese calendar, dating back to the Han dynasty, is a lunisolar calendar that blends solar, lunar, and other cycles for social and agricultural purposes. While modern China primarily uses the Gregorian calendar for officia ...
, and the Mongols and Tibetans adopted the Uyghur calendar, Losar occurs near or on the same day as the
Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year, or the Spring Festival (see also #Names, § Names), is a festival that celebrates the beginning of a New Year, new year on the traditional lunisolar calendar, lunisolar Chinese calendar. It is one of the most important holi ...
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
The Dalai Lama (, ; ) is the head of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. The term is part of the full title "Holiness Knowing Everything Vajradhara Dalai Lama" (圣 识一切 瓦齐尔达喇 达赖 喇嘛) given by Altan Khan, the first Shu ...
and other high-ranking
lama
Lama () is a title bestowed to a realized practitioner of the Dharma in Tibetan Buddhism. Not all monks are lamas, while nuns and female practitioners can be recognized and entitled as lamas. The Tibetan word ''la-ma'' means "high mother", ...
s, with government officials participating, to honor the
Dharmapala
A ''dharmapāla'' is a type of wrathful god in Buddhism. The name means "''dharma'' protector" in Sanskrit, and the ''dharmapālas'' are also known as the Defenders of the Justice (Dharma), or the Guardians of the Law. There are two kinds of ...
(dharma-protector)
Palden Lhamo.
[ 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.] 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.
In Tibet, various customs are associated with the holiday:
Losar celebrated on the first day of the lunisolar Tibetan calendar in Bhutan is called ''Dawa Dangpa Losar.''
The losar customs in Bhutan are similar to, but distinct from, customs in neighboring Tibet.
[James Mayer]
Losar: Community Building and the Bhutanese New Year
, Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...
(February 15, 2013). Modern celebration of the holiday began in Bhutan in 1637, when
Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal commemorated the completion of the
Punakha Dzong
The Punakha Dzong, also known as Pungthang Dewa chhenbi Phodrang (meaning "the palace of great happiness or bliss"), is the administrative centre of Punakha District in Punakha, Bhutan. Constructed by Ngawang Namgyal, 1st Zhabdrung Rinpoche, in 16 ...
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."
Traditional foods consumed on the occasion include
sugarcane
Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...
and
green bananas, which are considered auspicious.
In Bhutan, picnicking, dancing, singing,
dart-playing, archery (see
archery in Bhutan), and the giving of offerings are all traditions.
The Dalai Lama blesses many Buddhists in Dharamsala during Losar, from the young to the old, and they form a
queue to manage the number of people who visit the Dalai Lama's temple to do this.
Dates
The
Tibetan calendar
The Tibetan calendar (), or the Phukpa calendar, known as the ''Tibetan lunar calendar'', is a lunisolar calendar composed of either 12 or 13 lunar months, each beginning and ending with a new moon. A thirteenth month is added every two or three y ...
is a
lunisolar calendar
A lunisolar calendar is a calendar in many cultures, that combines monthly lunar cycles with the solar year. As with all calendars which divide the year into months, there is an additional requirement that the year have a whole number of mont ...
. Losar is celebrated on the first through third days of the first
lunar month
In lunar calendars, a lunar month is the time between two successive syzygies of the same type: new moons or full moons. The precise definition varies, especially for the beginning of the month.
Variations
In Shona, Middle Eastern, and Euro ...
.
: * 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
*
Galdan Namchot
*
Losoong Festival
*
Lunar New Year
Lunar New Year is the beginning of a new year based on lunar calendars or, informally, lunisolar calendars. Lunar calendar years begin with a new moon and have a fixed number of lunar months, usually twelve, in contrast to lunisolar calendar ye ...
*
Nepali calendar
*
Tibetan astrology
Tibetan astrology () is a traditional discipline of the Tibetan peoples that has influence from both Chinese astrology and Hindu astrology. Tibetan astrology is one of the 'Ten Sciences' (Wylie: rig-pa'i gnas bcu; Sanskrit: daśavidyā) in the en ...
*
Tibetan calendar
The Tibetan calendar (), or the Phukpa calendar, known as the ''Tibetan lunar calendar'', is a lunisolar calendar composed of either 12 or 13 lunar months, each beginning and ending with a new moon. A thirteenth month is added every two or three y ...
*
Lunar New Year
Lunar New Year is the beginning of a new year based on lunar calendars or, informally, lunisolar calendars. Lunar calendar years begin with a new moon and have a fixed number of lunar months, usually twelve, in contrast to lunisolar calendar ye ...
: Celebrations of Lunar New Year in other parts of Asia
*
South and Southeast Asian solar New Year: Similar Asian Lunisolar New Year celebrations that occur in April:
*
Mayfung
References
{{Portal bar, Holidays
Culture of Nepal
National symbols of Sikkim
Culture of Bhutan
Symbols of Arunachal Pradesh
Public holidays in Nepal
Public holidays in Bhutan
New Year celebrations
Tibetan festivals
Religious festivals in Nepal
January observances
February observances
Tibetan Buddhist festivals
March observances
Observances set by the Tibetan calendar
Religious festivals in Tibet
Religious festivals in India
Festivals in Nepal
Festivals in Bhutan
Observances held on the new moon