Tibetan New Year
(Losar) Celebration in ChaZhu Valley
on February 22, 2007
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On February 22, 2007, the ChaZhu Valley community celebrated
Tibetan New Year (LOSAR) in the front of the ChaZhu Valley
Clinic.
The word Losar is a Tibetan word for New Year. 'LO' means
year and 'SAR' means new.
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All monks, men, women and children participated this year's
Losar Celebration.
In the image, Tibetan monks are saying prayers for the
Losar Celebration.
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On this special occasion, rural Tibetans say their prayers
all day long. In this image, people are doing Fire-Puja
and throw wind-horse flyers in the air to make good wishes
in the New Year.
The Wind Horse is a mythical Tibetan creature from pre-Buddhist
times, which combines the speed of the wind and the strength
of the horse to carry prayers from Earth to the heavens.
Horses are a traditional symbol among the nomads of Tibet.
Wind horses are often found on Tibetan prayer flag, to
spread their positive energy over the world via the wind.
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About 4000 - 5000 rural Tibetan people gathered for
this special occasion, the Tibetan Losar.
The celebration of Losar can be traced back to the
pre-Buddhist period in Tibet. During the period when
Tibetans practiced the Bon religion, every winter a
spiritual ceremony was held, in which people offered
large quantities of incense to appease the local spirits,
deities and protectors. This religious festival later
evolved into an annual Buddhist festival which is believed
to have originated during the reign of Pude Gungyal,
the ninth King of Tibet.
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The festival is said to have begun when an old woman named
Belma introduced the measurement of time based on the phases
of the moon. This festival took place during the flowering
of the apricot trees of the Lhokha Yarla Shampo region in
autumn, and it may have been the first celebration of what
has become the traditional farmers' festival. It was during
this period that the arts of cultivation, irrigation, refining
iron from ore and building bridges were first introduced
in Tibet. The ceremonies which were instituted to celebrate
these new capabilities can be recognized as precursors of
the Losar festival. Later when the rudiments of the science
of astrology, based on the five elements, were introduced
in Tibet, this farmer's festival became what we now call
the Losar or New Year's festival.
Spiritual monk is greeting all the performers for their
great performance.
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The children of the ChaZhu Valley
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| Performers are wearing traditional Tibetan dresses.
They praticed for the past few months, today it is
a showcase where they can perform in front of the
crowd. |
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A lot of young children are dancing in front of the
ChaZhu Valley Clinic to the Tibetan Dancing Music. |
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In front of the ChaZhu Valley Clinic, they also
exhibited their much-loved sport, the archery.
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When Dorjee and Dolkar went to Tibet last
year, they brought an American bow that was requested
by the villagers. This gentlemen is proudly using the
American bow. |
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