It’s Time to Celebrate Losar!
Happy New Year, Everyone!
It’s almost time for Losar, which is the Tibetan New Year! Losar is celebrated on a number of consecutive days (Kelly). The two days before the New Year are called Gutor, and these are generally the days for preparing for the New Year (Kelly). This includes cleaning the house and cooking dishes on Day 1 and having religious ceremonies and going to the monastery on Day 2. New Year’s Day is on Day 3, and people get up early to celebrate (Kelly). This includes wearing new clothes and worshipping the gods by giving offerings to the shrines in houses (Kelly). We also go to the monastery to make offerings as well (Kelly).
I’m in Lhasa right now, on the first leg of my pilgrimage. I’ve just arrived here a couple days ago, and I’ve already visited a temple here. I visited the Jokhang Temple here, which is a really popular place for Tibetan pilgrims to come to.
Joking Temple, Lhasa
The main hall of the temple is over 1300 years old and there is a statue (called the Jowo) of Sakyamuni from when he was 12 years old (“Lhasa Jokhang Temple”). Sakyamuni had said when he was living that he did not agree with likenesses being created of him, and there were three likenesses of him that were ever created of him that he designed (“Lhasa Jokhang Temple”). This is one of the three. The other two were one of him when he was eight years old, and the other when he was an adult (“Lhasa Jokhang Temple”). Visiting the temple was an amazing experience and I hope to continue finding new things to experience as I continue on my pilgrimage!
Lhasa, being the capital city of Tibet, is always busy and bustling with people. At this time of year, however, it is extremely busy! Tomorrow night will be New Year’s Eve and I know that many people (including myself) will be visiting the Jokhang Temple to visit the Jowo, in preparation for the new year. This is because many Tibetans believe that what we do during Losar will affect our entire new year. On my way to the temple, I saw individuals who prostrated themselves every step or every two steps to earn spiritual merit. Being in Lhasa surrounded by all the celebrations reminds me of my New Years from when I was younger.
I remember a celebration of the New Year from when I was a young child. I was around 10 years old at the time, but I still remember distinctly the fun times that my parents always made the New Years. Everything was always festive and full of cheer.
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The sun shone brightly out of our window. There was barely a cloud in the blue sky. Outside, there were the faint sounds of birds and our villages’ inhabitants getting ready for the day. My mother had woken me up early this morning, telling me to get ready. She’d already been up for several hours today, as had many of the other housewives of the village (“Losar”). When sunrise first started this morning, she’d gone to a nearby river to fill a bucket with the first bucket of the year, which is meant to be the most sacred of the New Year (“Losar”).
I was still sleepy but I was so excited for the day to come! I remembered the excitement from the previous years. New Years was always a very festive occasion — my favourite out of all the holidays in the year. Though I was still quite young, the the firecrackers and the festivities in the streets still rang in my head from the years before.
To get ready for the special day, I took a bath and put on my new clothes. I had gotten them just for the New Year! It was a new red blouse and a pair of blue pants. They weren’t terribly fancy — we were never rich — but it was wonderful all the same. The last two days had built up lots of anticipation in me. Two days ago, I’d seen my parents cleaning our house from top to bottom. I helped my father clean the chimney while my mother cleaned the kitchen! After this, we made different dishes for the celebration, including a soup that I helped stir! The next day after that (which was yesterday), I went with my parents to the monastery and we gave offerings to the monks. Then we saw some other people set off fireworks in the streets! They crackled and popped, lighting up the sky with bright colours. I wasn’t allowed to help unfortunately, because my parents thought that I was too young. I did however, really enjoy watching. The others told me that the fireworks were to help to keep evil spirits away, which is important especially for New Year’s (“Losar”). After this, we went home and ate lots of food that we’d prepared in advance. My parents drank some chang, which is an alcohollic drink that many Tibetans drink during celebrations such as New Years (“Losar”). Everything was delicious and we all went to bed shortly after that, so that we could be up early the next day.
Today’s finally the first day of the New Year. I’ve been mainly going around the house, helping my mother with whatever she’s been doing. She’s been busy all day! Right now, I’m helping my mother make torma, which is a type of dough made of different fillings, including chilli, salt, or coal (“Losar”)! There’s a funny tradition that goes along with the torma and why we fill it with these fillings. Basically, the filling that you find in the torma says a little about your character — which is mostly jokingly (“Losar”)! For example, if you find something that’s white-coloured in the torma such as rice or salt, it’s supposed to be a sign of a positive year (“Losar”). If you find chilli, it means that you like to talk a lot (“Losar”)! I found that in my dough ball today. Haha, I would say that’s a pretty accurate assumption of me. If you find a piece of coal, it means that you have a black heart, which is not good (“Losar”). No one in our family found one of these today. The torma aren’t meant to be eaten (“Losar”). Later today, we’re getting rid of them by putting them with a looe, which is a doll of a little person, along with an oil lamp at a crossroads of three roads (“Losar”). Since my father’s in the best physical shape, he’s the one who will be putting it there and not looking back until he comes back to our house, as tradition states (“Losar”).
She’s calling me right now to put on my jacket so that we can go outside and head to the monastery. We will be going to make offerings and raise prayer flags (O’Brien).
Many people are also putting herbs around and they smell really nice all around the village. Some other religious aspects of this celebration is many households in our village ask the monastic community (such as the bhikkhus and the bhikkhunis) to chant from religious texts for good luck to their families. I know the house next to ours has asked some of the nuns to recite some of the texts. I saw them earlier today! There is also chanting at the monasteries, where bhikhhus pray for the health of everyone not just in the village — but all living creatures.
Afterwards, we’re going to visit some of our friends and family in the village to wish them all a Happy New Year, and Tashi Dalek (which means “auspicious greetings”) (O’Brien). I’m excited to see my cousins and friends.
Today’s going to be a great day and I can’t wait for the rest of it to come!
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Wow, that was a long time ago. I still remember it like it was yesterday! New Year’s celebrations was always one of my fondest memories.
I should go soon as I am meeting up later with a woman that I met in the hotel I am staying at. She is also from a small village and travelling on a pilgrimage. This is her second trip to Lhasa, and she said that she might be able to show me around the city a little bit. We are going to be having dinner later tonight for the New Year’s celebrations. Perhaps then we will talk a little more about where we come from and where we plan on going!
I miss my husband and friends at home very much already. New Year’s is a time for family and this year I won’t be with them, but I know that the people I am meeting along the way have also been very generous and helpful. I hope everyone is happy and healthy back home. I will see them soon after I finish my journey. I am learning so much already!
I will keep you all updated!
Tashi
Works Cited
Kelly. “Tibetan New Year / Losar.” China Highlights. China Highlights, 15 Mar. 2015. Web. 25 Mar. 2015.
“Lhasa Jokhang Temple.” Lhasa Jokhang Temple, Tibet, China. TravelChinaGuide.com, n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2015.
“Losar.” Tibet Homestay. Tibet Homestay, n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2015.
O’Brien, Barbara. “Losar: Tibetan New Year.” About Religion. About.com, n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2015.
(Sources also include the readings Prof. Garrett posted on Blackboard)
