INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN
INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN
The Lunar Losar Festival
by Michelle Welsch
A Tibetan Buddhist monk blows a conch shell. Photo: Becky Carruthers.
If you do find yourself lucky enough to be in Tibet for the New Year, you’ll find
an enthusiastically celebrated holiday. Losar has become a kind of carnival for
communities: parades, sporting competitions, horse races, and revelry.
BRIEF ITINERARY
Day 01: Arrival in Kathmandu | Day 02: City Tour & preparation for the trek | Day 03: Lukla Flight / Phakding | Day 04: Namche Bazaar
Day 05: Namche Bazaar – Acclimatization Day | Day 06: Debuche | Day 07: Dingboche | Day 08: Dingboche Acclimatization Day
Day 09: Lobuche | Day 10: Gorakshep | Day 11: Pheriche | Day 12: Namche Bazaar | Day 13: Lukla | Day 14: Kathmandu
Day 15: Departure
For more detail, please contact:
Royal Mountain Travel - Nepal
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The monks’ faces show traces of
exhaustion. They have spent days
preparing for Losar, sitting for hours
molding torma, intricate statues made
of butter and wax. I stare at the large
figure of Mahakala, one of the Buddhist
deities sculpted out of the same waxy
clay and painted black. At least ten men
struggle to hoist the statue and throw it
into the raging bonfire in the courtyard
outside. I watch the creature’s eyes
melt and disappear into flames.
I ask some of the monks what the black
Mahakala statue represents, and am
told, something to do with letting go
of the bad energy and mistakes of the
past year, but their answers are short.
Older lamas are busy with chores and
duties, racing from temple to kitchen
to bonfire. Teenage monks serve butter
tea to the waiting devotees. The drink
is oily, but in the cold winter months,
it’s a welcome beverage to stay warm,
Khapse is eaten along with it, deep-
fried pastries synonymous with festive
occasions.
Losar, the Tibetan word for New
Year, falls on dates dictated by the
lunar calendar. The several-day-long
celebration often corresponds to the
Chinese New Year and tends to occur
in February or March. Tibetan Buddhist
monasteries throughout Asia conduct
rituals for as long as two weeks, with
monks donning intricate costumes,
dancing rehearsed routines, and
spending hours in temples reading
books of Tibetan prayer. During this
time, Tibetan Buddhist communities
will visit monasteries and prepare
their homes for the year to come.
Delicious food, song, friends, and
cultural costumes are incorporated
into daily life. Prayer flags are strung
from rooftops, and silk prayer scarves,
called khata, are offered in blessing.
Many Losar ceremonies and traditions
are believed to remove obstacles
and ease challenges before the New
Year begins. According to the Tibetan
calendar, each year is named according
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www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel
www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel
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