New Year Practice

Similar to Chinese Lunar Calendar, Tibetan Lunar Calendar is divided into 12 lunar months too. Generally, the celebration of Losar begins on the day before Losar’s eve, which is the 29th day of the 12th month in Tibetan Lunar Calendar. On that day, monasteries would organize a special kind of ritual in preparation for the Losar celebration. Besides that, a special kind of food made by 9 different ingredients will be made on the day.
Besides that, there is an activity that quite similar to the meaning of Christmas stocking to be held here. People would place various ingredients like chilies, salt, wool, rice and coal in dough balls. All these dough balls will then be handed out to their friends and relatives. The ingredients within the dough balls would have their own significant meanings. For example, white-colored ingredients like rice and salt hidden in the dough brings a good sign; chilies stand for talkative; coal means “black heart”.
Housewife will wake up early on the first day of Tibetan New Year. The first thing that she needs to do is to cook a pot of barley wine for the family and then sit beside the window to wait for sunrise. When the first ray of sunshine of the first New Year day touches the earth, she will then rush to a nearby river or well to fetch the year’s first bucket of water. The first bucket of water is believed to the most sacred and clearest water of the year. Moreover, the locals believe that the family who manage to fetch the first bucket of water from the river will be blessed with good fortune in the New Year.
According to Tibetan culture, the second day of Losar Festival is for people to visit friends and relatives. When night falls, people will burn torches in their homes to drive away evil spirits. On the third day of Losar Festival, Tibetans will visit local monasteries and make offerings to pray for good fortune.