2023 is an exciting year for those interested in Tibetan culture and festivals. With the year being filled with numerous festivals, there is something for everyone. Festivals in Tibet are a significant part of the Tibetan calendar, as well as a major part of local people’s lives.
Tibetans love festivals and celebrations. In the Tibetan Buddhist calendar, there are more than twenty major festivals throughout the year, as well as several small local festivals. The Tibetan calendar lags around six weeks behind the Western Gregorian calendar. The first and most significant festival of the year is Tibetan New Year, known locally as Losar.
The Tibetan calendar starts with the Tibetan New Year, which usually falls around the middle of February, though the date is never the same from one year to the next. Composed of twelve or thirteen lunar months, the thirteenth month is only added every third year.
This means that the New Year’s date changes constantly. The year count is also different, and the start of the modern Tibetan calendar was dated around 127 BC, the time of the first Tibetan king, Nyatri Tsenpo. This means that 2023 in Tibet is actually 2150 in the Tibetan Buddhist calendar.
Tibetan New Year Festival
Losar, or New Year, is the most celebrated festival in Tibet. Preparations for celebrations begin weeks before the New Year. The actual celebrations start on the first day of the Tibetan lunisolar calendar, which corresponds to February 5 in the Gregorian calendar used in the West. New Year celebrations are held across the Tibet Autonomous Region, as well as in Tibetan areas of other Chinese provinces. These areas are mainly in Qinghai, Sichuan, Yunnan, and Gansu.
The festival normally lasts around 15 days, with the final day being another prominent festival on the Tibetan calendar, the Butter Lantern Festival. The first day of the New Year is when people celebrate with their families. After a trip to their temple to pray and give thanks, they eat breakfast together and spend the day at home playing games.
On the third day, the family will change and replace all the prayer flags strewn over their house roof. They will set up new ones to spread the blessings of the prayer flags across the world on the wind. The rest of the two weeks are spent celebrating with family, friends, and relatives. This is until the final day, which celebrates Buddha’s miracle at Sravasti.
Saga Dawa Festival
The Saga Dawa Festival is held in the fourth month of the Tibetan lunar calendar. This festival celebrates the enlightenment of the historical Buddha and is marked by prayer ceremonies and elaborate offerings of food and flowers. On the 15th day of the month, people go to the nearest stupa and make offerings to the monks and nuns. This year it’s on June 4.
The festival commemorates the birth, enlightenment, and death of the historical Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, and is celebrated in a variety of ways. On the first day of the festival, devotees gather at sacred sites to perform rituals and make offerings of food and incense. Throughout the month, people visit monasteries to make offerings, recite prayers, and take part in religious activities.
The festival culminates in the Saga Dawa Duchen, a day of special significance. On this day, people are encouraged to be generous with their donations, and many people give away their possessions and money to the poor. Public readings of Buddhist scripture and chants are also held.
The Saga Dawa Festival is an important time of year for Tibetan Buddhists, as it serves as a reminder of the teachings of the Buddha and the importance of leading a moral and virtuous life. Every year, thousands of pilgrims from around the world travel to Tibet to take part in this important festival.
Shoton Festival
The Shoton Festival is held in the sixth month and is a religious festival with a strong tradition of Tibetan opera performances. People gather to watch the performances and make offerings to the monks and nuns. The performances are usually held outdoors in temple courtyards and feature a variety of traditional dances and music.
The Shoton Festival is celebrated annually in Tibet to mark the end of yak-butter sculpture-making. The event is filled with vibrant activities and rituals that showcase the unique culture and traditions of Tibet.
On the first day of the festival, monks from the Drepung Monastery perform a religious ceremony. They chant sutras and offer prayers for the well-being of the people. After the ceremony, the monks proceed to the Norbulingka Palace, where they display colorful banners and perform a traditional dance to celebrate the end of the yak-butter sculpture-making.
The second day of the festival is marked by a folk dance competition. People from all around the region gather in the Norbulingka Palace and show off their skills in various traditional dances.
The third day of the festival is dedicated to the unveiling of the giant yak-butter sculptures. These sculptures are made of yak butter and have intricate designs that depict religious figures and stories. On this day, the people of Tibet offer prayers and make offerings to the sculptures, hoping for a prosperous year ahead.
The fourth day of the festival is the day of the Yak Race. Thousands of people gather around the palace to watch the spectacle of the race. People from all walks of life compete in this race, and the winner is awarded a prize.
The Shoton Festival is a unique and vibrant event that showcases the unique culture and traditions of Tibet. It is an event that should not be missed.
Samye Cham Dance Festival
Famous for the amazing dances and performances of the monks in Tibet, the Cham Dance festival held at Samye Monastery in Lhoka Prefecture (Shannan) is one of the most celebrated festivals in the Tibetan calendar. The oldest monastery in Tibet, constructed during the reign of the Tibetan king, Songtsen Gampo, the monastery hosts the Cham dance, which is performed by monks for local lay people.
The dance consists of a variety of different performances, all with one similar strand running through them. This is the use of colorful and extravagant costumes and huge colorful masks. The masks are meant to drive fear into the demons of the plateau. It is believed that the older the mask is, the more powerful its effect is against demons.
In 2023 the Cham Dance Festival at Samye Monastery falls on July 21 in the Gregorian calendar. This is the 4th day of the 6th month in the Tibetan calendar.
Tsongkhapa Butter Lamp Festival
Also known as the Ganden Ngachen Chenmo Festival, the Tsongkhapa Butter Lamp Festival is held on the 25th day of the 10th month of the Tibetan calendar. This is December 7, 2023, on the Western calendar. It is also during this festival that people light up the butter lamps on Buddhist altars and temples, and even in their windows in Lhasa to celebrate Je Tsongkhapa’s death as co-founder of the Gelug School.
The festival is held at the Ganden Monastery in Lhasa, where Tsongkhapa died in 1419. It is the primary monastery of the Gelug School, located at the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa. The butter lamps are made a few days before the celebrations and kept cold to stop melting. When night falls, lamps are brought out and placed on altars and rooftops and lit around the monastery and across the city. In the square in front of the Jokhang temple, thousands of people gather to see the lamps lit, accompanied by the sona sound. A bowl of holy water is placed inside the temple to reflect the lamps’ light.
2023 promises to be an exciting year for Tibetan festivals. With so many different festivals to choose from, it is sure to be a year filled with joy and celebration. So don’t miss your opportunity to witness these festivals in Tibet.