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In Tibet, the Tibetan calendar lags approximately four to six weeks behind the solar calendar. For example, the Tibetan First Month usually falls in February, the Fifth Month usually falls in June or early July and the Eight Month usually falls in September.
| Month | Date | Festival | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Month | 1st-7th | New Year Festival Losar | A week-long drama and carnivals, horse races and archery |
| 1st Month | 4th-25th | Monlam Prayer Festival | The Great Prayer Festival, a tradition begun by Tsong Khapa. Many pilgrims gather at Jokhang in Lhasa |
| 1st Month | 15th | Lantern Festival | Commemorates Buddha's miracle at Sravasti. Fires are lit on roofs, and lamps in windows |
| 2nd Month | 28th-29th | - | Festival to drive out evil spirits and expel the scapegoat. Lamas encircle Lhasa with trumpets |
| 4th Month | 7th | Pilgrim Festival | Important month for pilgrims. -the birth of Buddha Sakyamuni |
| 4th Month | 15th | Saka dawa | Celebrates the birth and Enlightenment of Sakyamuni and his entry to Nirvana. An outdoor opera is held and captured animals released. Worshippers flock to the Jokhang in Lhasa to pray. |
| 5th Month | 14th-16th | Hanging of the Thangka | A giant thangka is hung at Tashilhunpo in Shigatse |
| 5th Month | 15th | Incense Festival | On this day ghosts are said to prowl. Tibetans dress up and party to drive away the spirits. |
| 5th Month | 15th-24th | Sho Dun Festival | Literally, the "Yoghurt Festival." Worship of the Buddha. Picnics and operas are held in parks particularly under the trees at Norbulingka. There are often bonfires at night. |
| 6th Month | 4th | Buddha's sermon | A feast is held to commemorate Buddha's first sermon. Pilgrims climb holy mountains such as Chokbori |
| 6th month | 6th | Cham-ngyon-wa, or "Old Dance" | Celebrated at the Cho-ne Monastery, representing the souls of the departed. |
| 7th month | beginning | Washing Festival | Lasts about a week. People go to the river to wash themselves and their clothes. Said to cure any sickness. |
| 7th Month | end | Ongkar Festival | Literally 'Looking around the fields'. Ensures a good harvest. Horse-racing, archery contests and opera |
| 7th/8th Month | All | Golden Star Festival | The Golden Star festival is held to wash away passion, greed and jealousy and to abandon ego. Ritual bathing in rivers takes place and picnics are held |
| 8th Month | 1st-10th | Dajyur Festival | The Dayjur is held in Gyantse and Damxung -horse racing and light hearted sports competitions and games takes places |
| 8th Month | 1st-7th | Harvest Festival | The festival is held with prayers, dancing, singing and drinking |
| 8th Month | 14st-16th | Buddha painting unfolding festival | Lamas unfold large thangkas on walls and mountains. |
| 9th Month | 22nd | - | Buddha's descent from heaven after preaching to his mother is commemorated. All monasteries are opened and pilgrims gather |
| 10th Month | 25th | Tsong Khapa memorial | Memorial festival of Tsong Khapa's death - fires are lit on the roofs of the monasteries and lamps are lit |
| 12th Month | 1st-7th | New Year Festival | New Year Festival in Shigatse |
| 12th Month | 5th-6th | Meeting of the Eight Guardians | The Meeting of the Eight Guardians and demons where Tibetans stay indoors to avoid evil outside |
| 12th Month | 29th | Banishing Evil Spirits | A "Devil Dance" is held to drive out all evil from the Old Year to prepare for New Year. |
The Tibetan calendar is a lunisolar calendar. Losar is celebrated on the first three days of the first lunar month.
Tibet is a region in the central part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about 2,500,000 km2 (970,000 sq mi). It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as the Monpa, Tamang, Qiang, Sherpa and Lhoba peoples and, since the 20th century, considerable numbers of Han Chinese and Hui settlers. Since the 1951 annexation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China, the entire plateau has been under the administration of the People's Republic of China. Tibet is divided administratively into the Tibet Autonomous Region, and parts of the Qinghai and Sichuan provinces. Tibet is also constitutionally claimed by the Republic of China as the Tibet Area since 1912.
Lunar New Year is the first new moon of a lunar calendar or lunisolar calendar year, whose months are moon cycles. The event is celebrated by numerous cultures in various ways at diverse dates.
The Bhutia are a community of Sikkimese people living in the state of Sikkim in northeastern India, who speak Drenjongke or Sikkimese, a Tibetic language fairly mutually intelligible with standard Tibetan. In 2001, the Bhutia numbered around 60,300. Bhutia here refers to people of Tibetic ancestry. There are many clans within the Bhutia tribe and Inter-Clan marriages are preferred rather than marriages outside of the tribe. This page specifically talks about the “Sikkimese Bhutia’s” and not the wider group of communities spread throughout India & Nepal known as Bhotiya.
Losar also known as Tibetan New Year, is a festival in Tibetan Buddhism. The holiday is celebrated on various dates depending on location tradition. The holiday is a new year's festival, celebrated on the first day of the lunisolar Tibetan calendar, which corresponds to a date in February or March in the Gregorian calendar. In 2020, the new year commenced on the 24th of February and celebrations ran until the 26th of the same month. It also commenced the Year of the Male Iron Rat.
The Tibetan calendar, or Tibetan lunar calendar, is a lunisolar calendar, that is, the Tibetan year is composed of either 12 or 13 lunar months, each beginning and ending with a new moon. A thirteenth month is added every two or three years, so that an average Tibetan year is equal to the solar year.
Buddha's Birthday or "'Buddha Day"' is a primarily Buddhist festival that is celebrated in most of South, Southeast and East Asia, commemorating the birth of the prince Siddhartha Gautama, who became the Gautama Buddha and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition and archaeologists, Gautama Buddha, c. 563-483 BCE, was born at Lumbini in Nepal. Buddha's mother was Queen Maya Devi, who delivered the Buddha while undertaking a journey to her native home, and his father was King Śuddhodana. The Mayadevi Temple, its gardens, and an Ashoka Pillar dating from 249 BCE mark the Buddha's birth place at Lumbini.
Norbulingka is a palace and surrounding park in Lhasa, Tibet, built from 1755. It served as the traditional summer residence of the successive Dalai Lamas from the 1780s up until the 14th Dalai Lama's exile in 1959. Part of the "Historic Ensemble of the Potala Palace", Norbulingka is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and was added as an extension of this Historic Ensemble in 2001. It was built by the 7th Dalai Lama and served both as administrative centre and religious centre. It is a unique representation of Tibetan palace architecture.
Tibet developed a distinct culture due to its geographic and climatic conditions. While influenced by neighboring cultures from China, India, and Nepal, the Himalayan region's remoteness and inaccessibility have preserved distinct local influences, and stimulated the development of its distinct culture.
Chötrul Düchen, also known as Chonga Choepa or the Butter Lamp Festival, is one of the four Buddhist festivals commemorating four events in the life of the Buddha, according to Tibetan traditions. Chötrul Düchen closely follows Losar, the Tibetan New Year. It takes place on the fifteenth day of the first month in the Tibetan calendar during the full moon. The first fifteen days of the year celebrate the fifteen days during which the Buddha displayed miracles for his disciples so as to increase their devotion. During Chötrul Düchen, it is believed that the effects of both positive and negative actions are multiplied ten million times.
Dajyur or the Damxung Horse Festival is a Tibetan festival that takes place at the beginning of the eighth month of the lunar calendar throughout southern Tibet. The festivities last for ten days with events such as horse racing, bicycle riding contests, and rock-carrying competitions contributing to a time of merriment and celebration.
Monlam, also known as The Great Prayer Festival, falls on the 4th to 11th day of the 1st Tibetan month in Tibetan Buddhism.
The Sho Dun Festival, commonly known as the Shoton or Yogurt Festival or Banquet since "Sho" means Yogurt and "Dun" means Banquet, is an annual festival held at Norbulingka or "Jewel Park" palace in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region.
This is a list of holidays celebrated within the Buddhist tradition.
Matho Monastery, or Matho Gonpa or Mangtro Monastery or Mangtro Gonpa, from the Tibetan "mang" that means "many" and "tro" that means "happiness", is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery located 26 kilometres southeast of Leh in Ladakh, northern India, on the banks of the Indus River. The village of Matho is located at the mouth of a deep gorge running out of the Zanskar Range and across the Indus. It is directly opposite Thikse Monastery.
Tashiding Monastery is a Buddhist monastery of the Nyingma sect of Tibetan Buddhism in Western Sikkim, northeastern India, which is the most sacred and holiest monasteries in Sikkim. It is described as the "Heart of Sikkim/Denzong", citing to its importance of religious sacredness. It is located on top of the hill rising between the Rathong chu and the Rangeet River, 40 kilometres (25 mi) from Gyalshing and 19 kilometres (12 mi) to the south east of Yuksam. The annual festival of Bumchu, meaning ~Holy water~ takes place on the 14th and 15th of the 1st month of Tibetan lunar calendar, often around the months of February and March. The festival is believed to predict the upcoming forecasts and events for Sikkim in the coming year. Undoubtedly, one of the most important and holiest festivals for all the Buddhists in Sikkim and around, it also provides for a perfect platform for all those Non-Buddhists who seek a deeper insight into Buddhism and its religious customs, beliefs and rituals. History of the Festival- Somewhere between 755 and 804 CE in Tibet under the reign of King Trisong Deutsonin. It was under his rule that Guru Padmasambhava when invited to Tibet performed a holy sadhana and consecrated the land with water from his SACRED VASE, which was then later concealed as a hidden treasure in his most blessed place, the Tashiding Monastery in Sikkim. Somewhere around 17th century, the vase was again discovered by one of the reincarnations of Padmasambhava and it is since that time, this festival again resumed with all its glory and splendour in the hidden and blessed land of Sikkim/Beyul Demazong. Tashiding is the nearest town to the Tashiding Monastery (Gompa)
Public holidays in Bhutan consist of both national holidays and local festivals or tshechus. While national holidays are observed throughout Bhutan, tsechus are only observed in their areas. Bhutan uses its own calendar, a variant of the lunisolar Tibetan calendar. Because it is a lunisolar calendar, dates of some national holidays and most tshechus change from year to year. For example, the new year, Losar, generally falls between February and March.
Thukpa bhatuk is a common Tibetan cuisine noodle soup that includes small bhatsa noodles. This dish is a common soup made in the winter but is especially important for Tibetan New Year. On Nyi-Shu-Gu, the eve of Losar, the common Tibetan soup, thukpa bhatuk is made with special ingredients to form guthuk. Guthuk is then eaten on Losar to symbolise getting rid of negativities of the past year and invite positives into the new year.
Galdan Namchot is a festival celebrated in Tibet, Nepal, Mongolia and many regions of Himalaya, particularly in Ladakh, India. It is to commemorate the birth as well as parinirvana (death) and the Buddhahood of Je Tsongkhapa, a famous Scholar/teacher of Tibetan Buddhism whose activities led to the formation of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. Galdan Namchot also marks the beginning of the new year celebrations in Ladakh.
Dosmoche is a Buddhist festival celebrated in Ladakh, India. It is celebrated in Leh, Likir and Diskit monasteries. It is the last festival of New Year Celebrations, the other one is Losar. The two-day Dosmoche festival is a gazetted holiday for Leh district and Zanskar Sub Division. Dosmoche is also known as the "Festival of Scapegoat" and is one of Ladakh's most popular prayer festivals. This festival is also celebrated to purify the town from evil spirits.
Mani Rimdu is a 19-day festival celebrated by Buddhists in the Everest region of Nepal to mark the founding of Buddhism by Guru Rinpoche Padmasambhava.