Tibetan Spring Festival Customs
In Tibet, the Tibetan New Year is the grandest and most folkloric of the many festivals, and is known as the "Losar" in Tibetan. The time of the Tibetan New Year varies from place to place in Tibet, but Lhasa and most of the regions in Tibet celebrate the first day of the first month of the Tibetan calendar as the New Year. In Lhasa, the preparations for the Tibetan New Year begin at the beginning of the twelfth month of the Tibetan calendar, and the celebrations begin on the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth month of the Tibetan calendar.
The Tibetan people celebrate the Tibetan New Year according to their own calendar. The Tibetan calendar is similar to the Chinese lunar calendar. The Tibetan New Year usually comes a few days after the Chinese New Year. On the day before New Year's Eve, when the sun is about to set, families pour dirty water and dirt to the west, so that those dirty things follow the sun and get rid of it, to show that the old and welcome the new, and look forward to the prosperity of the people and the growth of all things.
New Year's Eve this day, to hold a grand, grand "jumping god will". People wearing colorful costumes, wearing strange masks, in the conch, drums, suona and other musical instruments accompanied by singing and dancing, to show that the old to welcome the new, drive away the evil sycophants down the blessing. New Year's Eve night, Tibetans like to eat food is oil cake, milk cake, blood sausage, hand-held meat and so on. On the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, women go to the river or well to carry "auspicious water" to symbolize the family's good fortune, health and longevity. Then, every family puts a symbolic offering, "Druk Suqi Ma", on a conspicuous red table. "Bamboo Suqi Ma" that is the Yuan Bao type of long, large colorful pot (similar to the Han region of the grain bucket), at one end filled with wheat grains, the other end is filled with sugar, ghee and barley flour made of pastries, and inserted on the top of a few bunches of color dyed wheat and barley spikes, and I wish to look forward to a good harvest, people and animals flourish. Happy people in the set of "bamboo Suqi Ma" in the house, gathered around each other to drink barley wine, gift of khata, enjoy singing and dancing to celebrate the New Year.
During the Spring Festival, family, friends and neighbors, are to pay homage to each other, and give each other a hatha, wishing a happy and happy. And with barley wine, ghee tea and cakes to entertain guests. The square and the wilderness is very lively, young people get together to hold a race and shooting competition, singing and cheering. After the game, everyone gathered together, lit a bonfire, playing and singing unity blessing song, dancing "pot Zhuang", string dance, carnival into the night.
During the Tibetan New Year, the majority of residents will replace the colorful streamers on the roof of their homes every year, praying for a bumper crop and good luck in the new year. Usually, residents will choose the first three days of the Tibetan calendar to replace. And this year, according to the Tibetan astronomical calendar records, the second Tibetan calendar, 7 o'clock, 9 o'clock; Tibetan calendar, the fourth, 10:30, the day good, you can erect colorful streamers.
The Tibetan calendar December 29, "Gutu" night, full of strong customs, the whole process is full of good luck and laughter. On that night, the hostess will be with nine different kinds of food, put into the dough, and when all the people are here, we will sit together to eat "Gutu" reunion dinner. When the family ate the representative, everyone was very excited, among them, salt represents laziness, chili represents knife mouth and bean curd heart ...... After eating the "Gutu" is the exorcism ceremony, with a torch in each room of the home around, and then thrown to the street, which means the bad luck and bad luck out of the house, and the family will be able to get rid of the bad luck and bad luck. The first thing you need to do is to get rid of all the bad luck and bad luck in the house and welcome the new year.