Taboos of Tibetan New Year

July,27 2016 BY Master Catherine Jigme 0 COMMENTS

Tibetan New Year or Losar is the first grand festival in a year in Tibetan calendar. On the first day of the New Year, Tibetan women usually wake up early at about 5 o' clock, and prepare for a special kind of barley wine for the family which has tsamba, brown sugar, and milk dregs. The whole family has to drink the wine in their beds and then continue to sleep, while the housewives sit in front of their windows, waiting for the sunrise.

losar festival

As soon as Tibetan people saw the sun rays in the east, they go to the well for the first bucket of water in the New Year. It is said that water in the well is the freshest and sweetest at this time and the family who get the lucky water earliest will be the most fortunate.

The point is that all families usually don't receive visits from relatives and friends on this day, which is different from the traditional Chinese New Year. In addition, there are several taboos on this day:

On the morning of the day, the parents can not shout at their kids nor scold them.

Every family needs to fill up their water jar without spilling on this day. Otherwise they may have bad luck later in the year.

People can not throw the dairy manure outside their home, nor can they lend anything to others. It was said that if they do so, they would lose opportunities of making money from horses, cows and sheep, and the nutrients from crops. And they will never get rich.

The family members had better eat a lot of food on this day. It was said that if they eat their fill on this day, they will be well-fed for the whole year.

About the Author - Master Catherine Jigme

With exceptional passion and outstanding leadership, Mrs. Catherine has dedicated herself to Tibet inbound tourism and China tour for 15 years. As one of the handful females who see great potential of Chinese inbound tourism, Catherine has made great contribution to promoting Tibet tourism and enhancing the employment of Tibetans and prosperity of local Tibetan community.

Over the years, she travelled overseas with Tibet Tourism Bureau many times to promote Tibet tourism. Currently, Catherine works as the marketing director of Tibet Vista, an opinion leader behind the whole team of Tibet Vista.

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