2016 Tibetan Festivals Calendar

2016 Tibetan Festivals Calendar

Tibetan festivals, bound with Tibetan Buddhism and legends attract numerous explorers every year. Are you ready for Tibetan Festivals in 2016?

Tibetan New Year

Tibetan New Year, the traditional New Year for all the Tibetans, is one of the most important festivals celebrated by monks and ordinary people altogether. All kinds of foods have been already prepared on the Tibetan New Year’s Eve. Gutu, a special food for Tibet New Year, is usually filled with various stuffs, including stone,pepper,charcoal,etc. Different stuffing has different underlying meanings. It is an entertainment that no matter what you have got, you need to spit out immediately and receive hearty rounds of applause.

Butter Lantern Festival

All the lanterns surrounding ancient Barkor street are made of butter oil, flour and kinds of dyestuff. When the night comes, hundreds of thousands of butter lanterns would be lighted up at the same time and colorful statues are extremely lifelike. The spectacular statues of gods, figures, animals and plants, magnificent or exquisite, and thousands of brilliant butter lanterns make the whole street become a miraculous world. 

Tsurphu Cham Dance Festival

Cham dance, also called Qiangmu in Tibetan language, is one of the major events in summer dharma assembly at Tsurphu Monastery. It’s a traditional religious dance performed by Tibetan Buddhists. The ceremony has already been hold for thousands of years and varied with specific contents. Monks would wear robes with masks on and equip themselves with colorful ribbons and shields. The instruments change from tupan to suona. 

Saga Dawa Festival

Saga Dawa Festival is one of the holiest festivals for Tibetan Buddhists as three memorable events coincide on the same day: Sakyamuni’s birth, enlightenment and nirvana. A swarm of sincere Tibetan Buddhists would circle around Jokhang Monastery and Barkhor Street for celebration.

Drigung Cham Dance Festival

Drigung Cham Dance Festival is held in summer dharma assembly at Drigung Monastery for commemorating its founder, Jigten Sumgön. Drigung cham dance can be performed by a single, a couple and groups and has been classified as  National Intangible Cultural Heritage. It takes you three hours to explore Drigung Monastery from Jokhang Monastery. You should pay CNY40 for the bus ticket and CNY45 for Drigung Monastery. Anyhow, it’s worth your visit. Just a kind reminder, you had better not observe sky-burial without allowance. Please bear in mind that following the local customs is the first thing in your traveling.

Tashilhunpo Thangka Festival

Tashilhunpo Thangka Festival has a history of more than 500 years. Three different thangkas would be unfurled respectively so as to remind people to cherish the past, enjoy happy lives and hold hope for the future during three days.

Buddha's Sermon Festival

On Buddha's Sermon Festival, Tibetans would go to monasteries nearby,chant sutras and light the butter lamps. Here you can gain a strong sense of religions. In order to celebrate this day, Tibetans would wear the brand new clothes one day ahead and pray at the nearby monasteries for the god blessing.

Ganden Thangka Festival

Throngs of pilgrims would gather together at Ganden Monastery during those three days, while 23 thangka paintings would be hung on the wall outside the monastery for their worship. Here you can write down your families’ and friends’name on the prayer flags and wish good fortune for them. The best time for photographers to visit Ganden Monastery is May,June and July. During this period, spectacular scenery occurs frequently.

Shoton Festival

Since shoton means yogurt, Shoton Festival with abundant activities, also named Yogurt Festival, is one of the most solemn Tibetan festivals. A grand Tibetan opera and Buddhist ceremony would be held on this day. You also can watch yak racing and equestrianism performance. Participating in various activities will leave a deep impression on you. How enthusiastic Tibetans are!

Buddha's Descent Day

It’s said that Buddha's descent from heaven happened after preaching to his mother on Sep.22nd. Since then, countless pilgrims would swarm into Jokhang Monastery and Barkhor Street and pray for greeting him again on that day. Here you can feel pilgrims’ profound sincerity for gods.

Tibetan New Year in Kongbo Area

Long time ago, Tibet has undergone a large scale invasion, but the locals were not so strong to resist the enemies. At this critical moment, Kongbo people sent out an army to support the locals to defend their homeland together. Before departing for the frontier, the soldiers were worried that they would miss the chance to taste highland barley wine and refreshments as it was already September. As a consequence, Kongbo people had Tibetan New Year on 1st October in advance. Nowadays, Tibetans would invite dogs to have dinner. Foods like tsampa, walnut,yak butter,naizha,meat,etc would be put on the table or board at night. Kongbo people think that dogs take orders from gods. If they choose tsampa, it refers to a good harvest in the next year. But if meat is chosen, it will bring bad luck.You can try some Jieda, a kind of pasta, made of butter oil, milk and flour. It’s a fresh experience for you to chat with Tibetans while grilling Jieda on the stick.

Palden Lhamo Festival

Palden Lhamo Festival has been a special day for Tibetan women. They would get up earlier than usual, go to Barkhor street for burning aromatic plant and pray, and then worship Palden Lhamo, the protection god of Lhasa city,at Jokhang Monastery. On this day, all their wishes would come true and they also have a special privilege to ask gifts from men even if they are strangers.

Butter Lamp Festival

The Butter Lamp Day is a festival to commemorate Tsong Khapa who was the Buddhism reformer and found the Gelugpa sect. Lots of activities would be held on 25th October in the Tibetan calendar. When darkness falls, butter lamps would be lighted up in every home and people would pray for intelligence, peace, luck and happiness sincerely.