[Buddha-l] Tibetan New Year celebrations--Nepal

[Piya Tan]

That's interesting, Joanna, the Tibetan new year is on the same day as the
Chinese one. For the Chinese (including overseas "bananas" like myself)
Chinese New Year lasts for 2 weeks. However, I only have 4 effective free
days, which I know I will thoroughly enjoy doing nothing in particular,
except
be with my wife and 2 young kings, over a dozen hamsters and even more
tropical fishes. We might visit one of the less civilized islands of
Singapore
for a day trip thought.

I have a good feeling we are finally emerging from the impossibly silly
darkness
of the bushes into a brighter and happier global reality.

With metta & mudita,

Piya Tan



On Feb 4, 2008 9:55 AM, jkirk <jkirk at spro.net> wrote:

> As Lhosar is near, thought some on the list might find this dispatch from
> a
> friend in Nepal interesting.
> Joanna
> ===============================================
> Tashi deleg ! Preparations for the festival are already afoot. The coming
> Tibetan New Year falls on the new moon of February 7th, 2008 and ushers in
> the Year of the Earth-Mouse. Lhosar is a three-day festival, but feasting
> goes on for weeks.
>
> Preparations begin well before the arrival of the New Year. Tibetans begin
> making new clothes and start preparing the special foods needed during the
> festival. Khapse (flour preparations specially made for Lhosar), Chhyang
> (rice beer) and Lofi (barley shoots) are some of the food required for the
> celebrations. During the week leading up to the new year, lamas and monks
> in
> monasteries perform a week-long Mahakala rite for the purpose of
> eliminating
> all the negative accumulations of the previous year.
>
> Two days before the ceremonies are to begin, the house is cleaned
> thoroughly
> and must be completed before the 29th of the Tibetan calendar month. One
> of
> the important preparations is the making of Guthuk, which consists of nine
> different ingredients including vegetables while barley is the primary
> ingredient. The dough in the Guthuk is shaped into balls and in some of
> them, coal and chilly, etc. are added before cooking. Each person in the
> family then opens the dough to see what his portion contains. This happens
> on the 29th and is a fun event as contents like coal or chilly in the
> dough
> is said to symbolize the person's character; coal represents an evil
> person
> while chilly means the person is hot tempered, etc. On this day, some
> monasteries feature their traditional Lama dance. Towards the end of the
> day, an effigy of a demon is made and all the leftover Guthuk is poured on
> it. It must then be thrown away by someone who takes it to a crossroads
> nearby. This symbolizes the throwing away of all evil and bad omens.
> Hence,
> when the person comes back to the house, he is not let in unless he brings
> good news.
>
> On the 3rd day of the New Year, prayer flags are put up on poles. This is
> an
> auspicious day so such flags are put up both at home and at Boudha.
>
> Around 9:30 am many people gather around the stupa for the dance
> performances. The air is filled with incense smell and thousands of oil
> lamps are lit. Everybody then takes barley flour and then together throw
> it
> in the air. On this day, Tibetans are seen in their best costumes and
> colorful jewelry. There is a lot of merriment as everybody starts dancing.
> Best wishes for a happy and auspicious year of the Earth-Mouse. May Tibet
> be
> free !!!
>
> No virus found in this outgoing message.
> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
> Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.19.19/1256 - Release Date: 2/2/2008
> 1:50 PM
>
> _______________________________________________
> buddha-l mailing list
> buddha-l at mailman.swcp.com
> http://mailman.swcp.com/mailman/listinfo/buddha-l
>



-- 
The Minding Centre
Blk 644 Bukit Batok Central #01-68 (2nd flr)
Singapore 650644
Website: dharmafarer.googlepages.com