(A talk delivered at the 2024 Losar get together at Helinä Rautavaara Museum, Espoo, organised by Finnish Tibetan Cultural Association & the Society of Himalayan Studies in Finland)

Thupten K. Rikey

Introduction

Losar is celebrated across the Himalayan regions (such as Bhutan, Nepal and the regions of ethnic Tibetans in Indian and China). However, this paper attempts to present a picture of how Losar is celebrated in two different Tibetan communities in North India. They are the Tibetan Bonpo community in Dholanji (also known as Thobgyal Sarpa, see Rikey 2009) in the suburb of Solan town and the Tibetan community in Gangchen Kyishong in the heart of the headquarters of the exiled Tibetan Administration in Dharamsala.

Dholanji is located in a countryside 15 kms to the east of Solan town, 250 kms to the north of Delhi, the India’s capital city. This area is locally known as Dholanji. Also, Dholanji is the seat of the headlama (known as Menri Trizin) of Bon religion. Bon is the oldest religion of Tibet, and is often referred to as the indigenous religion of Tibet. When Buddhist was first introduced in Tibet in full scale in the eighth century, the only religion that it encountered was Bon.

Gangchen Kyishong is situated in Dharamsala, in the foot hills of Dhauladhar range. The settlers of Gangchen Kyishong are mostly Buddhists, and they belong to four different sects, Nyingma, Kagyu, Sakya and Geluk. Ganghen Kyishong is also then known as the central secretariat of the Tibetan Government-in-exile which later on in 1990s became known as the Central Tibetan Administration.

Historical background

The term “losar” is a compound Tibetan word of “lo” and “sar”.  Lo means year and sar means new, hence “new year”. The origin of Losar is not known. It seems that there are many stories connected to its origin.

The origin of Losar may have to do with the rituals of land fertility conducted prior to the year’s first sowing season, and thus directly connected to the prosperity of crops.  Tibetan farmers have their own Losar called sonam losar, meaning the losar of farmers, which is celebrated in accordance with the sowing seasons.  Tibet is a vast land with varying climate. The regions in the extreme north have prolonged winter and the temperature falls well below freezing point in winters. Land cultivation is rare in those regions. Therefore, most locals there are nomads. Tibetan nomads graze their livestock in summers, as the rich green pastures then emerge up, following the melting away of the snows. Several regions in central Tibet, where the climate is comparatively warmer, yield one crop a year. Whereas the low laying regions close to the borders of India and Nepal in the west and south yield two or more crops a year. The farmers of those regions celebrate the sonam losar in different time, depending on their sowing season. The farmers’ losar vary from region to regions. The sowing of any seasonal crop is preceded with ritual of land fertility. The land spirits or the nature deities are invoked and propitiated with ransoms. It is believed that the land would yield rich crops, if the land deities are pleased with the behaviours of the land owners.

Calendar

The calculation of Losar is based on the traditional Tibetan calendar. The well-known calendar system is called the Phug system (Phuglug) and is based on the work of Phugpa Lhundrup Gyatsho, Pad dkar zhal lung (composed 1447). This system is followed by the schools of Nyingma, Sakya and Geluk. It is also followed by astrological department of the Dalai Lama’s Tibetan Medical Institute. Another system that is followed among the Kagyupas is called the Tshur system (Tshurlug). It is based on the work of the Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorjee (1284-1339) rTis kun bsdus pa.

Depending on the outcome of the calendar calculation, the time of Losar varies from year to year and moves between January and February, and sometimes March. For example, the Losar of 2001 was from 24-26 January, whereas that of 2009 fell on 25-27 February.

Preparation for Losar

The last two days, i.e., the 29^th and the 30^th day, of the outgoing year is reserved for the preparations to invite the New Year. The 29^th day is reserved for discarding the negative forces that one had encountered during the year personally or collectively and the influence of which is still in effect. It is done through a special ritual called Gutor.

The Evil Force

Traditionally, Tibetans believe that the human world is to a great extend conditioned by supernatural force, the power of varieties of deities, spirits. Tibetans believe that there are two levels of world. The visible world occupied by people and other living beings, and the invisible world occupied by supernatural beings, such as deities and spirits. Often out of ignorance the deeds of human beings offend them and cause them to go enraged, resulting in causing misfortune in the life of human beings. It is believed that if the supernatural beings are caused to become displeased they would cause catastrophe in the human life by sending epidemic, famine, hailstorm and so forth. There are varieties of spirits, both benevolent and malevolent. The malevolent spirits are to be banished with the help of benevolent ones. The Gutor ritual is centred on this concept. Here a deity who is powerful enough to drive away the evil spirits is invoked through elaborate rituals.

The principal deity invoked on this day differs from monastery to monasteries. The deity invoked at Thobgyal Sarpa for this ritual is called Phurpa, whereas the one invoked at the monastery in Dharamsala is called Gonpo.

The term “phurpa” means peg. The deity Phurpa is regarded as especially powerful to discard the evil force. It is depicted in paintings as a wrathful deity with three heads and six arms and wings spread in the behind. Also he is depicted in a standing position embracing his female partner.

What is central to the whole process of this ritual is the driving away of all forms of evils, which is represented by one or more “scapegoats”.

The Scapegoat

In Tibetan the scapegoat is called lingka or lu. It is a human effigy made of dough. Its size varies. The biggest could be about one metre height.

The invocation ritual lasts a day through. About half a square meter four walled structure made of net like thread works, somewhat resembling a pavilion, is constructed to accommodate the scapegoat. This structure is called dhoe and is placed in the centre of the altar throughout the ritual procedure, which begins early in the morning and lasts up until evening. The conclusion of the ritual takes place a little before the sun goes down. The dhoe is removed from the altar and is taken out in a procession to a far-off place, where it is placed on a triangle mandala. The end part of ritual is then carried out amidst chants, music and ritual gestures, and finally the dhoe is set ablaze and turned into ashes. With this it is believed that the negative forces of all kinds that are still in effect are now send off or destroyed, creating a clean environment for the New Year to come.

Hugh Richardson, the British Emissary, who was based in Lhasa (with interruption) from 1936-1947 has told Christoph Baumer (2002, p.44; also see Richardson 1993, p.65) about the scapegoat thus:

 ” …two men were driven from the city by black hatted dancers and by the angry crowd. One of the two men escaped to the north, while the more important of the two, who had also taken upon himself the sins of the Dalai Lama fled to Samye monastery. Here the scapegoat was held captive in gonkhang, the chapel of the wrathful protective deities for seven days and seven nights. It is said that many lugongs fail to survive even the first night. Their death was regarded as a good sign, for through it, it became clear that the scapegoat had in truth taken the sins.”

In the evening every family prepare a special soup containing nine ingredients. This soup is called guthuk, meaning the “soup of nine.” The guthuk is a compound word. the term “gu” means nine and “thuk” soup. “Thuk” is a short form of “thukpa” and it is a very popular dish among Tibetans. The way how it is prepared is very simple. One boils water in a container, and then one adds into it various kinds edibles, such as meat, vegetables, dried fruits, rice, grains and so forth. One boils them until they are well cooked and then one adds into it salt and other spices and is ready for serving. Another thing that guthuk contains is fortune cookies.

The Fortune Cookies

The piece of paper on which the prediction of fortune is written is inserted into a piece of dough ball and boiled in the guthuk. A ball for each family member is served. The prediction is mostly in symbols, such as the pictures of sun, moon, stars, fox, wolf, cat, dog etc. The sun stands for bright future or happiness, dog for faithfulness, cat for sinner, wolf for cruelty and fox for cowardice etc.

The House Cleaning and Delicacies Preparing

The 30^th day, i.e. the last day of the outgoing year is a very busy day for all the settlers of Thobgyal Sarpa. It is called namgang. On that day, they clean their houses and the surroundings, prepare the Losar delicacies. In the evening, they began to set up the Losar altar.

Losar Delicacies

There are varieties of delicacies that are relished especially during the Losar. Among them, khabse, dresil, chemar and chang are must. Without these delicacies, there is no Losar. Khabses are dough fries. The dough contains oil, sugar, and baking powder. It is flattened and coloured and cut into different shapes, and then fried in oil. It is made in different sizes and shapes. The one that is very common is about 20 cm long with a shape of “donkey’s ear”. This is used for the decoration of Losar altar. Dresil is a rice preparation. It contains butter, sugar, raisin and thin slices of coconuts. This is considered an auspicious food and is served first. Chemar is a preparation of tossed flour called tsampa, a staple food in Tibet. It contains tsampa mixed with butter, sugar, and cheese powder. Chang is a home brewed hard drink. It is made from barley, rice and millets.

Losar Altar

Decorated with the delicacies that are especially relished during the New Year celebration, the Losar altar is the symbol of the celebration. As long as it exists, the Losar celebration continues. It is set up on a big table, preferably in the family chapel or in the living room.  It contains two or more piles of khabses made into a structure resembling the shape of a castle. This structure is decorated with other edibles such as candies, chocolates and fruits.  In front of this structure is placed a vase full of chang on the left and a special wooden tray called shingdom on the right. Shingdom is a wooden frame with two apartments. One is filled with grains and the other one with chemar. Every visitor is greeted with this tray, along with a vase of chang. One is suppose to take two pinches of chemar. The first one is to be thrown in the air, a gesture of being offered to the gods. The second pinch is to be put into one’s mouth. The chang is to be taken a drop on one’s index finger and then thrown in the air. This ceremonial greeting is deemed very significant. Nothing should go wrong in the order, otherwise it would be deemed inauspicious, meaning that the year ahead is going to be an unlucky one. Chang and butter tea flows like water throughout the Losar days. The butter tea contains butter, milk and salt, all well mixed in a churn. Losar guests are received by offering chang. A cup full of chang is extended to the guest. The guest receives it with his both hands and takes a sip and allows the host to refill it. This process continues until the guest takes the third sip. At the fourth sip, the guest has to drink the full cup until it is empty.

The celebration in general

Losar celebration lasts for three days. Traditionally, it is said that the first day is the Losar of lamas, the second that of the king and third the people. On the first day, people go to the monasteries to greet their lamas and monks. On the second day they go to their king and greet him with gifts. And on the third day people meet each other and exchange gifts. This is what people normally say, but the celebration of Losar among Tibetans in India, especially in Thobgyal Sarpa does not exactly follow this fashion.

Losar at Thobgyal Sarpa

Thobgyal sarpa was founded in 1967, following the political unrest in Tibet in 1959, causing the Dalai Lama and over 100 000 Tibetans to seek asylum in India. It is a Tibetan refugee settlement of about 400 permanent settlers. It has a monastery, nunnery and a boarding school accommodating 260 monks, 50 nuns and 168 school children respectively. In all it has a population of about 1000. But the monks, nuns and the school children are not permanent settlers. They have come there to study (more on this, see Rikey 2009).

During the year, most of the settlers do small business in the nearby as well as far off Indian cities. During winters they go to metropolitan cities, such as Bombay, Kolkata and others to sell woollen clothes manufactured in North India, whereas in summers they sell tourists souvenirs in the nearby hill stations, where a large number of tourists from the plains of Central India come to escape the summer heat.

Losar falls in the beginning of the spring. And this is exactly a time when the settlers conclude their winter business and come home. And the tourist season in the hill stations begin only in the end of the spring. So it is a good time for them to gather at the settlement.

Losar is celebrated with great pomp and show in Thobgyal Sarpa. They make the preparations well in advance.  Most of the Losar shopping, such as clothes, gifts, house decorations, dry packet foods, spices and so forth, are done immediately after the winter business, and is done in cities itself.

As said above, the last day of the outgoing year is a busy day for the settlers. They do the preparations day through and in the night they wait the clock to strike 12:00 mid night. As soon as the year changes, they rush to fetch water and then run to the monastery to greet the priests. First, one goes to the nearby water resource or to one’s own water tap in the kitchen, and make offerings to the water deity. It is believed that in the mid night when the outgoing year meets with the New Year, the running streams stop for a moment and then resume flowing. As soon as it flows again, one is supposed to take some out of it and bring home, for this water is deemed auspicious.

The headlama at the monastery gets ready well in advance with tea and dresil ready. People began to come immediately after 12:00 mid night. They come in their finest traditional dress with gifts, which basically contains a packet of biscuits, a plate full of khabses decorated with candies, fruits etc. and a thermos full of butter tea. First one goes to the lama’s kitchen, ask for a plate and set the plate ready and then goes to the lama’s private chapel, where he is sitting on his seat ready to receive the visitors. One greets the lama by saying “Tashi Delek” meaning good luck. One prostrates three times, falling flat on the earth, with one’s forehead touching the floor. Rising from there, one goes to the lama and bows down, while the lama would bless him or her with his both hands touching the head. Then one presents one’s gift, by placing it on the altar. One pours a few drops of tea into the lama’s cup, which is already filled with a similar tea. One requests the lama to take a sip, by raising the thermos to refill the cup. One sits there for a few minutes, exchanging a few words with the lama, while taking a few sips of tea. It doesn’t last more than five to ten minutes and then one takes leave, as visitors would soon form a long queue. This process will continue until the last visitor and it normally lasts up until ten o’ clock in the morning. Soon after that the lama might go for a small nap or relax on his couch.

After having visited the headlama, one goes to visit the rest of the lamas and monks in the monastery with a similar gift. The same thermos full of tea is used all along, pouring a few drops in the cup of all one visits. At the end, one returns home and relaxes for the rest of the day.

A group of Amdo people gather on a hilltop nearby the monastery to invoke the nature gods. They put up prayer flags and make a huge smoke by burning juniper leaves. Each family places an arrow, about three to five meters long, along with the prayer flags. This custom is very typical of Amdo people, as other Tibetans reserve the hoisting of prayer flag for the third day.

Relaxation of the monastic discipline

Monks enjoy a special relaxation of the monastic discipline. The large prayer flag that stands in the centre of the monastery’s courtyard is taken down, along with the pole and is placed on the side. This is the sign that there has been a relaxation in the monastic discipline. The relaxation does not permit to indulge in what is forbidden by the vows that they have taken, such as indulging in killing, stealing, lying, sexual misconduct and so forth.  The leniency permits the monks to arrange private parties and amusement get together. Also, they may go to see their friends and relatives and stay overnight there without having to obtain permission from the monastic authorities. Also, they may go to the nearby town to see movies or eat in the restaurants.

On the second day, people visit each other exchanging gifts. It is normally reserved for family gatherings.

The Deity Invocation Ritual

On the third day, people first gather at the monastic courtyard, where they replace the old prayer flag with a new one. The pole of the flag as well is replaced with a new one. Then at around ten o’clock in the morning they raise the prayer flag. Monks perform the invocation rites of nature deities. A huge smoke is caused by burning the juniper leaves and a mixture of tsampa, butter, and other incense ingredients called sangtsam. At the end, all the people form a circle around the prayer flag and perform a special invocation rite called lhagyal, meaning god’s victory. It is a short rite, each one takes a hand full of tsampa in their right hand and raise it in the air three times. Each time one raises one hand, one utters a prolonged voice of “so!”. When one raises one’s hand the fourth time, one says “ki ki so so lha gyal lo!” meaning “gods triump” and the tsampa that one holds in one’s hand is thrown in the air to descend on each other’s head. Often they throw it on one another for the sake of amusement.

With this ceremony, the formal Losar celebration is over (and it ends the liniency availed in the monastic rules), but people keep celebrating until the 15^th day of the month, on which the Losar altar is dismantled to signify the real end of the Losar.

The Losar at Ganchen Kyishong

Gangchen Kyishong is the area where secretariat of the Tibetan government-in-exile is located. It is located at about three kms up the hill to the north of the downtown Kotwali bazaar. Tibetans in Dharamsala are scattered over at least three different areas. Next to Ganchen Kyishong two kms further up the hill is Theckchen Choling, the Dalai Lama’s residence and his monastery, surrounded by shops, religious centres, residences and so forth. It is a bustling small town on its own right. His monastery is called Namgyal monastery. Located at about a kilometre further up the hill to the north is McLeod Ganj. It is a busy Tibetan shopping centre often referred to as the “little Lhasa” of India. Again, about two kms to the west of Mcleod Ganj is Forsyth Ganj, a small town with several Tibetan shops and restaurants, and about a kilometre up the hill to the north is the Tibetan Children’s Village. Yet further up in the closest foothills of the mighty Dhauladhar range, there are the monk-hermits who have chosen to live in the solitary of forest hills, doing meditation. They have built small four walled meditation cells in the forest hills in isolation. Tibetans from Mcleod Ganj and the private office of the Dalai Lama provide them the provisions for their daily needs, such as food, clothing and medicines. Also, several cultural centres, monasteries, nunneries, schools and so forth have come up in the valley to the east as well as to the west of the downtown.

Theckchen Choling is the central attraction for all Tibetans in Dharamsala. Almost all the important gatherings and formal celebrations take place in the premises of Namgyal monastery. And often the Dalai Lama presides over the important events. So is Losar.

Basic proceeding of Losar ceremony at Gangchen Kyishong is somewhat similar to that of Thobgyal Sarpa. On the first day, people visit monasteries and offer gifts to lamas and monks. On the second day, people exchange gifts among relatives and friends and visit each others’ home or organise gatherings of close friends and relatives. On the third day, they all gather at the hill side called Lhagyal-ri, to the south of the Dalai Lama’s residence, to perform the invocation rituals of nature gods and protective deities.

The Official Ceremony

What makes the Losar at Dharamsala a special one is the official ceremony of the Tibetan government-in-exile, which takes place in the main assembly hall of Namgyal monastery in the early morning of the first day. The gathering is restricted to the government officials of Joint secretary level and above. The Dalai Lama and all his relatives, the highest-ranking lamas, the oracles of different deities, the high ranking local Indian government officials and foreign dignitaries enjoy special honour in this gathering.

Monlam Festival

The Monlam the Great prayer festival, was founded by a renowned lama, Tsongkhapa (1357-1419), in 1409 in Lhasa. It is said that Tsongkhapa founded this festival to commemorate one of the 12 important events in the life of Buddha Shakymuni. The event in question was his winning over in the feats contest with six non-Buddhist Indian masters of his time.

At Thekchen Choling, the Monlam begins on the 4^th day of the New Year and it continuous up until the 11^th and is concluded with a public teaching by the Dalai Lama. The theme of the teaching is always from Jataka tales.

Conclusion

From what has been covered in this paper shows how Tibetans in exile have managed to live their life without disintegrating themselves from the value of their religion and culture.

References

Rikey, Thupten K, 2009, “Thobgyal Sarpa: the only Tibetan Bonpo Settlement in India”, Renval Institute Publication 25, Renval Institute for Area & Cultural Studies, University of Helsinki, Helsinki 2009.

Baumer, Christoph 2002, Tibet’s Ancient Religion Bön, Orchid press, Thailand.

Richardson, Hugh 1993, Ceremonies of the Lhasa Year, Serindia Publications, London.