Gyalpo Losar is a new year festival of

Sherpa Sherpa may refer to: Ethnography * Sherpa people, an ethnic group in north eastern Nepal * Sherpa language Organizations and companies * Sherpa (association), a French network of jurists dedicated to promoting corporate social responsibility * ...

people of

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

and

Sikkim Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Siligur ...

and

Darjeeling Darjeeling (, , ) is a town and municipality in the northernmost region of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the easternmost province of Nepal, ...

regions of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The festival is celebrated every year from ''

Falgun Falgun or Phalgun (; ne, फाल्गुण) or Phagun ( as, ফাগুন) is the eleventh month of the year in the Bengali calendar, the Assamese calendar, and the Nepali calendar. In the revision of the Bengali calendar used in Bangladesh ...

Shukla Pratipada'', the second day of the waxing moon until the full moon. Gyalpo Losar is also regarded as a Tibetan New Year. The calendar has a cycle of 12 years named after mouse, cow, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, bird, dog and boar.

Mythology

According to mythology, the Losar was first celebrated when an old woman named

Belma BELMA is a Polish defence company located in Białe Błota, in the vicinity of Bydgoszcz. It is one of the oldest industrial plants in Poland. Belma’s business began in 1868 as a locksmith company. Its primary responsibility today is the p ...

introduced moon based time measurement. People went to the local spring to perform rituals of gratitude and offerings were made to the Nagas (the snake god), or water spirits, who activated the water element in the area, and smoke offerings were made to the local spirits associated with the natural world.

History

Gyalpo Losar was celebrated as a spring festival from the reign of Pude Gungyal, the ninth emperor of Tibet.

Activities

Gyalpo Losar is celebrated for 2 weeks. The main celebrations take place during first three days. On the first day, a traditional beverage called ''Changkol'', an equivalent of

Chhaang Chhaang or chhyang (, ne, छ्याङ, new, थो:) is a Nepalese and Tibetan alcoholic beverage also popular in parts of the eastern Himalayas, Yakkha, Limbu, Dura, Newar, Sunuwar, Rai, Gurung, Magar, Sherpa, Tamang and Lepcha comm ...

is drunk. In the second day, which is the start of new year, Gyalpo Losar is celebrated. On the third day, people gather together to have a feast. Various traditional dances representing the struggle between demon and god are performed in the Monasteries.

Mantras A mantra (Pali: ''manta'') or mantram (मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words in Sanskrit, Pali and other languages believed by practitioners to have religious, ma ...

are chanted and holy torches are passed among all the people in the crowd. A traditional dance depicting a battle between a deer and the King is also performed. Traditional dishes are served during the festival. One of the main dishes is a soup called Gutung cooked with nine kinds of beans and meat, wheat, rice, sweet potato, cheese, peas, green pepper, vermicelli noodles and radish. The soup is served with dumpling.

Khapse ''Khapse'' (from Tibetan: ཁ་ཟས་) or colloquially known as amjok (from Tibetan ཨམ་བྱོག་ (Ear)) is a Tibetan biscuit that is traditionally prepared during the Tibetan New Year or Losar. The dough for the ''khapse'' is usu ...

, a deep-fried pastry commonly eaten during, symbolizing the start of holiday celebrations. Firecrackers are fired to get rid of ill spirits. Traditional dances such as Syabru are performed.

References

{{New Year by Calendar Festivals in Nepal New Year celebrations Buddhist festivals in Nepal Buddhist festivals in India New Year in India Sherpa culture

Mythology

History

Activities

See also

References