Losar Festival or Tibetan New Year 2025

Losar Festival, or Tibetan New Year, is one of the greatest and most awaited events for local people. It is usually celebrated between February and March and lasts for about two weeks. The celebrations are marked by vibrant decorations, cultural performances, and the preparation of traditional dishes like "guthuk," a noodle soup with symbolic ingredients representing good fortune or traits to leave behind.

Dates

The Tibetan New Year, or Losar, spans 15 days, from February 28th to March 14th in 2025. The most significant celebrations occur during New Year’s Eve and the first three days, with Tibetan families coming together to observe traditions.

Where To Go

The best place to witness the celebrations is Lhasa. You can see colorful parades, exciting competitions and ancient ceremonies, traditional dancing and chanting, and lots of other performances.

Tibetian New Year Traditions

The last two days of the previous year are called Gutor. At this time, people begin their preparation for Losar. During the first Gutor day, these preparations usually include some housework like cleaning and cooking special dishes. At night local people will use a torch, called Tsampa, to get rid of evil spirits and old things. At the end of the ceremony, the torch is also burnt at the crossroads. The second day of Gutor features some religious ceremonies, gifts, and donations to monks.

On the first day of New Year, called Choe-Kyong Losar, people get up very early, take a bath, and dress up in new clothes. Wives wake up first for the “first water of the year” and prepare all the traditional dishes with this water, which is believed to bring luck for the whole family.

Prayer flags on the roofs of houses, hills, and mountains are also changed during this day. Families usually pray and eat together and give gifts to each other. On the second day of New Year, locals visit their relatives and friends. The third day is usually spent at local monasteries.

Butter Lamp Festival

The last 15th day of the celebration is the Butter Lamp Festival. Monks perform some special purification rituals and then create huge yak butter sculptures, which are displayed in monasteries.

Festival's guests can enjoy cultural and artistic activities like the traditional Cham dance performed in the temple. During these performances, artists wear intricate masks and elaborately embroidered robes, blending song and movement in a captivating display. The music features traditional instruments such as loudspeakers, suona, cowhide drums, gongs, and other percussion, creating a powerful and rhythmic atmosphere that complements the dancers' expressive movements.

Monlam

Monlam, which means ‘the path of desires’, is an important festive ceremony of the Gelug sect in Tibetan Buddhism, which will take place at Drepung, Sera and Ganden monasteries in Lhasa from the 4th to the 25th day of the first lunar month. The monks sing, pray and discuss scriptures with the belief that this will be the key to peace and prosperity in the Tibetan lands.

Guthuk

During the New Year celebrations in Tibet, you can also taste the traditional New Year's dishes like Gutuk. Dumplings with various ingredients are cooked on New Year's Eve. Traditionally, some dumplings are stuffed with salt or rice, and finding them, as well as a pebble, is a sign of good luck.

History

Losar, the Tibetan New Year, has deep historical roots that predate the arrival of Tibetan Buddhism. Initially, it was a winter festival celebrated under the indigenous Bon religion, during which people sought protection from deities. Over time, as Tibetan Buddhism spread, this celebration evolved and merged with Buddhist traditions.