What is Losar?

Losar is Tibetan for “new year.” ‘Lo‘ means year and ‘sar‘ means new. Losar is the most important festival celebrated by Tibetans all over the world.

Losar is a fifteen day festival, with the first five days being the most important. On the first day celebrations are usually restricted to the family. The second day is a time to visit monasteries, temples, and shrines. On days three to five, we visit extended family, especially the elders, to offer them a khada (traditional scarf) and receive their blessings.

During the festival of Losar, it’s traditional to wear new clothes. People greet each other with the customary New-Year greeting of “Tashi Delek” (good luck) and visit monasteries, stupas and shrines to make offerings and donations in the form of food and other gifts to the monks and nuns. They also visit their dear ones and exchange gifts in various forms.

Preparations for Losar begin almost a month before the festival begins with the cleaning and whitewashing of homes and shopping for great feasts.

This is a time when one gets to enjoy Guthuk (soups made from different kinds of vegetables and even wine). Ingredients such as chillies, salt, wool, rice and even coal are hidden in one’s dough balls and handed out. If a person finds a chilli, he/she is considered talkative. If a person finds coal, he/she is regarded to have a ‘black heart’. Finding wood, rice etc are considered as a ‘good sign’. These are taken lightheartedly.

Losar is welcomed with prayers and it brings with it good and auspicious energies into our homes and our lives.

Losar at Jhamtse Gatsal

Dorjee N., Student

Losar is a grand festival that is celebrated by Tibetans, Monpas, Ladakhi, and many other people from the Himalayan regions. We prepare it a month before it starts. During this festival, we make khapse and snacks, made out of rice, maida, soya beans, etc.  Especially during Losar, we give offerings to our essential God and to our guests and relatives who come home. And we also have outdoor picnics which is a very unique culture in these regions!

Two days before Losar, we have Gu-Thuk on the 29th day of the month in the evening with our family members. Gu-Thuk is a special type of noodle that contains nine different ingredients. Inside the noodle, there is a paper that has one of these words: salt, charcoal, cotton, and chilly. All of these words have different significance and represent our human behavior:

• charcoal represents a black heart

• chilly for a short temper

• cotton for a kind heart

• salt for the person's ability to gauge another's character

Before Gu-Thuk, the family prays in their sacred “Choi-Sham” or prayer room. At the end of prayers, we sent send away the sang-changpang which is made up of dough. It is significant as it represents us sending away all the obstacles and bad luck from the past years. We wish goodwill for all sentient beings, including ourselves. 

One day before Losar, called Nam-Gang, is the day we do a major cleaning of our homes. We also wash all the utensils and bathe, in preparation for the New Year ‘Losar.’

Our Losar consists of 15-20 days of celebration—we believe that the first three days are the most essential. The first day of Losar is called Lama Losar. People visit the Monastery to pay respect to the priest/lama, to receive their blessings for long and healthy life. Second day of Losar is Gyalpo Losar. Gyalpo means king, representing authority figures. The third Losar is Chokyong-Losar. Chokyong means guardian. We thank them for their protection and we also offer tendel, deep gratitude, and thanks to our parents and to the oldest person in our house. On the 15th day of Losar, the celebrations come to an end. That day is also a full moon because it becomes that much more auspicious.

Tenzin C., Head Amala

Losar is a celebration of the hard work of the previous year. To celebrate the efforts that went into agriculture and work, it’s a celebration, a time to relish the harvests. In that time, we make Khapse, to place before the god. To celebrate the efforts, we give to god before we start the celebrations. As a family, we work together to make the Khapse. It’s a great family bonding experience.

Khapse is a fried snack made with maida. It is traditionally made with locally harvested wheat and rice flour. Losar is a celebration of hard work and efforts on the farm. It’s usually a 20-day celebration. At Jhamtse Gatsal, we have a 7-day celebration.

Mani S., Student

I went to my home in my village for the Losar holidays. The first day of Losar is on March 3. On the first day, I woke up early and helped clean the house. Losar is the time when all our friends come home. Mostly, I spent time with my friends. We also went to visit the Dolma Lhakang and went to the children’s park. I had a lot of fun with my friends.

Sangey Y., Student

On the first day of Losar, we made different types of food at home and shared it with our neighbors. I also burst crackers with the younger children in the village. On the second day, I went to the monastery with my friends. On the third day, we usually put up new prayer flags. On the fourth day of Losar, we usually play games with everyone in the village. On the last day of our holidays and the seventh day of Losar, we went down to the river had a lot of celebrations with the entire family. On the 15th day of Losar, the last day of celebrations, we went to the monastery, where we met a lot of people and monks. I loved this Losar and will miss it.

Lobsang T., Student

Losar is basically the Tibetan new year. This year is a Buddhist spiritual new year and is followed on the basis of the Lunar calendar. This festival is very important for Buddhists. At this festival, a special snack called khapse is made and offered to the gods. On the day before Losar, we have a special day called Guthok. On this day, we make a special thukpa with cereals, deals, and nuts. We also clean the house.