Losar
28 Feb, 2025
Friday
Losar on 28-02-2025
About Losar 2025
What is Losar?
Losar is known as Tibetan New Year, is a festival in Tibetan Buddhism. The festival is celebrated on different dates depending on the location of Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal, India tradition. The festival is a new year festival, celebrated on the first day of the lunisolar Tibetan calendar, which corresponds to a date in February or March in the Gregorian Calendar. It also marked the beginning of the year of the male Wood Dragon.
The Nepalese version of the festival is called Losar and is celebrated about eight weeks before the Tibetan Losar.
Where is Losar Festival Celebrated?
Losar is celebrated for 15 days, with the main celebrations taking place on the first three days. On the first day of Losar, a beverage called Changkol is made from Chhaang, is the Tibetan-Nepali equivalent of beer. The second day of Losar is known as King's Losar called Gyalpo Losar. Losar is traditionally preceded by a five-day practice of Vajrakilaya. Since the Uighurs adopted the Chinese calendar, and since the Mongols and Tibetans adopted the Uighur calendar, Losar occurs around or on the same day as the Chinese New Year and the Mongolian New Year, but Losar traditions are unique to Tibet, and predate both Indian and Chinese influences. Losar is part of the culture of Ladakh for the Buddhists living in the region.
