I. Tibetan New Year
January in Tibetan calendar is the month with the most festivals and the most solemn. There are festivals almost every day in this month. The New Year is the most important festival for people. People have been preparing for the New Year since the beginning of December in the Tibetan calendar. First, put the cultivated highland barley seedlings on the double cabinets in front of the Buddha. By the middle of the month, families began to fry fruits with ghee and flour.
Near the end of the year, every necessary cereal bucket is filled with rice cakes, fried highland barley grains, ginseng fruits and other foods mixed with butter, and a colorful butter-molded sheep head is prepared by inserting highland barley ears on it. All this is to wish the coming year a good weather, a prosperous population and a bumper harvest of animals.
1On February 29th, people cleaned the kitchen and painted "eight auspicious emblems" on the middle wall with dry flour. In the evening, the family sat together to eat "ancient vomit" (a kind of cooked pimple), and after eating, they held a grand ceremony to send ghosts to show that they could avoid ghosts and exorcise evil spirits. On New Year's Eve, the official China New Year began. The door of every household is painted with lime powder to symbolize auspiciousness. The cleaned room is covered with new "card mats", and all kinds of fried melons and fruits, ghee, tea bricks, dried fruits and other offerings are piled up in front of the Buddhist shrine in the main room.
The first day of junior high school is usually a day of family reunion. People get up early, put on new clothes, worship God first, then exchange New Year greetings with cereal barrels and highland barley wine, say some auspicious wishes, and then start drinking hot highland barley wine prepared the day before and eating ginseng fruit cooked with oatmeal and ghee. On the second day of the Lunar New Year, relatives and friends began to pay New Year greetings to each other.
From the fourth day of the fourth lunar month, a large-scale convening meeting was held in Lhasa, which was first established by Zong Kaba, the founder of Gelug Sect of Tibetan Buddhism, in 1409 to commemorate Sakyamuni's transformation into a demon. At first, the monks of the three major monasteries chanted prayers in front of the statue of Sakyamuni in Jokhang Temple, lectured and debated the scriptures, lived in harmony and established sects, and obtained a new Jean Bagsy degree (the highest degree in Tibetan Buddhism). During the Fa Conference, besides the government giving alms to monks, believers from all over the country also came here to add lanterns to offer alms to the Buddha. The Dharma will not end until the Maitreya Buddha is welcomed on 1 25th.
Second, butter sculpture Lantern Festival
There is also an important festival in January, that is, the butter sculpture Lantern Festival on 1 month 15. During the day, people go to various temples to worship Buddha, and at night, all kinds of flower stands are filled with streets and alleys. The highest is three stories high, and the lowest is two stories high. There are colorful immortals, figures, birds and animals, flowers and trees made of ghee, or tall and magnificent, or small and exquisite, and hundreds of lanterns shine, making the whole street dazzling and dazzling. _ _ Lama and principal officials routinely patrol and watch lanterns, and celebrate festivals with monks and laymen, pushing the festivals to a climax.
The butter sculpture Lantern Festival began in the seventh year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty, namely 1409. On the fifteenth day of the first month, when Zong Kaba, the founder of the Gelug Sect, founded the Zhao Chuan Dharma Association in Lhasa, he displayed various offerings to solemnly commemorate the day when Sakyamuni showed his gods to surrender evil spirits. Since then, people have followed their custom, and every household should put butter sculpture lanterns on the fifteenth day of the first month. Tibetan is "Jian 'akuba".
/kloc-from 24th to 26th, October, archery competition and exorcism ceremony will be held. At this time, Lhasa was crowded with people and was very lively.
Three. Karin Festival
May 15 in Tibetan calendar is Karin Festival. Tibetan is called "Mulin Sangji in Tibet", which means World Incense Burning Day and World Happy Day. It is said to commemorate Master Lotus Peanut's subjugation of all demons in Tibet in May of the Year of the Monkey.
On this day, the Tibetan people who love nature and are good at singing and dancing wear festive costumes, bring highland barley wine, butter tea and all kinds of delicious food to the densely forested Karin, set up tents, sing and dance while eating and drinking, and enjoy nature to the fullest. Tents are also invited to each other, and folk artists perform here. This festival usually lasts for a month.
Fourth, the Shelton Festival.
The first day of July in the Tibetan calendar is the Snow Festival, which means "the festival of eating yogurt". Because the Xuedun Festival is dominated by Tibetan opera, it is also called "Tibetan Opera Festival". /kloc-Before the 7th century, the "Snow Festival" was purely a religious activity. According to the law at that time, monks were forbidden to go out in summer, and they could not go down the mountain until dozens of days after the ban was lifted. People have to prepare yogurt when they go down the mountain, which is the source of "Xuedun".
/kloc-In the middle of the 0/7th century, Tibetan opera performances were held and the "Snow Festival" was fixed, but religious and entertainment activities were still restricted outside the temples. Until the beginning of18th century, Norbulingka was built and became the Lama's summer palace. The activities of the Snowdon Festival were also moved to Norbulingka, and people were allowed to enter the park to watch dramas, forming a set of fixed festival ceremonies.
Some people call it "Tibetan Opera Festival" and "Buddha Baking Festival" because there is a grand and enthusiastic Tibetan opera performance and a grand Buddha baking ceremony during the Xuedun Festival.
V. Fruit Festival
"Guo Wang Festival" is a harvest festival in August of Tibetan calendar. There is no fixed date, but it is usually held when the crops are ripe. "Guo Wang" is a Tibetan language, which means cruising fields. Up to now, it has a history of 1000 years, starting from the middle and lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River. The initial "fruit watching" activity was a ritual of offering sacrifices to the gods and praying for a bumper harvest. Generally speaking, taking the village as a unit, there is the practice of teaching wizards, and villagers circle around the land of their village. With the development and infiltration of religion, "fruit-seeking" activities are constantly updated.
In the late 8th century, Ma Ning, a Tibetan Buddhism, flourished, and the activity of "fruit viewing" was influenced by Ma Ning, so it was necessary to recite a mantra and pray for a bumper harvest. /kloc-in the 0/4th century, the Gelug Sect developed and gradually occupied a dominant position, and the "fruit viewing" activity was colored by the Yellow Sect. Hold high the Buddha statue and read the scriptures before the parade. Since then, "fruit watching" activities have been fixed as festivals, and some activities such as horse racing, archery, singing and dancing, Tibetan opera, stone throwing and wrestling have gradually increased. In addition to agricultural areas, some pastoral areas also hold similar activities.
Sixth, Fairy Festival.
In October of the Tibetan calendar, there are two major religious festivals. One is the auspicious Tianmu Festival on 10/5, which is called "Baila Rizhuo" in Tibetan. Every year, all the monks in Muru Temple hold a grand sacrifice to Wang Zun, the custodian of Jokhang Temple. /kloc-On the evening of 0/4, monks welcomed the statue of Tianmu Mountain to the Sakyamuni Buddha Hall and sat opposite Sakyamuni Buddha.
/kloc-On the morning of 0/5, at sunrise, monks came to Barkhor Street with their heads in the sky. Many kind men and women presented Hada to the statue of Tianmu. After holding a series of deity activities, they returned to Jokhang Temple, and the Tianmu statue sat on the original throne. Women are particularly interested in this festival, which is called "Fairy Festival". On this day, they will dress up and burn incense and make a wish in front of the Statue of Liberty.
Seven, Lantern Festival
Another festival in October is the Lantern Festival on the 25th. Zong Kaba, founder of Gelug Sect of Tibetan Buddhism, died on this day. That night, countless lights were lit on the roofs of monasteries and lay people, and the prayer-turning team flowed endlessly. Believers hold mulberry branches and throw them into the incense burner in front of Jokhang Temple, praying that the Buddha will bring them good luck.
There are countless traditional festivals and religious festivals in Tibet, and people celebrate them almost every once in a while.