Lo-Sar: The New Year Festival

By Siddhi B. Ranjitkar

Nepalis living along the northern border with Tibet, are they Tamangs, Sherpas, Gurungs or any other ethnic people belonging to the Buddhist faith celebrate a New Year festival called Lo-Sar. Lo means year and Sar means new. Thus, Lo-Sar means a New Year. They have four kinds of Lo-Sar. They are “Tamu”, “Tola”, “Sonam” and “Gyalpo” Lo-Sars. People in Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan, Sikkim and northeastern part of India called Ladak celebrate one of these Lo-Sars following their tradition and custom. This year “Tamu” Lo-sar is on December 30, 2007; “Tola” is on January 09, 2008; “Sonam” is on February 08, 2008; “Gyalpo” is on March 08, 2007.

Some people believe that “Tola” Lo-Sar is celebrated in preparation for celebrating the main Lo-Sar following the lunar calendar. However, it is not so because people in the mountain areas of Nepal widely use both lunar and solar calendars. They celebrate Lo-Sar on the day when the sun begins moving toward north according to the lunar calendar. So, it falls some time in December. Some people think that it is a mock New Year celebration because the name “Tola” means mock.

The third Lo-Sar is called “Sonam” Lo-Sar. The name Sonam is derived from “Sonampa” means farmers. Farmers celebrate Lo-Sar before the agricultural season sets in. Hence, it is called “Sonam” Lo-Sar or farmers’ New Year. Farmers celebrate it some time in January about one and a half months earlier than “Gyalpo” Lo-Sar.

The fourth Lo-Sar “Gyalpo” means royal or king. So, kings and royalties celebrate “Gyalpo” Lo-Sar in the first week of March. The Sherpa community in Nepal celebrates “Gyalpo” Lo-Sar. Some people believe that some scholars set the tradition of celebrating “Gyalpo” Lo-Sar in commemoration of the miracles Lord Shrawosti Buddha performed for fifteen days to convert religious pilgrims to Buddhism. Therefore, the celebration of “Gyalpo” Lo-Sar coincides with these religious festivals.

In Nepal, Gurungs celebrate “Tola” Lo-sar; Tamangs celebrate “Sonam” Lo-sar; and Sherpas celebrate “Gyalpo” Lo-sar.

In preparation for celebrating Lo-Sar, people renovate, paint and decorate their house. They draw figures of mountain, sun, moon and Swastikas on the walls of their house and rooms. They buy new clothes for all family members. They discard old things and bring new utensils, pots and pans, and other household appliances into use in the New Year. They believe that the old things that were not much useful in the year won’t bring good luck to them in the New Year. They also think that it is inauspicious to throw away things during the New Year festival. So, they discard and throw out many things before the Lo-Sar festival sets in. They collect all worn-out clothes, broken items and other non-usable materials, and take them to the intersection of seven lanes; there, they burn them down. They believe that by doing so, the misfortunes that befell them in the year, will not repeat in the New Year.

Nepalese Sherpas living abroad and far away from home return to their families to celebrate Lo-Sar. They read scriptures, and recite important passages of religious books throughout the whole day on the New Year eve, so that the New Year sets in with peace, happiness and good health for all.

They feast on a special soup called “Gyathuk” on the New Year eve. They also feast on nine bowls of “Gyathuk” to ensure a lucky start to the New Year. This is a special kind of “Thukpa” — a noodle soup prepared from nine different items. Then, they serve ‘Gyathuk” to family members with a dumpling. Each dumpling contains a piece of paper that has a word written of an item such as chili, butter, coal and so on that describe the personality traits of the receiver. The person receiving a piece of paper with word “butter” in the dumpling is considered as a lucky person for that year, and the person receiving “coal” on a paper is considered as an unlucky person. They have nine different characteristics that are used in dumplings for prediction of luck of their family members on the New Year eve.

They make a dough figurine called “Luu” and place it in a separate bowl. This effigy serves as an evil spirit carrier. Every family member pours the leftover soup in the bowl with the figurine at the end of the “Gyathuk” meal. Thereafter, every person in the family transfers the so-called evil spirit that may be dwelling in them to the effigy. They do it by taking a piece of the dough effigy, and then rubbing it on their body, and putting it back into the bowl with the effigy. After this ritual, one of the family members takes the bowl with the spirit possessed dough figurine to a crossroads, and leaves it there. The person comes home not looking back because if the person looks over the shoulder, evil spirits may find the way back home.

People rise early in the morning on the New Year day, and go to collect holy water from the Water Gods. They worship three Water Gods at the water source before collecting holy water. People believe that persons taking water first will receive “Amrit” (elixir or nectar) from Water Gods as blessings. They bring holy water home and then they offer it along with “Khapsay” — fried bread especially made for this occasion, and “Nai Baidya” — nuts, sweets and fruits to their ancestral deity at home. Thus, they begin a New Year with auspicious offerings to the deity.

After completion of the offerings to the ancestral deity, they eat breakfast comprising soup called “Chang-go” prepared by boiling ‘chhang’ (home-brewed beer) with sugar, butter and dried cheese. Then, they eat a second course called “Deysel” — a sweet rice dish cooked with dried fruits and nuts. They consume a number of “Khapsay” along with the dishes they eat. They drink butter tea endlessly.

After the morning meal, they visit monasteries to perform offerings to Lord Buddha, to read holy books, and to receive New Year blessings from Lamas. They do not perform monetary transactions on this day believing that it may bring adversities to business in the New Year.

From the second day on, they visit relatives, friends and neighbors to exchange best wishes. They greet each other saying “Tashi - Delek” means happy New Year. Every household welcomes guests with delicious dishes and “chhang”.

On the third day, they gather at a public place to celebrate Lo-Sar jointly. First, they offer “Khada” — ceremonial silk scarves, sweets, fruits and so on to Lamas and senior respectable people of the society, and receive blessings from them. Then, they exchange delicious food among themselves. After these rituals, they take ‘Dor-chhod” religious flags to the top of hills, there, they unfurl them on flagpoles. They also offer incense and sweets to deities there. They chant “Lha-Gyal Lo, Dud Famshow” in one voice. This means glory to the deities and death to the devils. Then, they distribute “chhang” and “chemar” — a mixture of cooked barley flour, butter and sugar as blessings from deities.

Then, men and women holding each others’ hands sing and dance spontaneously, thus, displaying happiness in the celebration of Lo-Sar festival. This dance is called “Sya-pu”. It does not need music. Thereafter, each household holds a feast every day, in turn, until all households has done it. So, the New Year feast lasts several days.

They have a tradition to send a basketful of “khapsay” to friends and relatives. This fried bread is a special cuisine of this festival. Some people decorate their religious room with the different color and size of “khapsay”. Therefore, they put their efforts on and skills to prepare a variety of “khapsay” on the occasion of “Lo-sar”. They cook this kind of bread only once a year during the “Lo-sar” festival. People demonstrate their craftsmanship and ingenuity in preparing such artistic and unique bread not only for consumption during the festival but also for decoration and for sending it as a present to friends and relatives.

References:

1. Bhichhu Wong Wosere Lama Sherpa: Lo-Sar: The Festival of Nepalis Living in the Himalayan Region, “Gorkhapatra in Nepali,” February 19, 1994.

2. Jamyong Lodoe and Susan Roe: Happy Tibetan New Year, “The Independent,” February 16, 1994

3. Rabindra Tamang: Sonam Lo-sar among the Tamang Community, “Gorkhapatra supplement,” February 26, 2000