Nyalam County Festivals and Activities
If you plan your tour of Tibet well, not only will you be able to see the pristine beauty of the region, you can also participate in the numerous highly colorful Tibet Traditional festivals of the region. Hardly a day passes without some festivities, ceremonial observances or pilgrimages occurring in some part of the region or the other. Whichever festival you include in your travel itinerary, be sure to take lots of pictures. So trust us, you are going to need it.
Festivals in Shigatse
Tibet New Year
Like Chinese Spring Festival, Tibet has the most important spring festival. And people call this festival as Tibetan New Year or Losar on the Tibet calendar. Here the word of “Losar: is the Tibetan word for “new Year”. The Tibetan calendar is usually 4-6 weeks behind the solar calendar. And the Losar begins on the first day.
Tibetan People celebrate Tibet New Year for 15 days. And they have the main celebrations on the first three days. The last two days of the old year has a famous name of “Gutor” in Tibetan . On the first Gutor, the monasteries made special noodles called “Guthuk”. This includes nine different ingredients like dried cheese and various grains. On the second Gutor, people always clean and prepare for the coming New Year. And they go to local monastery to worship and give gifts to the monks. On the New Year’s Day, People get up early. And they have a reunion dinner during the day. They celebrate the festival by chanting, passing on fire through crowds and dancing.
Dharma Festival, a very well-known festival in Tibet began popular in Gyangtse, Shigatse, at the beginning. Dharma means horse race and archery in Tibetan. The Dharma Festival is still current in many places, the center of Gyangtse in particular. This festival used to be held in April with many activities, such as horse race, horsemanship, wrestle, Buddha exhibition, performance of shaman's trance dance and sacrificing and so on. Nowadays, the Dharma Festival is celebrated in June when Tibetan people can get a spare set of hands from farm work.
Gyantse Horse Race Festival is another exciting moment for Gyangtse people, even all Tibet people. Horse race was an contest at the beginning. Now, it is just the time to have fun for Tibetan people. During Gyangtse Horse Race Festival, people carefully dress themselves and their best horse. Thousands of participants come together and show their excellence in horsemanship and archery. Besides, some people grasp this opportunity to exchange goods. This annual festival is usually held in June, with the grandest scene and largest scale in local.
