Travel
Sites Visit
Goa, Karnataka,
Kerala, Tamil
Nadu, Andhra Pradesh in South
India, Delhi, Rajasthan,
Uttar Pradesh, Himachal
Pradesh in North India, Assam, Bengal,
Sikkim in East India |
| |
|
Go
to : Index
File
Ladakh celebrates
its annual Losar festival
by Jigmet Angchuk Ladakh:
Residents of Ladakh have celebrated the onset of their new year Losar with
great festivity and fervor. Losar is a Tibetan word for New Year. 'Lo' means year
and 'sar' means new. The annual Losar, as per the Tibetan calendar, generally
commences a week prior to the Gregorian New Year and the celebrations continue
till January end. Residents mostly Buddhists also thronged the town's main monastery
to pray and pay obeisance to 'Maitreya Buddha' or Future Buddha. "The importance
of this festival is not only spread to a limited area of all the Buddhist countries
and Himalayas but till Mongolia because of the birth anniversary of the great
Saint of Tibet, Gyalwa Tsongapa on the first day of the eleventh lunar month in
year 1357," said Jamyang Gyalsion, a scholar. Preparations begin on the 29th day
of the tenth lunar month, which lasts for seven days with the illumination of
buildings, gonpas (monasteries), houses, and shrines with butter lamps. The festivities
recreate the rich cultural heritage of Ladakh, popularly known as the roof of
the world, situated at a height of 12,000 feet to 4,000 feet. The festival is
marked with ancient rituals, the stage fights between good and evil, chanting
and passing through the crowds with fire torches. The dance of the Ibex deer and
the dramatic battles between the King and his ministers add to the joyous atmosphere.
Though Ladakh is part of Jammu and Kashmir, the lifestyle and culture of the people
are very different from the rest of the state.
-Dec 24, 2008
| | |
|