Tibetans gear up for New Year celebrations
Source: Xinhua |
March 5, 2011, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
FIRECRACKERS and prayer flags, Tibetan and Mandarin Chinese food, Buddhist rituals, singing and dancing - together all indicate that Losar, the Tibetan New Year, is just around the corner.
The start of the Year of Iron Rabbit, which begins today, is a carnival for all of China's 5 million Tibetans and the -celebrations will last for more than two weeks.
The festival, which falls on the 29th day of the last Tibetan month of the year, features family reunions and the lighting of fireworks and torches and is similar to Lunar New Year's Eve in many ways.
Across the plateau region, Tibetan New Year festivities are to be seen everywhere.
The square in front of the Potala Palace in the heart of Lhasa was spruced up with a parterre, red lanterns and a huge "chiema" - a container made of five cereals, filled with roasted highland barley flour mixed with butter, fried barley and other ingredients, is adorned with a butter -sculpture in the shape of the head of a sheep.
The "chiema" is prepared in every Tibetan home and is served to every guest.
Other Tibetan New Year necessities include prayer flag trees, or "Darchors." The -colorful prayer flags on hilltops during the Tibetan New Year are believed to bring Tibetans peace, compassion, wisdom, and strength.
The prayer flags, which are available at local markets across the region, have five colors, which are blue, white, red, green, and yellow. Respectively, they stand for sky, air, fire, water, and earth - the five essential elements which are believed to benefit Tibetan Buddhists.
The start of the Year of Iron Rabbit, which begins today, is a carnival for all of China's 5 million Tibetans and the -celebrations will last for more than two weeks.
The festival, which falls on the 29th day of the last Tibetan month of the year, features family reunions and the lighting of fireworks and torches and is similar to Lunar New Year's Eve in many ways.
Across the plateau region, Tibetan New Year festivities are to be seen everywhere.
The square in front of the Potala Palace in the heart of Lhasa was spruced up with a parterre, red lanterns and a huge "chiema" - a container made of five cereals, filled with roasted highland barley flour mixed with butter, fried barley and other ingredients, is adorned with a butter -sculpture in the shape of the head of a sheep.
The "chiema" is prepared in every Tibetan home and is served to every guest.
Other Tibetan New Year necessities include prayer flag trees, or "Darchors." The -colorful prayer flags on hilltops during the Tibetan New Year are believed to bring Tibetans peace, compassion, wisdom, and strength.
The prayer flags, which are available at local markets across the region, have five colors, which are blue, white, red, green, and yellow. Respectively, they stand for sky, air, fire, water, and earth - the five essential elements which are believed to benefit Tibetan Buddhists.
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