Butter Lantern Festival

Brief Introduction of Butter Lantern Festival

The fifteenth day of January in Tibetan calendar is the last day of Great Prayer Festival. At this day, the districts where Tibetans live in will present images of animals, plants and figures which are made by colorful butter to celebrate Butter Lantern Festival. Monks, masses and folk artists will use butter and Tibetan paint to make delicate butter sculptures. Some butter sculptures also form conic story by several pictures to tell the ancient legends of Tibetan.

Origin of Butter Lantern Festival

Butter Lantern Festival originated in 7th year of Yongle in Qing Dynasty (1409). It was created by Tsongkapa when he held Great Prayer Festival in Lhasa in fifteen of January. Tsongkapa sacrificed Butter sculpture and lantern to the statue of Sakyamuni in Jokhang Temple; use the butter lantern to commemorate Sakyamuni overcame evil spirits. There's another idea think that Butter lantern was used to celebrate Sakyamuni's victory over non-Buddhist opponents.

Content of Butter Lantern Festival

Butter Lantern Festival was named "meiduoqiejie" in Tibetan language. During the festival, monasteries will hold trance and other singing and dancing activities. People who join in trance will dress gown and mask, complained with Tibetan trumpet, so-na, drum and gong and drum to sing and dance, to show the happiness.

In 15th of January in Tibetan calendar, there will hold butter sculpture exhibition in every monasteries to celebrate Sakyamuni's victory over non-Buddhist opponents. Tibetan named it "Gandanangqu" which is a traditional religious festival.

Butter Lantern Festival in History

In fifteenth of January in Tibetan calendar, people will worship and pray in monasteries in daytime. They will hold Butter Lantern meeting in Barkhor Street in night. They pitch up various flower shelves, with colorful immortals, figures, animals and plants images exhibited on them. When the lanterns are lighten up, which look like the stars falling down and twinkle. Dalai Lama and main officers will come to enjoy the lanterns. Wonderful landscape and variety lanterns will attract thousands people come here to enjoy, over night. There are many activities in lantern meeting which will make young people and children so exciting that forget to go home.

Butter sculpture and Butter Lantern Meeting were introduced into Gansu, Qinghai and Tibet. Among them, the most famous is the butter sculpture in Taer Monastery, Qinghai province which got the reputation of "one of the three unique art forms in Taer Monastery". The butter sculptures which exhibited in Taer Monastery were made from three months ago. The content of Taer Monastery butter sculpture includes flowers, bonsais and the comic stories of life story of Sakyamuni, Princess Wencheng Coming into Tibet, and the Tang Priest's Journey for Scriptures.

In the night of January 15th, people will pitch up flower shelves on the fixed place around Sutra Chanting Hall; then, put the prepared butter sculptures on them and worship butter lanterns before the sculptures. After exhibiting, they will list out the rank.