Tibetan Spring Sowing Festival

Tibetan Spring Sowing Festival – Time

Tibetan Spring Sowing Festival will be held on an auspicious day in the first month of New Year.

Tibetan Spring Sowing Festival – Origin

Tibetan Spring Sowing Festival is also named "Sowing Festival" and "Experimental Planting Festival". It meant trying to plough. It is to wear yoke for the calf who is trying to plough for the first time. On one auspicious day in the first month of each year in Tibetan Calendar, Tibetans will hold a rite. Tibetans will hold the welcome rite based on the auspicious day for sowing which is fixed by Tibetan Calendar. In the three to four days before the Sowing Festival, Tibetans will brew barley wine and prepare ornaments for livestock.

Tibetan Spring Sowing Festival – Celebration

Before sunrise in the day of Spring Sowing Festival, women who have the same animal sign with this year and several old farmers will come to the best field which was found when plough in this year to place the well-prepared wine and tea, prayer flags which are used to wish and the censer which is used to sacrifice before all villagers coming. Then, they will pray in the field for the coming harvest and prosperous corps in this year and wish to get blessed by the God of earth.

After sacrificing the God the earth, villagers will go back the village. Once reach the village, all of them will dress their most beautiful clothes and dress up their livestock. With the sound of conch which is made by leader in the village, villagers and women with the same animal sign with this year and elderly will go to the filed which will be ploughed. The young boys and girls will happily form several groups to drink tea and wine. After drinking tea and wine, several men will burn incense and offer up sacrifices, set upright prayer flags and sing encomium to worship gods toward the direction of plow. In the rite of sacrifice, in general, each family can only bring a pair of working cattle. Then, the hostess in the family will toast wine to heaven for three times and smear ghee on the forehead of cattle for three times to pray for luck. After that, Tibetans will stick prayer flags on the yoke of each pair of cattle. After the first plough, the women with the same animal sign with this year will sow the lucky seeds. Then, other working cattle will plough one pair by one pair. At that time, the field is the world of cattle.

After the rite of worshipping, the villagers will gather together to take a rest. Men in the village will have the competition of run, wrestle and other games, as well as some traditional activities and folk sports. At the same time, they will sing song and dance, to fully enjoy the festival. After the Spring Sowing Festival, starting from the second day, the people who will plough fields will happily have banquet for five to six days. If you have Tibet tour in this time, you also can experience the happy festival atmosphere.