Celebration of Tibetan New Year Festival 2014

The celebration of the Tibetan New Year Festival 2014 will be celebrated on March 2nd. With the coming of March, local Tibetans start to prepare for this annual important festival from middle February. Tourists visiting Tibet during this period would have the chance to see some special items related to the Tibetan New Year on the street. Couplets with typical Tibetan style patterns and characters with good meanings and blessings will be pasted on the doors.

It has been a tradition for the local Tibetans to purchase new clothes and religion related instruments. The lamas in the monastery would also make preparation for the Tibetan New Year Festival. New prayer flags will be hanged on and the old ones would be taken down. It is reported that Jokhang Temple has changed the prayer flags on their prayer flag pillars on February 26th to welcome the Year of Horse according to their Tibetan calendar. The devout pilgrims tied the prayer flags with blessings and wishes on the pillars to express their expectations in the coming year. This traditional activity would be held in Jokhang Temple once each year.

Before the celebration of the Tibetan New Year, a series of religious ceremonies would be held in the monasteries. Noted as one of the six great monasteries of Gelug Sect of Tibetan Buddhism, Sera Monastery would hold a grand religious ceremony before the Tibetan New Year. This year, the Sera Bengchein ceremony was held on February 26th. Miles of rank composed of numerous pilgrims would enter into Sera Monastery slowly to pray for the blessing of the living Buddha.

Tourists who've been to Tibet might have found that most Tibetans believe in Tibetan Buddhism. There is a small chapel or niche for the Buddha in the Tibetan houses. There are more than 1700 places for different religious activities in Tibet so far and various religious ceremonies would be held on the traditional Tibetan festivals and religious festivals. There are about 46,000 lamas and nuns living in the monasteries on Tibet Plateau.

Tourists visiting Tibet during the celebration of the Tibetan New Year in March should note that the climate in Tibet is pretty change in this season and there is inflation in the temperature. The temperature in Lhasa is pretty low in the morning and night though it will rise to 15 Celsius in the noon. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare a down jacket to protect yourself from the low temperature. In addition, tourists willing to visit Tibet during the celebration of the Tibetan New Year celebration could also take part in the celebration of the annual Peach Blossom Festival which will be started on March 24th this year.

For the celebration of the Tibetan New Year Festival, local Tibetans will have a 7-day holiday from March 2nd to March 8th this year. Except for the religious ceremonies, a series of traditional entertainment and recreation activities would also be important parts of the Tibetan New Year Festival. The horse racing, archery competition and some other traditional Tibetan sports always attract a large number of audiences.