Tibetan Traditional New Year

Tibetan Traditional New Year

It is a significant experience to enjoy Tibetan traditional new year during Tibet tour for most tourists from abroad. The most celebrated festival in Tibet is Tibet traditional New Year. As December of Tibet calendar starts, Tibetan begins busy with new year's preparation. In every family, they grow spout of qingke barley and put it before Buddha statue for celebrating a harvest new year in advance. When it comes to the middle of December, Tibetan families use butter and flour to fry kase, a kind of refreshment. With the upcoming year end, every family will prepare a bumper grain harvest container called zusu fill the zusu qiema in which qingke barley spikes are pluged. A colored sculpture of sheep head made of butter (named as luoguo in Tibetan) is also prepared. Qie ma and luoguo both symbolize a happy, harvest and prosperous new year. Two days prior to new year's eve, they clean houses, put out new kadian (small carpet, a dispensable necessity in Tibet family. It is used as mattress, cushion, saddle pad, etc.) and gum new year's paintings on the wall.

On December, 29th, people clean their kitchens and spray flour to the wall in the middle. In the evening, every family member from the young to the old makes padu (made of flour) together. As it gets dark, all family members sit in the order of the old priority and eat podu together. It is called gutu in Tibetan which originated from the custom of dispelling evils and the ritual is held. Gu in Tibetan means nine (symbolizes twenty nine here), tu, namely means tuba. It is necessary to make two sorts of padu in the ritual. The first sort is shaped as its symbols, for instance, sun symbolizes wealthy, prestigious, honorable and scripture symbolizes wise, knowledgeable while double face drum symbolizes unreliable person, etc. The second sort, partially, has stone, pepper, coal, wool in side, which respectively symbolizes hard, coldblooded, garrulous and soft heart respectively. People who have got any sort of them have to take it out and show to others for joy of the eve, the simple and old ritual is given moral contents, and became a means of education o morality. On new year;s eve, families clean out their residences, put out new kadian, lay up kase (deep dried food) with four to five layers and place fruits, butter, brick tea, salt block, etc. In front of the niches of Buddha outside of the house gate, a pattern of bkra-shis-rtags-beryad is painted in plaster powder. Every household boils guanidin (a heated qinke barley wine with brown sugars, powdered cheese, zanba inside) for next morning. On new year's day,. All families rose before darn, dressed up in attires, wearing the finest ornaments and light butter lumps for all deities, then are seated in orders. Firstly, family members together drink the first cup of butter team then the juniors rise up and carry Qiema and qingke barley wine to the seniors and present hadas to them with blessings of all the best. After that, they sit down and all persons drink hot qingke barley wine together, eat cornmeal and monorchid heminium herb boiled with butter. When family's new year's ceremony ends, they begin to celebrate with neighbours. Young men and women of every family carry Zusu Qiema, bringing qinig-ke barley wine pot and chant wishing all the best and happiness, also wishing a stout household and healthy and hope to celebrate the net new year together when arriving at the door of a family. They offer Qiema and qingke barley wine then the host will treat them with tea, wine and so on. In general, on the first day of new year, family members gather together to celebrate the festival and not to visit others. From the second day of new year festival and not to visit others. From the second day of new year festival, people begin to visit relatives and friends for celebration. In urban and rural areas, people will perform Tibetan opera, dance in Guo Zhuang and Xian zi. In husbandry areas, herd men will enjoy dancing and singing all day time and night. During the festival, there is a series of recreation activities in folk, such as, wertling, casting, tug of war, horse racing and archery.