Festivals in Tibet

Tibetan festivals are held according to the Tibetan lunnar calendar, which usually lags at least a month behind Gregorian calendar. The following are just some of the more important festivals:

Tibetan festivals in 2007 and 2008  ( By Gregorian calendar)

Festivals’ Name	In Year 2007	in Year 2008
Tibetan New Year	19th of Feb.	7th of Feb.
Butter Lamp Festival	4th of March.	26th of March
Saga Dawa festival	31st of May-	18th of June
Gyantse Horse-racing Festival	June	July
Mountian Worship Festival	18th of July	5th of Aug.
Shoton Festival	12th -18th of Aug	30thof Aug-5th of Sep.
Bathing Festival	Middle of Sep.	End of Sep.
Nagqu Horse-racing Festival	10th of Aug.	10th  of Aug.

February / March
Tibetan New Year ( Losar)
It is the greatest festival in Tibet. In ancient times when the peach tree was in blossom, it was considered as the starting of a new year. Since the systematization of the Tibetan calendar in 1027 A.D., The first day of the first month became fixed as the new year. On the new year’s the families unite ‘ auspicious dinner’ is offered and the auspicious words ‘ tashi delek’ are greeted. There are performances of Tibetan drama and pilgrims making incense offering, the streets are thronged with Tibetans dressed in their finest. It is the most colorful festival of Lhasa.Butter Lamp Festival ( Lartern Festival)
The Butter Lamp Festival is celebrated on the 15th of the first month every year. Monks from monasteries and local artists make various-shaped butter flowers with colored butter in pyramids in front the Jokhang Temple. In the evening, after the butter lamps are lit, their lights look just like stars dazzling in the sky. The pyramids made of butter include of immortals, animals, flying birds, beasts, and flowers.

May /June
Saga Dawa festival
It is called ‘the festival to free captive animals’ in local custom. Through the whole fourth month, monks don’t eat meat and don’t commit slaughter. They only concentrate themselves on turning prayer wheels and reciting Buddha’s scriptures. It is said that on the 1st of the fourth month is the day that Shakyamuni was born, became enlightened and achieved nirvana. And you will see large numbers of pilgrims at Lhasa’s Jokhang, on the Barkor circuit and also Mt.Kailash.

June /July
Gyantse Horse-racing Festival
Horse race and archery are generally popular in Tibet, and Gyantse enjoys prestige of being the earliest in history by starting in 1408. Contests in early times included horse race, archery, and shooting on gallop followed by a few days’ entertainment or picnicking. Presently ball games, track and field events, folk songs and dances, barter trade are in addition to the above.

August/September
Mountian Worship Festival
The holy mountain festival begins on the fourth day of the sixth Tibetan month and commemorates Sakyamuni’s (Buddha’s) first sermon. People go to monasteries to pay their respects to the Buddha. Circumambulation around the mountains is a very popular practice during the festival. Picnicking, singing and dancing are also part of the event. Mt.Kailash is a very popular journey at this stage.
 
Shoton Festival
It is one of the major festivals in Tibet, also known as the Tibetan Opera Festival. The founder of the Gelugpa (Yellow Sect of Buddhism), Tsongkhapa set the rule that Buddhists can cultivate themselves only indoor in summer, to avoid killing other creatures carelessly. This rule must be carried out till the seventh lunar month. Then Buddhists go outdoors, accept yoghurt served by local people, and have fun. During the period, giant Thangkas of the Buddha is displayed at Drepung Monastery and Sera Monastery on the first day, operas and masked dances are held at Norbulingka.

September/October
Bathing Festival
It is believed when the sacred planet Venus appears in the sky, the water in the river becomes purest and cures diseases. During its appearance for one week, usually the end of the seventh and beginning of the eighth lunar months, all the people in Tibet go into the river to wash away the grime of the previous year.

Nagqu Horse-racing Festival
There are many horse racing festivals in Tibet, the one in Nagqu of Northern Tibet is the greatest. August is the golden season on Northern Tibet’s vast grassland. Herdsmen, on their horsebacks, in colorful dresses, carrying tents and local products, pour into Nagqu. Soon they form a city of tents. Various exciting programs are held, such as horse racing, yak racing, archery, horsemanship and commodity fair.
 
The Onkor ( Harvest Festival)
It is celebrated when the crops ripen, usually the first week of August. The festival is observed only in farming villages. People walk around their fields to thank the gods and deities for a good year’s harvest. Singing, dancing, and horse racing are indispensable folk activities.

More tips on tibet travel:

Festivals in Tibet

Lhasa Trains’ Schedules and Fares

2008 Lhasa Flights Schedule

High Altitude Sickness

Etiquettes and Taboos

Best time to Tibet

What to Pack

Trek in Tibet

What to buy in Tibet

Food & Drink in Tibet

Tibetan Language

Photography in Tibet

Money and Credit Cards

Tibetan Hospitals

Useful Numbers in Tibet

FAQ on Tibet tours

The Tibetan Antelope

 

Top etiquette tips for Nepal

When travelling anywhere in the world it is always prudent to acquire an awareness of the respective culture of the country and to hence understand the relevant etiquette of the country and the ‘do’s and don’ts’. There are some clear etiquette points for Nepal which anyone travelling there should be aware of. The main etiquette considerations for Nepal are as follows:

1) It is important to cover in Nepal and as such, women should always wear a long skirt that covers the legs and men should always wear a shirt – it is very important etiquette in Nepal that men should not walk around ‘topless’. This behaviour in Nepal would be considered extremely rude and disrespectful.

2) Bargaining does not form part of the etiquette of Nepal and as such, the prices of food and other goods should not be contested. Again, this would be seen as rude and offensive.

3) Nepal has a problem with waste and it is important etiquette therefore, during your stay in Nepal that you burn any waste which can feasibly be burnt

4) Religious etiquette in Nepal requires you to pass prayer walls on your right. You should also leave a donation if you visit a monastery.

5) When using the toilet in Nepal it is important etiquette that you bury your faeces and burn any toilet roll.

6) It is important that you do not point the soles of your feet at anyone during your visit to Nepal as this will most certainly cause offence.

7) When eating in Nepal, etiquette demands that you do not handle anybody else’s food, that you only pass food containers with your right hand and that you do not eat from anyone else’s plate.

For religious reasons, you should never touch the head of a Nepalese individual.

9) If you are seated on the floor, etiquette in Nepal demands that individuals do not step over your legs. As such it is necessary for you draw your legs up to enable the individual to pass. There are a wealth of resources on the market which give an overview of the culture of Nepal and the respective etiquette. To ensure that your trip to Nepal progresses as positively as possible, then it is important that you have read as much material as possible.

Top etiquette tips for Nepal

Trekking tips for Nepal

Festival Dates in Nepal 2008

Kathmandu

For many people, stepping off the plane into Kathmandu is an exhilarating shock – the sights, sounds and smells can quickly lead to sensory overload. Whether you’re buzzing around the crazy polluted traffic in a taxi, hurtling down the narrow winding streets of the old town in a rickshaw, crowding into temple-packed Durbar Square or dodging the tiger balm sellers and trekking touts, Kathmandu can be an intoxicating and exhausting place – but most people feel this is a small price to pay for a city of such invigorating energy and fabulous medieval history. The capital city, Kathmandu is enriched with temples more than homes and festivals exceeding the number of days in a year. The whole valley with its seven heritage sites has been enlisted in cultural World Heritage Site list. The place, which blends cultural vigor with modern facilities possible on earth is place liked by tourists been here. The place has more to offer and it is not only administrative capital of the country but to the fullest extend capital of traditional culture and physical resources. Three Durbar Squares – Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur, Pashupatinath, Bouddhanath, Swoyambhunath and Changunarayan are the places most revered by the Kathmanduities and whole world. Kathmandu is not big when one compares it to other cities in South Asia. Kathmandu is a fascinating old city today where pagodas, narrow cobbled lanes, old carved windows, and stone shrines are backdrops to the drama of life that continues unhindered. Here the experiences are amazing, views fascinating, and the climate charming. Kathmandu is really two cities: a fabled capital of convivial pilgrims and carved rose-brick temples, and a frenetic sprawl of modern towers, mobbed by beggars and monkeys and smothered in diesel fumes. It simultaneously reeks of history and the encroaching wear and tear of the modern world.

Kathmandu

Patan

Lumbini

Bhaktapur

Pokhara

Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, also Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is bordered by China to the north and by India to the south, east and west. The Himalaya mountain range runs across Nepal’s northern and western parts, and eight of the world’s ten highest mountains, including the highest, Mount Everest, are within its territory.

About Nepal:

General Introductions

History

People and Customs

Religion

Geography

Nature

Food and Drink

Transportation