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Ladakhis celebrate Losar festival
by Jigmet
Angchuk
Ladakh
(Jammu-Kashmir): Ahead of the first dawn of 2007,
Ladakhis celebrated the onset of Losar festival on
Thursday, which according to the Tibetan calendar,
generally commences a week prior to the Gregorian
New Year, with fun n' frolic. Losar, a Tibetan word
for New Year is made of "Lo" means year and "sar"
means new. The celebrations for the Losar festival
will last till the January end. People in the snow
clad Leh District of Jammu and Kashmir, came out on
streets, swinging huge fireballs known as "Metho"
to celebrate the festival, traditionally celebrated
as the dawn of the New Year. Men, participating in
the fire processions, whirled torches creating a fantastic
display of fire and light. By the end, all the torches
are thrown well outside the town to bid farewell to
the year gone by and to welcome the new one. Buddhists
and others thronged the town's main monastery to pray
and pay obeisance to Maitreya Buddha or, the future
Buddha. "The festival of Losar starts from the 15th
of the Hindu month Kartik. Lord Chakra cambhava was
born on the 15th of Kartik month. Moreover on the
same day Vinia was also introduced in Tibet. On this
day, people visit the temples and pray for world peace,"
said Tshering Norbu Martey, a Buddhist scholar.
The
Losar festival (also known as Halda in Lahuli) is
celebrated between the months of January and February.
The Lamas decide the date of celebration. It has the
same significance as the Diwali festival of Hinduism,
but is celebrated in a Tibetan fashion. At the start
of the festival, two or three persons from every household
will come holding burning incense. The burning sticks
are then piled into a bonfire. The people will then
pray to Shiskar Apa, the goddess of wealth in the
Buddhist religion. Buddhists celebrate Losar with
gaiety and fervour, which include illuminations, drinking,
dancing, singing and general merry- making. The rituals
are conducted for weeks together where complicated
prayer ceremonies are conducted to felicitate the
village ancestors and to oust the evil and negative
forces from the villages. They believe celebrating
Losar will bid them of sufferings and miseries of
the past years and bring happiness and prosperity
in their lives in the coming years. The festivities
recreate the rich cultural heritage of Ladakh, popularly
known as the roof of the world, situated at a height
of 12,000 feet to 4,000 feet.
-Dec 29,
2006
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