Nickace Buzzlightyear
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Tengboche monastery in Solu Khumbu Nepal in early March 1984 it appeared a festival was underway, and the photos over the next few days will illustrate some of the activities.
The Losar festival came into existence much before Buddhism in Tibet and was celebrated as a gesture of thanks to the Gods. Initially celebrated mostly among farmers, Losar went on to become a predominantly Buddhist festival celebrating the commencement of the New Year. The celebrations of Losar date back to the pre-Buddhist period when Tibetans used to follow the Bon religion. Bon is commonly considered to be the indigenous religious tradition of Tibet, a system of shamanistic and animistic practices performed by priests called shen (gshen) or bonpo (bon po). During that time a spiritual ceremony was organized every winter in which devotees offered incense smoke to local deities and spirits, in the belief that they would ensure the wellbeing of the people and their surroundings.
Nepali families including Sherpas prepare for Losar some days in advance by thoroughly cleaning their homes; decorating with fragrant flowers and their walls with auspicious signs painted in flour such as the sun, moon, or a reversed swastika; and preparing cedar, rhododendron, and juniper branches for burning as incense. In Solu Khumbu the festival goes by the name Gyalpo Losar. Losar rituals often encompass lighting butter lamps, making offerings, and engaging in prayers to invoke positive energies and blessings for the community's spiritual well-being in the upcoming year. Besides these practices, Buddhist's make, refresh, and replenish older prayer flags.
These photos show the last part of a religious ceremony atop a ridge high above Tengboche monastery where young monks are replenishing prayer flags and burning cedar, rhododendron, and juniper branches to produce a fragrant smoke while their elder colleagues chant from ancient texts and blow the long dungchen horns.
