Click on the picture for a slide show.

Speaking more globally, people whose scholarly gears turn along musicological lines should not miss next week's conference on Asian Pop Music at Princeton University.  It's a great line up, with lots of papers about Japan.  But without any papers about North Korean hip-hop [a subject about which, to my knowledge, I remain the sole academic to have published anything about] or an appearance from Tokyo-London by the art-music-and-”menstruation machine”-generator-provocateur Sputniko!, the conference may be just as notable for what it is lacking.  And thus back to Tibet, and definitions in reference to absence.  — Adam Cathcart]

བགྲ་ཤིས་བདེ་ལེགས!  Best wishes for ལོ་སར /Losar/Tibetan New Year.

Holidays connected to a particular ethnicity in China have a way of strengthening definitions of what it means to belong to that identity. Losar, usually sandwiched neatly between Chinese New Year and the Iranian/Kurdish/Zoroastrian New Year, is such a holiday: something uniquely Tibetan (or, at least, Himalayan). For Tibet in particular,  this kind of cultural “spin cycle” of Chinese and indigenous holidays has gone even further into overdrive amidst the dual wash cycles of globalization and an increasingly strong presence of Han Chinese culture in Tibetan popular culture and media.

The metaphor of wash cycles, when applied to Tibet, however, may not contain the desired connotations.  Dare I be more explicit in the connotation of white-washing, or, depending on one’s proclivities, ethnic cleansing?

[Having posed a heart-racing question, the author then proceeds to ignore it. - A.C.]

What interests me much more is how cultures — and all of the facets — that go into sculpting cultural identity, regional differences, complexities in beliefs and values, historiographies, and the interweaving of “healthy” and “not-so-healthy” parts of a culture all get instantly stripped into an easily definable “symbolic” package that can be instantly understood, and, in being instantly understood, become better able to be controlled and “sold” for a target demographic.

Tibetan dress, dialect, music and dancing styles, etc. that are unique to regions and class end up cherry-picked, boiled down into a nice jam that can be easily spread over the bland white bread of mass media. Couple this with China’s heavy hand in ethic minorities’ self-expression, and you have the questions surrounding Tibetan identity in a nutshell.

My own interests began with the policy side of things, looking directly at minority language education policy.  In the midst of this research, I decided to “get in the mood” by finding some decent Tibetan music on QQ music, the Chinese portal, or, now back in the U.S., through YouTube, the perennial time death-trap of the collegian. My discoveries led me into a world of synthesizers mixed with traditional instruments, rap mixed with the soulful, plaintive traditional “warbling,” solo singers and mass performances, and music videos dominated by scenes of spinning prayer wheels, men singing in flower fields, and smiling women either dancing or herding yaks

(Occasionally there were some who tried to get a fresher “Hip Hop” image, but due to the lack of quality in the video itself and the self-consciousness of all the performances, it was too painful to continue watching.  Interesting enough that in some of these incorporate a strange mix of “gangster” and “Abercrombie” images….my take-home message seems to be what I noticed just in my travels and interactions in Tibet: whatever is American sells, not only because it’s “cool,” but because it provides a viable alternative to Chinese mass culture.)

[I would also add that much of the Tibetan exposure to what is regarded as hip-hop on the plateau seems to be strained through South Korean idioms and fashion. -- A.C.]

Regardless, the videos left me with questions.  So, if the Tibetans were completely left to their own devices in creating these music videos, and there were absolutely no political constraints on the images and themes they are and are not allowed to broadcast, would there really be this many effing yaks on my computer screen right now?

Cleaned up for academic purposes, I believe it’s a good question to ask, because the implications behind the question are directly related to who is actually in control of how a culture is projected to a larger audience.

Are the images a result of constraints placed by Beijing? Then I’d call it stereotyping and boxing in of a minority culture for post-colonial styles of mass-commodification. If this was truly done free-willingly by Tibetan artists, then I’d suspect the free market, and if the Invisible Hand wants beat-box while milk some sheep on the Tibetan Plateau.  If the latter is the case, then so be it.

How, then, was Losar 2011 presented?  I’ve seen a variety of performances on YouTube already, some involving kids’ shows, some incredibly campy comedy routines centering on illiteracy, that seem more like a daytime slapstick show out of Taibei than Markham, although I doubt even in Taibei they would have a 2008 Beijing Olympics Gift Bag as a prop…. Some have varying levels of “traditional” Tibetan folk costume and dance routines. Some, including some of the advertisements, are in the Tibetan Language (although “surprisingly” many of these have even the tones and inflections of Chinese than even Lhasa Tibetan). Some of the programming is just done straight-up in Chinese and have a few interesting themes woven in besides (check out this one as well), and it’s interesting just to see the theme for comedy material in terms of language used. Also, let’s look at this gem of a bizarre and possibly paternalistic fashion show. Some shows geared for kids, opening up yet another Pandora’s box regarding how to teach kids “how to be Tibetan.”

Simultaneously, there are quite a few popular music videos (I can only guess this is also the case within the 雪城) circulating now around by famous Tibetan singers. The common theme is extolling the virtues of…Tibetan identity. Judging by the fact that these videos were taken from Chinese television channels and/or Chinese Youtube, I can assume that these 土豆videos weren’t TOO hot for the Harmonious Society to handle. But they could be deemed politically “sensitive” nonetheless.

One I  have been enjoying particularly as of late has been a certain Lobsang’s song known in Chinese as 西藏同胞, or Tibetan Brothers/Compatriots…I find neither word to be entirely right, because 同胞 also has implications with coming from the same womb. Hmmm…but doesn’t that seem to stand in stark contrast with China’s concept of 国家, or nationality, that also implies familial ties? Oh, sure, in the background he doesn’t fly the Snow Lion flag, but rather the PRC-okayed multi-colored flag that nondescriptly symbolizes “The Other Chinese.”

But at the same time, considering how much I’ve seen the word “Honda” flashed across the screen, it seems he’s in love with the fact that his motorbike is Japanese as much as the freedom it gives him to roll with his homies (as one Tibetan rather impishly told me, “You see, I’m Tibetan, not Chinese, so I can like Japan!”).

This begs the question:

Is it just me, an outsider back in U.S. territory on the “other side” of the GFW [Great Firewall], or are the “unity themes” in Tibetan music becoming more and more prevalent? Even more, how have these even been able to get through the Chinese media — are they suddenly pulling a [reform-in-Tibet agenda of] Hu Yaobang again? Let’s couple this with the fact that Tashi Dhondhup, a popular singer from Amdo who was just released a few weeks ago from 15 months of “re-education” through hard labor. Considering that unlike most other protest songs in Tibet, which are generally far less blatantly political, I am frankly rather surprised that a singer whose album titled “Torture without Trace” expounded on the unfairness of the “Chinese occupation,” their colonial extractions of Tibet’s resources, the lack of Tibetan rights, sterilization, and other commonly voiced (but seldom published) concerns, received a sentence for “only” 15 months, and that at the end of it, he was released. On a sidenote, I wish he more extrapolated on his concerns about what was happening in Tibet rather than just sang in generalities, but that’s just the empirical part of me speaking; but considering that he didn’t back up his claims in his songs, it makes China’s imperative for his arrest all the more thought-provoking…

To put this further into perspective, it’s still been less than three years since the Tibetan uprisings. And similarly, let’s remember that while there were hundreds of arrests and surrenders in Lhasa, the Tibetan areas in ethnographic Tibet, there were even more outside of the T.A.R.

It’s well understood by both the Western media, Tibet activist groups, and a U.S. Congressional Report that Sichuan province, particularly southern 青海，Ngawa or 阿坝 prefecture in Amdo, as well as parts of 甘孜, or the Kham regions, were also especially strong hotbeds of protest. [The self-immolation of a monk in the Amdo region last week was reported on by both the New York Times and the China Daily. -- A.C.]  The take-home message here is that there is much to be said about hell-raising in the Tibetan areas outside of the T.A.R., and particularly from where Tashi Dhondhup hails. If anything, China should be more concerned (and probably is) about the greater, “Ethnographic” Tibet that includes Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu, and Yunnan, since any Tibet independence movement would not be confined to where Beijing drew the lines on the map. And let’s not forget that these areas that also have many more Han Chinese residing…

To broaden the perspective further: as is commonly known both inside of China as well as worldwide, Liu Xiaobo, another protesting jailbird, won the Nobel Prize this year. Also…the snow is melting, and that means Spring, and historically for China, that means it’s Revolution Season. I recall a Chinese guide I met last August in Xi’an, who, on the way to the terra-cotta warriors introduced us to China by describing China as a chicken because of its shape, in which Beijing is the head, Xi’an the heart, Sichuan the stomach, “and Tibet, Well…” he said smugly. (大汉主义, much?) But in all honesty, considering these current trends in Tibetan music that seem to be kindling the flames of separatism, how much is China actually protecting “its ass?”

What, then, would be more subtle forms of subversion?

Correct me if I am wrong, and I’m especially addressing readers who can understand the Tibetan lyrics firsthand and all of their subtle nuances, but it is absolutely not difficult to find potential subversiveness in Tibetan popular music, albeit this is often done through far more subtle hints. Take Sonam Tashi’s song known in Chinese as 思念 or “Longing,” which, according to the translations posted at the bottom, are focused on the singer’s profound grievances that his Lama has passed on to somewhere he can’t go, and he wishes to follow him, asking to fly with the eagles to this distant place. He also sings of his estranged “brothers and sisters.” Am I reading too much into this, or do these lyrics strike anyone else as “saying it without saying it”?

Yadong/亚东, as well as his protégé Gunga/根呷, two other extremely popular Kham singers well regarded by both Chinese and Tibetans (despite the fact that some of his most popular songs, because of their Dalai Lama-related “innuendo,” have also been blacklisted), also wrote of his Lama-lessness. Essentially, the DL’s there, but still kept on the DL.

I should point out: Sonam also has a great motorcycle-based song about Tibetan identity (wonderful jogging music), and Gunga also has a song called 家乡, or Phayul (Homeland), that also extrapolates on a generic sense of Tibetan identity that seems meant more for “rallying the troops” and encouraging Pan-Tibetan pride than subscribing to the Chinese versions of nationality — I recommend just reading between the lines and seeing what they’re not saying about their identity that Hu Jintao would find 完全正确….or absolutely correct, as he said regarding ethnic minority policy back in September 2009.

Perhaps these are just my oversimplifications, but it seems that if you only change a few words around and make it sound like it was just your local guru who kicked the bucket, you can publish your music in China while your own interpretive community gets the last laugh. It’s interesting to note that they all have very popular songs sung in Chinese (think: 卓玛, 彩虹下的心愿, or 姑娘我爱你, or other rather mainstream, classic hits well known even to young Han Chinese), but these tend to be much more romantic, simple, and generic, the Tibetan themes more nicely “packaged” for enjoyment for a greater interest. It’s an easily commodifiable way to present being Tibetan. The songs in their Tibetan language extrapolate on many more religious and political themes, such as the aforementioned 思念¸which, frankly, I’m surprised to see even offered on my QQ playlist (and, frankly, if you’re on QQ music, you’ve won the seal of approval). Download commencing….now.

And again, mostly these political come in the form of rallying for “unity.” Ohhh! How nice! Says 和谐-obsessed Beijing, see? I knew we had something in common!

Suuuure we did, China, suuure we did, responds the rebellious side of Tibetan music.

I’m thinking especially about some of the songs by Sherten/谢旦, who on one hand won the 2009 Tibetan Music Artist of the Year award and has his songs available for download on QQ Music, but on the other, has published songs, the possession of which are considered “illegal” because of their “sensitive topics.” It’s not that he is stigmatized in the PRC, or at least not officially — but word on the street is that the Chinese were randomly stopping to check Tibetans’ cell phones to see if they were carrying his song about “Unity” that calls for Tibetans to put aside their regional differences and see themselves as part of a Pride movement in Pan-Tibetanism. And in this way, all those Chinese-defined borders of 自治区/ 所谓 “Autonomous Regions” would even more lose legitimacy as Tibetans are reminded of the traditional borders of their homeland that imply statehood. The PRC is walking a very thin line, indeed: on one hand, they are “giving the people what they want” by allowing for the natural supply and demand of the market for Tibetan popular music. Academically stated, allowing people to listen to what they want keeps them happy; if they are happy, in theory, they’re less likely to cause riots. But on the other hand, if the songs that make people happy subvert state authority in a nation that has historically had very major issues with handling political discourse, then the line has to be drawn somewhere.

In short: Sherten and Yadong good, but some of their songs bad. Again, we see China pulling a Hu Yaobang and not being straight with their policy on Tibet, because in the end, the Han Chinese may be more willing to chuck this popular culture out as either sentimental drivel or separatist nonsense (IF they are able to get the translations from Tibetan!!), and Tibetans will of course want to embrace the songs of all their compatriots, whether they sing of the women they love, the lamas they miss, or their pan-Tibetan identity on Japanese wheels. Tashi Dhondhup is free, and the 西藏问题continues.

Questions:

For anyone reading this who knows Tibetan, would it be possible to:

A.     Tell me where this performance by Sherten was held…? Was it in China, India, or elsewhere…?

B.     Confirm for me this case about cell phone “confiscations” related to the Sherten song?

C.     Tell me, what is Gunga singing in Tibetan in 家乡/ཕ་ཡུལ?

Any and all help, comments, or research materials on the above themes would be greatly appreciated.

– Kristiana Henderson, Tacoma, Washington, March 10, 2011

My trip to Sikkim in March 2011, was planned during the week of Losar (Tibetan New Year) celebrations. With the focussed objective of experiencing the ceremonies that are held in that week, I visited 10 different monasteries in East Sikkim, South Sikkim, and West Sikkim over a fortnight.

Sikkim, a state of India since 1975, lies wedged between Tibet, Bhutan and Nepal and shares much of the culture of its neighbours.

I am no expert on Sikkim – but it appeared as though the entire state is a collection of individual hills with settlements – towns or villages – at the peak of each. The Teesta river, its tributaries and the numerous waterfalls that feed the rivers break the uniformly monotonous vision of green hills and greener valleys.

Each town shown in the map above is perched on a separate hill – so inter-city traveling entailed going up 6000 ft to Gangtok, then down all the way and then winding up all the way up to the top of the next hill. A distance of 10 km as the crow flies, expands to 100 km on the hilly ascending and descending winding roads. Had I known earlier, I would have been less ambitious in planning such a long journey. Post-facto of course, being blind and ignorant allowed me to explore as much as was physically possible – without being restrained by mental barriers!

The articles below are casual photo-essays recording the various threads of my experiences to the towns of Gangtok, Limdung, Tashiding, Pelling and Kalimpong (Bengal).

Please click on the links to read the articles

Chanting Ceremony at Lingdum Monastery, Sikkim

Losar Celebrations – Bonfire at Kagyud Monastery, Sikkim

Procession at the Enchey Monastery, Sikkim

Little Lamas, Sikkim

Lama Dances at Thongsa Monastery, Kalimpong

Dancing with the Nuns at Phendzong Nunnery

Cross border handshake at Nathu-la Pass on the Silk Route

Yak Horn textile adornments, Sikkim

Art in Sikkimese Monastery Architecture

Butter Art of Sikkimese Lamas

Wood Art in Sikkimese Monasteries – Windows, Doors & Pillars

Art in Buddhist Ritual Objects

Breathtaking Mural Paintings of Sikkim Monasteries

Professional quality Images of Sikkim

jm

March 12, 2011

Tibetan New Year, Losar

The celebration of the Losar dates back to before Buddhism was brought to the Tibetan plateau, when most people practiced the Bon religion. At this time winter ceremonies were held to offer incense and religious poems or prayers to calm the local spirits and deities. These religious rites evolved into a Buddhist festival probably during the reign of Pude Gungyal, ninth King of Tibet.

According to folklore, the change began when a woman named Belma introduced the concept of measuring time according to the phases of the moon. It may have originally been more of a farmers’ festival as the earlier accounts of celebration focus on harvest, cultivation, and healthy crops.

It is also at this time when the Dalai Lama and the government make a point of consulting the Nechung Oracle to see what the future may hold in store for Tibet. MORE [Wikipedia]

Tibetan New Year began this year on March 5. Traditionally it was celebrated for fifteen days. In modern times, it is celebrated for just three days. We honor the holiday in solidarity with Tibetan Buddhists around the world. Despite the sad fact of Tibetan diaspora, the Dalai Lama continues to be an inspiration for his compassionate guidance and optimism. From whom could we better learn the lesson of Optimism in the Face of Adversity? Enjoy the video and happy new year to all.

Video posted to YouTube by gyalwarinpoche.

May all sentient beings have happiness and the causes of happiness.

May all sentient beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.

May all sentient beings never be separated from the happiness that is free from suffering.

May all sentient beings abide in equanimity, free from attachment and anger that holds some close and other distant.

Tenzin Gyatzo, His Holiness, The Fourteenth Dalai Lama,

Iron Rabbit Losar 2138

Losar is the Tibetan New Year! Tibetan New Year is the most important festival in Tibet. It is an occasion when Tibetan families reunite and expect a better coming year. Known as Losar, the festival starts from 1st to 3rd of the 1st Tibetan month. Specially made offerings are offered to family shrine deities; doors are painted with religious symbols; other painstaking jobs are done to prepare for the event.

Losar is the Tibetan New Year and the first two weeks, in particular, commemorate the time when the Buddha uncharacteristically displayed his power by doing a number of miracles to win over hundreds (if not thousands) of disciples from a teacher who was a non-believer of what the Buddha taught and challenged him to a dual of mystical powers. At the end of the two week period, the Buddha had clearly won the match and as a result all present converted to the practices taught by the Buddha.

The new year spawns a time of increase in virtuous activity amongst Buddhist practitioners. Any actions done during that period of time, for better or worse, are multiplied in their power by virtue of being in alignment or out of alignment with the great deeds the Buddha himself did during this same astrological period over 2500 years ago. It is a very powerful time to practice and increase one’s commitment to both practice and study as the power of that magical event can be harnessed to assist in our personal evolution towards enlightenment. ~ from the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition website. (Please visit the FPMT site, it is full of worthwhile information)

~ This is the Year of the Metal Rabbit, you may see it written also as Iron Rabbit.  ~

Here is a link to the Official Ceremony of Tibetan Losar 2011 at Tsuglag Khang, Dharamsala on First day of Losar (March 5, 2011) :

http://www.tibetonline.tv/player.swf

Today is Losar,  Tibetan New Year.
Losar Tashi Deleg, happy new year. 2011 will be the year of the female hare (rabbit for the Chinese and cat for the Vietnamese)  and it will be a much smoother year than the previous year of the Tiger. So we warmly welcome the New Year!
There are lots of celebrations in the Center today and for days we have been preparing  “Momos”, Tibetan dumplings, which are traditionally eaten for Losar.

Momos filled with spinach and cheese,  or seitan, ginger and cabbage, or Chinese mushrooms and vegetables. They are a lot of fun to make and they make delicious finger food.
I usually buy frozen wrappers at the Chinese grocery store, as I find it much easier than to make them from scratch, but by all means, if you want to make them, just go ahead.
Try to get round wonton skins, or Gyoza wrappers, they are made of a flour dough and give good results.

Spinach and cheese momos (+/- 50 pcs)
1 pack of 50 Gyoza wrappers
1 lb frozen spinach
1 lb grated cheese
1 bunch of coriander, chopped
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp chinese powdered veggie broth

Put the slightly defrosted spinach and the other ingredients in a food processor and and process into a good thick paste. Put the paste in a cheese cloth and squeeze out as much water as possible, as the frozen spinach usually contains a lot of water. Add salt and pepper to taste. If your paste is too wet, just add a tsp or more of corn starch.
Fill the wrappers according to the picture (tradional tibetan) or in the form of a pot sticker, just make sure that they are well closed with a little water on the outer part of the wrapper.
You can either steam the momos or boil them in a pot with boiling water. Make a sauce of some light soy sauce, rice vinegar and a little sugar. And of course, for the chili lovers, a good size spoon of sambal or chili oil.

Seitan, ginger and cabbage
1 pack of frozen Gyoza wrappers
2 cups of cabbage, any kind
1 cup of seitan
1 tbsp of fresh gingr
1 tbsp of light soy sauce
1 tbsp of sesame oil
salt and pepper to taste

Process all ingredients in a food processor and fill according to the previous recipe.

Chinese mushrooms and veggies

1 pack of frozen Gyoza wrappers
20 dried (redryhated) shiitake mushrooms
2 cups of veggies, carrot, onion, bean sprouts, snap peas, water chestnuts, or any other firm veggie you can think of.
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
spring onions
coriander
hot pepper or sambal or chili oil, according to taste

Process all ingredients in a food processor and fill according to the previous recipe.

The new moon of this Saturday, March 5th, brings the year of 2138. Losar – meaning New Year in Tibetan – is an important festival which celebrates the history, culture and religion of their people.

As soon as the sunshine appeared from behind the mist of the morning, we were walking down the road heading to Tsuglagkhang Temple complex, where the Dalai Lama lives.

The unusual buzz and coming-and-going gave the streets an atmosphere that something very special was about to happen. With their short little steps, children were following their parents and relatives walking toward the Temple. The women were wearing their best dresses made by brocade fabric and some men were stealing the thunder with their gorgeous ceremony clothes typical of the region where they come from.

From the entrance gate of the temple was possible to hear the sound of the drums and bells coming from the Puja that was happening in the Kalachakra Temple, on top of the complex. In this ritual important lamas offer prayers and monks recite the invocation of Palden Lhamo (Tibet protective deity) for the incoming Losar.

We climbed the stairs among many Tibetans and followed to the main temple. As tradition dictates we made the kora, ritual that consists in going clockwise around some holy place: Buddhists believe that they must move around the Buddha as the planets move around the Sun. We passed by the prayer wheels and got a place to sit between Tibetans, monks and many foreigner and Indian tourists.

When the beautiful sound coming from the upper temple ceased, the lamas and monks all dressed in their ceremonial robes came down to start the celebration. The place became so full of life with the sunlight coming from the rooftop, illuminating the lamas and the monks’ yellow big hats – which symbolize the Guelugpa lineage, led by the Dalai Lama.

The mantras were amazingly harmonic and the surprise was the blend of these prayers and the instruments used only in very important occasions: two fifty-centimeter white shells adorned with silver were blown, while other monks were playing typical trumpets and drums. For Tibetan Buddhists, the melodious sound of the perfect rare shell that curls to the right reaches all beings and all places awakening them from deep sleep of ignorance.

Then the Losar’s dance begun, performed by four young students from TIPA – Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts – who presented a charming choreography with swords. The sync movements of the beautiful weapons were peaceful and conveyed a sense of lightness.

The big celebration was concluded with a representation of a debate about the Buddhist scriptures between two elder monks. Meanwhile, traditional Tibetan butter tea and sweet rice with raisins prepared especially for the Losar was offered to everybody.

When the Puja was over the Tibetans made a huge queue to go up in the small Kalachakra temple to see the butter sculptures made as an offering to the deities in the important ceremony held at five in the morning.

On the way back home, the streets were adorned by people carrying red neck ties blessed by the Dalai Lama to give protection in this incoming New Year.

The new moon of this Saturday, March 5th, brings the year of 2138. Losar – meaning New Year in Tibetan – is an important festival which celebrates the history, culture and religion of their people.

As soon as the sunshine appeared from behind the mist of the morning, we were walking down the road heading to Tsuglagkhang Temple complex, where the Dalai Lama lives.

The unusual buzz and coming-and-going gave the streets an atmosphere that something very special was about to happen. With their short little steps, children were following their parents and relatives walking toward the Temple. The women were wearing their best dresses made by brocade fabric and some men were stealing the thunder with their gorgeous ceremony clothes typical of the region where they come from.

From the entrance gate of the temple was possible to hear the sound of the drums and bells coming from the Puja that was happening in the Kalachakra Temple, on top of the complex. In this ritual important lamas offer prayers and monks recite the invocation of Palden Lhamo (Tibet protective deity) for the incoming Losar.

We climbed the stairs among many Tibetans and followed to the main temple. As tradition dictates we made the kora, ritual that consists in going clockwise around some holy place: Buddhists believe that they must move around the Buddha as the planets move around the Sun. We passed by the prayer wheels and got a place to sit between Tibetans, monks and many foreigner and Indian tourists.

When the beautiful sound coming from the upper temple ceased, the lamas and monks all dressed in their ceremonial robes came down to start the celebration. The place became so full of life with the sunlight coming from the rooftop, illuminating the lamas and the monks’ yellow big hats – which symbolize the Guelugpa lineage, led by the Dalai Lama.

The mantras were amazingly harmonic and the surprise was the blend of these prayers and the instruments used only in very important occasions: two fifty-centimeter white shells adorned with silver were blown, while other monks were playing typical trumpets and drums. For Tibetan Buddhists, the melodious sound of the perfect rare shell that curls to the right reaches all beings and all places awakening them from deep sleep of ignorance.

Then the Losar’s dance begun, performed by four young students from TIPA – Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts – who presented a charming choreography with swords. The sync movements of the beautiful weapons were peaceful and conveyed a sense of lightness.

The big celebration was concluded with a representation of a debate about the Buddhist scriptures between two elder monks. Meanwhile, traditional Tibetan butter tea and sweet rice with raisins prepared especially for the Losar was offered to everybody.

When the Puja was over the Tibetans made a huge queue to go up in the small Kalachakra temple to see the butter sculptures made as an offering to the deities in the important ceremony held at five in the morning.

On the way back home, the streets were adorned by people carrying red neck ties blessed by the Dalai Lama to give protection in this incoming New Year.

May you have a cheerful Year of the Iron Hare!

Firecrackers and prayer flags, Tibetan and Mandarin Chinese food, Buddhist rituals, singing and dancing — together all indicate that Losar, the Tibetan New Year, is here.
The start of the Year of Iron Rabbit, which begins today, is a carnival for China’s 5 million Tibetans and celebrations will last more than two weeks.

Tibetan woman Yeshe Drolkar happily shared a huge pot of Guthuk, a traditional Tibetan barley crumb snack with filling, also known as “29th dumplings,” with a group of young men and women Thursday night to celebrate the “ghost-exorcising festival.”
The festival, which falls on the 29th day of the last Tibetan month of the year, features family reunions and lighting of fireworks and torches and is similar to Chinese New Year’s Eve in many ways.

Across the plateau region, New Year festivities are everywhere. The square in front of the Potala Palace in the heart of Lhasa is spruced up with a parterre, red lanterns and a huge “chiema,” a five-cereal container with roasted highland barley flour mixed with butter, fried barley and dromar refreshments, adorned with a butter sculpture in the shape of the head of a sheep.

The chiema is prepared in every Tibetan home and is served to every guest.

Other Tibetan New Year necessities include prayer flag trees, or Darchors, as replacing the colorful prayer flags on hilltops during the Tibetan New Year is believed to bring the Tibetans peace, compassion, wisdom, and strength.

“I buy new Darchors every year, because it’s a New Year custom to do so and will bring my family good luck and harmony in the New Year,” said Tsering, a Lhasa resident.

The prayer flags, which are available at local markets, have five colors, including blue, white, red, green, and yellow. Respectively, they stand for the sky, air, fire, water, and earth — the five essential elements believed to benefit Tibetan Buddhists.

By Friday morning, the Lhasa housewife Tsenga had prepared everything for the New Year. These included the chiema, the Darchor, fresh yak butter, tsamba, tea bricks, peaches made of barley flour and new clothes for her son Tenzin.

“Each item symbolizes a different wish for the new year,” she said, “such as sufficient food, good harvest, health and a new beginning.”

In the coming two weeks of celebrations, the Tibetans will also exchange New Year greetings, worship gods and race horses.

Today is Losar (Tibetan New Year), so I thought I'd share an image from the roof of the world.

All I knew was that I wanted to explore monasteries in Sikkim – but I had no idea what aspects of monasteries would be revealed to me on this journey. I wasn’t seeking anything in particular. All I wanted was to absorb the experiences that came my way by keeping myself alert enough to notice and observe all the data that I was being exposed to.

I had visited 3 monasteries before I became aware of the wax art that Lamas produced. Beautiful abstracts made out of vanaspati / butter mixed with color and some stabilising ingredients.

These pieces of 3-dimensional art ranged from naive 6-inch pieces by novices to 4ft tall pieces by experts!

These pieces are created and left in the monastery as decoration, and are then burnt at the end of the year.

Following is a slide show of some remarkable pieces I saw on my journey. Also included are pictures of 2 ‘substitute’ pieces …that are used when the skills to creat the real thing are not available.

Whether this art is characteristic of Sikkimese Budhism or is prevalent everywhere, I do not know …

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The output of this centuries-old art form – the butter-art pieces have a shelf life and are consumed in the ceremonies, and so have not been collected and shown in museums!  Yet these are as interesting as Thangkas and other lama-art forms!

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jm

March 2011

Entrance to Phendzong Nunnery

I had had the opportunity to have several conversations with a senior monk at the Zurmang Kagyud Monastery.  I asked and he answered.

For years I had entertained a fledgeling thought of spending time at a monastery – but the thought never got time or life-space to develop and remained a latent, unarticulated unformed idea. As I spoke to the Lama, I remembered this thought and asked if it was possible to stay at a monastery as a guest. He said it is possible, and also mentioned a nunnery that was just around the hill corner – which might be more suitable for ladies. This conversation was the starting point of the unforgettable afternoon spent with the nuns.

The nunnery houses 22 nuns, some novice others who have taken their vows, and their Rinpoche, an 85 yr old Lama. The Nunnery has a commanding view of the Gangtok hills and requires a short climb on foot. Built recently, the simple structure and basic interiors, although Tibetan in essence, do not have the charm of the older monasteries.

Inside Phendzong Nunnery

Losar decoration, kept at the entrance

But what the structure lacks in charm, the residents more than compensate for!

I was received by a group of nuns who sat in the sun warming themselves in the March chill, with their yellow and maroon robes. They wore their hair short – like a crew cut – and large abundant smiles that displayed their souls on their faces. A young 20-year-old, came up to greet me and led the way into the main prayer hall.

After a little chit-chat, she decided to invite me to her living quarters – the inner rooms…and offered me salted tea. Snacks that they had made themselves followed. These were no ordinary snacks – they were Losar offerings created with love and dedication. They were artistic forms of a popular Indian snack called Mathri – flowers, shells and other abstract shapes created out of spiced dough and then deep-fried. Art in food!

These privileges were unexpected and I was totally delighted to be invited into the intimate aspects of their lives.

One of the two sweet nuns who were attending to me,

then offered me Chaang – a rice wine drink and warned me that after that I could go a little crazy – that I would talk a lot or behave strangely ! I tried it – it tasted very different from the rice-wine from Nagaland…this one tasted like rice in buttermilk…but unfortunately did not have the promised effect!

In the meanwhile, a group of other young nuns had gathered in the balcony and had put on some music. Bhutanese lyrics combined with rock compositions. Against the backdrop of the hills and the prayer flags fluttering loudly in the wind and the gorgeous oriental features of my young hostesses, this music seemed totally appropriate.

And then two or three of the girls began dancing in the narrow balcony.

And more joined in one by one, shyly, awkwardly, but with happy smiling faces full of the joy of the moment.

I stood at a distance taking pictures trying to capture the moment. They were not dancing for a ‘performance’ to show others. They were dancing for themselves.

There was no emulation of pop stars or bollywood and they had no rules of dancing that needed to be followed. They made up their own steps and own hand movements and danced as their own souls commanded them to. Everyone participated on an equal footing – without anyone trying to outdo the other.

The lama-teacher from the neighboruing monastery joins in

And they were happy! It reminded me of the joy I have seen at the birthday parties of my children when they were 7 and 8 years old!

Their innocent spontaneity and naive style was completely endearing and their heartfelt joy was infectious!

Soon I was invited in, and I had a wonderful time dancing with the nuns. What a fun way to celebrate Losar!

After a hour of merrymaking – I left, promising myself that I would come back someday and spend a week here, living the life they do.  As I said my goodbyes and began to leave the other nun who had attended to me …

came running out and gave me a huge kiss on my cheeks … just like a child would. Abundant open-heartedness. Abundant  warmth.

The gifts that I received from the nuns at Phendzong Nunnery, will remain with me forever!

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jm

March 2011

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‘Losar’, the Tibetan word for New Year, is composed to two characters: ‘Lo’, which means “year”; and ‘Sar’, which means “new”. The celebration of ‘Losar’ can be traced back to Tibet’s pre-Buddhist period. At that time, Tibetans were followers of the Bon religion, and held a spiritual ceremony every winter. During the Bon celebrations, people would burn large quantities of incense on a certain day of the year, in order to appease local spirits, deities and protectors. When Buddhism arrived in Tibet, the older “heathen” ceremony of Bon was simply incorporated into the Buddhist tradition of Tibet, becoming the Buddhist ‘Losar’ festival. The Buddhist ‘Losar’ festival originated during the reign of Pude Gungyal, the ninth King of Tibet. 

The Tibetan calendar consists of twelve lunar months, and ‘Losar’ begins on the first day of the first lunar month. However, in Tibetan-Buddhist monasteries, the celebrations for ‘Losar’ begin on the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth month. That is the day before ‘Losar’s Eve’. On that day, monasteries do a special kind of ritual in preparation for the ‘Losar’ celebrations. Also on that day, a special kind of noodle called ‘Guthuk’, which is made of nine different ingredients, including dried cheese and various grains, is made. In addition, people place various ingredients such as chilies, salt, wool, rice and coal inside dough balls, which are then handed out,. The ingredients that one finds hidden in one’s dough ball are supposed to be a lighthearted comment on one’s character, in the spirit of a Chinese fortune cookie.

On New Year’s Day itself, Tibetans rise early, and, after having taken a bath and gotten dressed, they proceed to the household shrine in order to pay homage to the gods in the form of offerings. These usually consist of animal and demon shapes made from a kind of dough called ‘Torma’. In addition, it is on New Year’s Day that family and friends exchange gifts, much like people in the West exchange gifts on Christmas Day. Families and friends also share a hearty meal together, which usually consists of a kind of cake called ‘Kapse’, and an alcoholic beverage called ‘Chang’, which was traditionally drunk in order to keep warm.

On the first day of the New Year, celebrations are usually restricted to the immediate family. The city’s or village’s streets are generally very quite on this day. The second day of ‘Losar’ is the day for visiting with friends and relatives. On the third day, Tibetans in Lhasa especially visit the local monasteries, where they make offerings. Tibetan New Year usually last 15 days. Traditional ways of celebrating ‘Losar’ have changed somewhat through time. For example, fireworks is a relatively recent addition to ‘Losar’, but have grown in popularity until today they are possibly ‘Losar’s’ main attraction (at least among youths). These days, on the first day of New Year, good tidings ring out all across the country by means of the electronic media, and New Year celebrations are broadcast on television throughout the country.

The head Lama at Enchey, a quiet handsome and dignified gentleman who rarely speaks to visitors, honored me with a detailed conversation about his life* and about the monastery.

He mentioned that Enchey, unlike the other monasteries in Sikkim, is not a Tibetan monastery but a Sikkimese one. Buddhism originated in India and then went to Tibet, so at Enchey they follow the earlier form of Buddhism and not the Tibetan form. Losar being the Tibetan New year is not celebrated here.

However, since the date in the Buddhist calendar is significant, Enchey monastery organises a procession through the city in which a deity and 325 scriptures are taken out across the city.

The ‘palkhi’ temple mounted atop a car

At this monastery lamas of all ages congregate and I met one of the cutest baby lamas here.

The procession provided the most spectacular visual feast – with gorgeous hats, a varied display of unique musical instruments and beautiful ethnic faces. My Nikons and I felt like we were kids in a candy shop!

The preparations before the procession:

The devotees, men and women of all ages:

spinning the prayer wheels that house scrolls results in the inscribed prayers spiralling upward to heaven

A devotee doing a ‘kora’ or circumambulation around the deity

Prostration

During the procession devotees along the way touch the scriptures to their foreheads to receive blessings. These scriptures are carried by high school children and monks.

The procession begins with devotees and monks emerge from the hall in which prayers have been chanted all morning, carrying the scrolls on their shoulders and heads.

The beautiful hats of the various ranks of Lamas:

The Musicians

The drum carrier – an outsourced job..

The drum beating lama

The long hornsthat need a special person to carry the front end…

The procession does one kora around the monastery and then leaves for the city…

Devotees and monks carrying the scrolls follow the deity. The band leads the procession.

The intoxication of the experiential feast stayed with me for hours and before I could recover from this one, another one unfolded at the next monastery the following day… wish there was enough time on these journeys to stop and savour every moment!

me with the cute baby lama

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jm

march 2011

* More about the Lama’s life in a separate article here

On my second visit,  the day just before Losar, I watched the bonfire in which the symbol of evil and negativism of the completed year, was burnt in a bonfire. This photo-essay describes the procession culminating in the bonfire on the last day of the passing year.

And on my third visit on the day of Losar, I was invited to have the ceremonial lunch.

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The characteristics of the flames and the strength of the fire signify the fortunes of the new year. The fire we witnessed that evening, conveyed very good omen …for the earth, for the monastery and for all humans!

A very happy Losar, a very happy fresh beginning….

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jm

march 2011