Buddhist New Year Thursday, March 3, 2022.

Buddhist New Year  Thursday, March 3, 2022.

In Theravadin countries, Thailand, Burma, Sri Lanka, Cambodia and Lao, the new year is celebrated for three days from the first full moon day in April. In Mahayana countries the new year starts on the first full moon day in January. However, the Buddhist New Year depends on the country of origin or ethnic background of the people. As for example, Chinese, Koreans and Vietnamese celebrate late January or early February according to the lunar calendar, whilst the Tibetans usually celebrate about one month later.

Losar (Tibetan: བོད་ཀྱི་ལོ་གསར།., Wylie: lo-gsar; New Year) is a festival celebrated in Tibet and similarly by Tibetan Buddhists worldwide. Tibetan Losar 2022 (New Year) festival falls on Thursday, March 3, 2022.

TIBETAN LOSAR– 2149 Year of the Water Tiger 

Losar (Tibetan: བོད་ཀྱི་ལོ་གསར། . , Wylie: lo-gsar; New Year) is a festival celebrated in Tibet and similarly by Tibetan Buddhists worldwide. Tibetan Losar 2022 (New Year) festival falls on Thursday, March 3, 2022. While the Gregorian calendar  is purely solar, the Tibetan calendar (Tibetan: ལོ་ཐོ, Wylie: lo-tho) is lunisolar. The Tibetan year is composed of either 12 or 13 lunar months, each beginning and ending with a new moon. A thirteenth month is added every two or three years, making an average Tibetan year equal to a solar year.

This year – 2022 - is the Year of the Water Tiger 2149, according to the Tibetan lunar calendar.

Tibetans consider Losar to be an auspicious time of year to renew one’s life. Losar-related rituals fall into two different parts over three days:

In the first part, on the 29th day of the 12th month, Tibetans, likewise Buddhists say goodbye to the old year and let go of all its negative or bad aspects. This involves cleaning their home/room from top to bottom, including any stairs outside for instance. Tibetans worldwide will also celebrate by making a special Tibetan festive noodle soup, gu-thuk, enjoyed later that night.

Then, in the second part, on the 30th day, Tibetans spend a busy day cooking and preparing for the New Year.

Finally, on the third day, they welcome Losar བོད་ཀྱི་ལོ་གསར། or “Tibetan New Year” with wholesome prayers and by inviting all good, auspicious things into their homes and lives. Above all, as with all auspicious celebrations, they always begin by paying homage and making offerings to the Three Jewels: Buddha, Dharma, & Sangha.