𝗖𝗵𝘂𝗻𝘆𝗶𝗽𝗮𝗶 𝗟𝗼𝘀𝗮𝗿 𝗧𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗶 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗸
Many Bhutanese communities celebrate a losar (ལོ་གསར་) or New Year on the first day of the twelfth month in the common Bhutanese calendar. This ancient New Year falls on the new moon of the month in which the full moon meets with the constellation Gyal (རྒྱལ་), Pushya Nakshatra or Cancri. The calculation is based on the teachings such as Vajraḍakamahātantra and Gongdue (དགོངས་འདུས་) teachings of Sangay Lingpa (1340-96). As it is observed at the beginning of the twelfth month in the current Bhutanese calendar, the New Year is today known as the New Year of the twelfth month (བཅུ་གཉིས་པའི་ལོ་གསར་).
It is very likely that this losar was seen as the beginning of the year before the current calendar system became popular. As the majority of the Bhutanese population, which observes this New Year is located in eastern Bhutan, it is also common to find the term Sharchokpi Losar (ཤར་ཕྱོགས་པའི་ལོ་གསར་) or New Year of Eastern Bhutan used to refer to this New Year. However, the observance of this New Year is not limited to eastern Bhutan, and today with easy communication facilities, migration of people and intermarriages between various regions of Bhutan, people all over Bhutan and other parts of Himalayas also observe this New Year.
In Bhutan, the day is also known as the Traditional Day of Offering as some people claim that Bhutanese citizens made the annual offering of grains to Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal in Punakha during this New Year. The Trongsa Penlop is said to have led the representatives of eight eastern regions, the Paro Penlop the people of western Bhutan and the Darkar Ponlop the people of the south in order to make offerings. In this regard, some people place a great significance in this New Year as a marker of Bhutan’s sovereignty and solidarity. However, some scholars contest that such practice of making offerings existed as there is no clear evidence. In any case, it is likely that before Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal’s unification of Bhutan as a state, the local population in some of Bhutan’s valleys celebrated this day as a New Year. As a result, even the new government of Zhabdrung, then largely a monastic court, perhaps saw this as an important point in time. The retirement and appointment of high officials in the government and the monastic body took place mainly during this New Year celebrations.
Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, the founder of Bhutan, was a staunch follower of Sangay Lingpa’s teachings. He invited Sangay Lingpa’s descendant Rigzin Nyingpo to bestow him the entire teachings of Sangay Lingpa and incorporated rituals such as the Lama Gongdue into the ritual curriculum of the State Monk Body. Thus, it is also likely that he preferred the calendar and New Year tradition found in Sangay Lingpa’s teachings.
Like other Bhutanese seasonal festivals marking a new season, the Chunyipai Losar falls around Winter Solstice when the days start to get longer again. It also falls at the end of all the agricultural work and before the new agricultural season begins. Thus, it is a seasonal celebration which is aligned well with the agricultural life of the population.
The Chunyipai Losar, in the past, was celebrated for several days. Families got together to eat good food, play games and party in the evenings. In the evening, men and women often have parties at one of the households. Today, many families also go out to have picnics lunches. The Chunyipai Losar was once removed from the list of national holidays but it was reinstated in recent times.
Author: Lopen Karma Phuntsho
