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Everything you need to know about Lhosar, the Nepali Lunar New Year
Members of Australia's Nepali-speaking community share how they celebrate Lhosar, a festival that coincides with the broader Lunar New Year, and how they pass on their culture to future generations.
Published 5 January 2023 5:12pm
Updated 6 January 2023 6:03pm
By Dinita Rishal, Krishna Pokhrel, Sunita Pokharel
Source: SBS
Image: Lhosar marks the New Year for celebrating Buddhist communities from Nepal. (Facebook / Tamang Society of Sydney - NSW/Photobook Australia)
Key Points
- Lhosar is a New Year festival celebrated by Buddhist communities from Nepal, India, Bhutan and Tibet per the lunar calendar
- Around 11,000 people will celebrate variations of Lhosar in Australia this year
- Nepali speakers in Australia aim to keep their culture alive
Lhosar is a festival celebrated by the Buddhist communities of Nepal, along with people from India, Bhutan and Tibet, including the Gurung, Tamang and Sherpa communities. The Rai community has Yele Dung, while the Tharu community celebrates Maghi Parba as their New Year.
With around 9 per cent of Nepal's approximately 30 million population following Buddhism, it is the second-largest religion in the country.
The 2022 Australian Census shows similar statistics, with around 11,000 of Australia's Nepali speakers (more than 133,000) identifying as Buddhists.
For celebrating communities, Lhosar marks the beginning of a new year, with each year represented by a zodiac animal.
The various communities have different names for the festival, and celebrations occur on different days.
Tamu Lhosar
Tamu Lhosar or Lhochhar is celebrated by the Gurung community. In 2022, it was observed on 30 December, which is 15 Poush according to this year’s Nepali calendar.
This day marks the start of a new year in the Gurung calendar.
“Gurungs take this as a change in the 'barga' [class], not as a change in the year. And each barga is represented by a respective animal,” says Dr Mohan Gurung, a community leader.
“From 15 Poush, the barga of the cat begins.”
Tamu Lhoshar 2019/20 celebrations in Melbourne, Victoria. Source: Facebook / Tamu Samaj Victoria
Tamu Lhosar is all about exchanging greetings, family gatherings, getting blessings from elders, communal lunches and sports, and religious ceremonies.
“Buddhist priests known as “Lama” give their blessings to remove potential bad luck. For example, if someone was born in the barga of the cat, the Lama will bless them so that the year can be fruitful for the person,” Gurung tells SBS Nepali.
He says celebrating Tamu Lhosar in Australia is an opportunity to share the culture with the wider community.
Sonam Lhosar
The Tamangs welcome Lunar New Year as Sonam Lhosar.
This time around, it will be observed on 22 January, which is 8 Magh in the Nepali calendar, marking the beginning of the year of the cat.
Sundorje Tamang is the president of the Tamang Society of Sydney NSW.
He says this day is about welcoming a new year with family and friends.
“The way we celebrate with a Lama is very similar to Tamu Lhosar and Gyalpo Lhosar,” he says.
“As we try to follow our culture and traditions according to our history, it can have slight changes with the upcoming new generations.”
Traditional Tamang dance performance with percussive instrument "damphu" during Sonam Lhosar 2019 celebration in Sydney. Source: Facebook / Tamang Society of Sydney - NSW/Photobook Australia
He explains that back in Nepal, celebrations and religious rituals normally take place over a few weeks in Buddhist monasteries.
While the same is not possible in Australia due to the busy lifestyle, the community aims to get together every year to celebrate.
“We start Lhosar with a small ceremonial puja [an act of worship], in which the Lama tells everyone about Lhosar, and gives his blessings and preaching,” Tamang tells SBS Nepali.
“We wear our traditional attire and do our cultural dance with the traditional instrument damphu.”
Damphu is a percussive instrument similar to a tambourine and is played during the cultural dance called ‘Tamang Selo’.
He says that Australia’s multiculturalism plays a big role in passing on these traditions to future generations.
“When it comes to handing over traditions, we feel very fortunate because Australia encourages us to bring our culture here and celebrate it,” he says.
Gyalpo Lhosar
Like the Tamus and the Tamangs, the Sherpas also call the new year by their own name and celebrate it on a completely different day.
Gyalpo Lhosar will be celebrated on 21 February this year, which is 9 Falgun in the Nepali calendar.
Different from the Tamu and Sonam Lhosars, Gyalpo Lhosar is leaving behind the year of the tiger and entering the year of the rabbit.
The 12 animals in the calendar followed by the Sherpas are the same as the Chinese Zodiac - rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig.
Gyalpo Lhosar celebrations in Kathmandu, Nepal on 22 February, 2020. Credit: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing via Getty Images
He says that a Lama [Buddhist priest] is an important part of the celebration.
“Here in Australia, we book an event hall and decorate it with materials like prayer flags [red, blue, yellow, green and white flags with Buddhist scriptures]. Then we invite a Lama who performs the religious rituals,” he tells SBS Nepali.
“We make food offerings to the Lama like fruits, khapse and chocolates. He performs the worshipping rituals, and we take small portions of the worshipped food."
Khapse is a deep-fried traditional biscuit made of flour, eggs, butter and sugar, and is a local favourite in all variations of Lhosar.
'Khapse' is a delicacy especially prepared during Lhosar. Source: Facebook / Tamang Society of Sydney - NSW
Sherpa says that celebrating Lhosar in Australia attempts to teach the younger generation about their culture and traditions.
Yele Dung
Yele Dung is the New Year for the Rai community.
It falls on the full moon of the first month of the Nepali calendar, Baisakh. This year it is on 22 Baisakh or 5 May.
This day is also known as Buddha Jayanti, the birthday of Siddartha Gautama, who was later known as Gautama Buddha after attaining enlightenment on the same day some 35 years later.
Also known as Ubhauli, Yele Dung marks the onset of summer and the harvest season in Nepal.
“On this day, we do bhumi puja [land worship] and worship all elements of nature, including gods, air, water and sky,” says Bharamsher Rai.
“Our ancestors have been worshipping so that the new harvest is not affected by any natural calamities.”
Ubhauli celebration in Australia with traditional 'sakela' dance, in 2019. Source: Facebook / Kirant Society NSW Australia/Nischal Photography Sydney
This falls on a full moon day around five months before Yele Dung and was on 8 December 2022, or 22 Mangsir, according to the Nepali lunar calendar.
While the New Year's Day Ubhauli denotes harvesting crops, Udhauli marks the time when crops have ripened.
“In Australia, right now we are not doing any farming, so mostly we celebrate by getting together and performing our traditional dance - ‘sakela’,” Bharansher Rai tells SBS Nepali.
“We have been doing our best to teach the young generation about the traditions – now it is up to them how much they carry it forward.”
Maghi Parba
Men and women dressed in traditional Tharu costumes during Maghi Parba celebration in Australia.
In 2023, the Tharus will observe Maghi on the 15 January, or 1 Magh in the Nepali calendar.
As it is winter in Nepal during January, Maghi marks the passing of mid-winter and welcomes the beginning of spring and the harvest season.
Arun Kumar Chaudhary is the Public Officer of the Tharu Society Sydney of Australia.
He explains that this day goes by different names, such as Maghe Sankranti, Tila Sankranti, and Makar Sankranti and also says that Maghi refers to the month of Magh, and parba means festival.
“In Nepal, we celebrate it with many religious rituals, which are not quite possible in Australia as not all required elements of worship are available here,” Chaudhary tells SBS Nepali.
“But we do our best to continue worshipping, taking elders’ blessings and cooking delicacies we make such as muri [round balls made of corn], fish and meat.”
A worker arranges molasses locally know as "Chaku" for the upcoming Maghe Sankranti festival in Tokha on the outskirts of Kathmandu on January 9, 2020. Source: AFP / PRAKASH MATHEMA/AFP via Getty Images
The main delicacy is chaku [harderned molasses], which is eaten with ghyu [clarified butter] and round balls made of sesame seeds, called til ko laddu.
Keeping up the tradition, these food items are also available in Nepali grocery shops in Australia during Maghi.
As 15 January falls on a weekend this year, he expects there to be a good turnout for the celebrations.
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