Saga Dawa Festival

Saga Dawa Festival

The 15th day of the fourth month in the Tibetan calendar is regarded as the day when Sakamuni Was born, enlighted and passed away.

The Saga Dawa festival is on the 15th day of the fourth month under the Tibetan calendar.

On the day, all kinds of activities of worshiping the Buddha and doing good works will reach their climax. At each Saga Dawa Festival, people will crowd each prayer path, circling round constantly in a clockwise direction. While rotating the prayer wheels and counting the prayer beads, belivers chant the mantra, burn bunches of aromatic plants, and spinkle zanba and highland barley wine.

In other areas where outside Lhasa, there are also activities such as trekking around the holy mountains and sacred lakes to pray for blessings.

Saga Dawa features:

The Saga Dawa Festival has always inherited the tradition that the rich help the poor. Therefore, alms giving has become the traditional custom. Releasing animals on the lucky day of religion is even better. Therefore, people releasing animals can be seen near the Lhasa River on that day.

Main forms of festival:

1, Tibetan peoples busy with visiting various monasteries, as the monks reciting prayer in the Assembly Hall in monasteries and serving butter tea during intermission.

2, Hundreds of Tibetan people circumambulating around the Barkhor, Tsekhor (Circuit around Potala) and Lingkhor.

3, The local Tibetans’are generosity to the poor people by providing them material help.

4, Tibetan believers commemorate Sakyamuni by praying, burning incense, eating vegetable food for 15 day-long, and releasing animals, etc.

Notifications:

1, During the festival, Tibetans taboo killing, do not force them to slaughter cattle and sheep.

2, The flow of people on the street is large, thus have to look after your own properties.

3, If tourists want to participate in turning the warp, the warp tube and warp wheel shall not be reversed the direction.

4, Don't touch the top of someone's head, as the head is considered the divine body part.

6, When enter into the monasteries, taboo smoking, touch the Buddha, turn over the text, the bell and drum. For the amulets, rosary beads and other religious objects worn by lamas, they are forbidden to touch.