Pilgrims throwing wind horses into the air above Ganden Monastery for the New Year in Tibet, China

© Ian Cumming/plainpictur

Celebrating Losar. Wind horses carry wishes for a new year

For the first day of Losar, or the Tibetan New Year, we're paying a visit to these Buddhist pilgrims at the Ganden Monastery in Lhasa, Tibet. Losar is celebrated for 15 days, but most events take place in the first three days. They include wishing family members a prosperous year, praying at monasteries or temples, exchanging gifts, burning incense, chanting, wrestling and horse racing. Celebrations for the new year end with Chotrul Duchen, also known as the Butter Lamp Festival.

The pilgrims in today's image are releasing prayer flags called 'wind horses' or lungtas, a ritual they perform during Losar and the rest of the year as well. The horse represents speed and strength and is thought to bring good fortune. Upon releasing the prayer flags, the pilgrims ask the mountain deity to 'increase their fortune like the galloping of a horse and expand their prosperity like the boiling over of milk'.