The Festival in Tibet (1)

Tibetan Buddhist Festivals
Tibetan Buddhist festivals follow the Tibetan lunisolar calendar (i.e., a calendar based partly on the sun's as well as the moon's phases). It is therefore the custom to chart Tibetan Buddhist festivals according to the Tibetan lunisolar calendar, just as it is the custom to do so in a chronological order, beginning with the first month and proceeding to the last. Indeed, one might rightfully call this the Tibetan Buddhist Festival Calendar.

TOPThe First Month
TOPSmom-lam (Great Prayer Festival)
Smom-lam is the supreme religious festival in Tibet. It originated in CE 1409 in Buddhism's Geluk sect, whose founder and leader at the time was the monk, Tsong Khapa. Tsong Khapa called upon the monks of the Three Great Monastery of Tibet, the Sera, Dreprung, and Ganden Monasteries, to assemble in Jokhang for a special prayer ceremony. The assembled monks prayed to the image of Buddhism's founder, Buddha Sakyamuni, almost as if this were the living Buddha himself. In time this prayer ceremony developed into a more elaborate public event, stretching over several days, that was observed by Buddhists in towns and villages throughout Tibet, rather than remaining a strictly monastic event.

In Jokhang itself, the ceremony included scriptural recitations as well as more extended prayer ceremonies, and this practice eventually spread throughout the country as more and more monks participated in this very public event, which by that time had become a fixture in the Tibetan Buddhist religious calendar. Moreover, each time a supreme religious leader, a Dalai Lama, would pass away, the scope and intensity of the Smom-lam ceremonies would increase.

The motivational basis for holding the Smom-lam ceremony during the first month of the Tibetan calendar was a legend by which is was said that Buddha, during the first month of the Tibetan calendar, "conquered", or converted, six holy men of false religions at a place in Tibet near the border with India.

From the "inauguration" of the Fifth Dalai Lama onwards, the Smom-lam Festival was finally fixed to begin on the fourth day of the first Tibetan lunisolar month, and to continue on through the final event, the welcoming of Amitabha Buddha, on the twenty-fifth day of the first Tibetan lunisolar month. The first part of the Smom-lam Festival corresponds to the Mon-lam Chenmo Ceremony described below.

During this most auspicious yearly festival, lamas from Tibet's three largest monasteries continue to gather in Jokhang, where they recite scriptures and hold prayer ceremonies. In recent years, it has become the venue for the Gexi degree examinations – the PhD of Tibetan Buddhism, as it were. Though Smom-lam is observed locally, Jokhang continues to attract pilgrims from every corner of Tibet during the Smom-lam Festival. It is also a time when Tibetans make large donations of food and money to the monks and their monasteries.

On the fifteenth day of the first Tibetan lunisolar month, the day that has been chosen to commemorate Buddha's conversion of the six holy men of false religions, also known as The Day of the Living Buddhas, monks from the aforementioned Three Great Monasteries of Tibet hold a large, public ceremony, where they recite scriptures and pray for the well-being of the country and of its citizens, as well as for the well-being of all mankind, Buddhist and non-Buddhist alike. Though this ceremony falls roughly in the middle of Smom-lam (it is the end of the Mon-lam Chenmo Ceremony), it marks the climax of the public part of the Smom-lam Festival; thereafter the Smom-lam ceremonies take on a more private note, where the individual strives to reckon himself – his failings, his weaknesses, etc. – with the path of Buddha.

By nightfall on The Day of the Living Buddhas, colorful sculptures of figures, flowers, birds, and animals – all made of butter – are displayed in the flower beds of the monastery. Of the sculptures, some tower magnificently while others rest near the ground, some are suspended in air while others are made with moving parts. To add to the spirit of universal goodwill that characterizes this part of the festival, "butter lamps" (lamps that burn on rendered butter) are placed along the streets, their flames flickering like so many prayers for peace. Residents and pilgrims come out into the street to appreciate the lighting of the "butter lamps", and some dance and sing throughout the night (see the "Butter Lamp" Festival description below).