The Festival in Tibet (4)

Lotus Buddha's Birthday
The tenth day of the fifth month is the birthday of Lotus Buddha. In many places, such as Xiezha in Shannan and Khaqu in Luozha, Tibetans celebrate this day. Each year there is a minor celebration to observe the event, while every twelfth year – or once around the zodiac – there is a major celebration.

TOPThe Sixth Month
TOPThe Homage to Buddha's First Sermon Festival
The Homage to Buddha's First Sermon Festival is sometimes also dubbed the Homage to the Holy Mountains Festival, because on this day, the fourth day of the sixth month of the lunisolar calendar, Tibetan Buddhists put on new cassocks and take to the mountains to worship Lord Buddha Sakyamuni. One of the most famous mountains for this event in the Lhasa area is Chokpori, a sacred hill in Lhasa.

TOPThe Seventh Month
TOP Sho Ton (The Yoghurt Festival)
Sho Ton, or the Yoghurt Festival, is one of the most popular traditional Tibetan festivals. "Sho" means yoghurt in Tibetan, while "ton" means banquet. Although prior to the 17th century, Sho Ton had been an exclusively religious observance, Tibetan opera eventually became a fixture during the festival, which gradually changed character towards the inclusion of more secular cultural events. In fact, the Sho Ton Festival has also been dubbed the Tibet Opera Festival.

The sixth month of the Tibetan lunisolar calendar was a time of meditation and self-reflection among monks, a time when the monks had little contact with ordinary Tibetans, as they were not permitted outside the monastery. Therefore the seventh month was a time for celebration in which the people offered alms to monks who had been cooped up in the monastery during the sixth month. One of the main foodstuffs offered the monks during this month was yoghurt, and therefore the main festival of the seventh month of the Tibetan lunisolar calendar came to be officially known as the Yoghurt Festival, although today it is as often referred to as the Tibet Opera Festival.

In the beginning of the eighteenth century, Norbu Lingka, which thereafter served as the summer palace of the Dalai Lama, was built, after which the Yoghurt Festival was moved to the Dalai Lama's new summer palace, and the festival became formalized. Previously, on the twenty-ninth day of the sixth month, opera troupes throughout Tibet would arrive at Potala Palace, the main residence of the Dalai Lama, and would register with the local government to seek permission to perform at the palace.

Short opera performances were given at the palace, after which everyone, including monks from Dreprung Monastery, would congregate at Norbu Lingka to worship the Dalai Lama. In the evening, the monks would return to their monastery, and on the following day, the thirtieth, the Zang Opera would be performed all day long at Dreprung Monastery. On the first day of the seventh month of the Tibetan lunisolar calendar, various opera troupes would give a large, combined performance at Norbu Lingka. From the second day to the fifth day of the seventh month of the Tibetan lunisolar calendar, opera troupes from Gyantse, An'rang, Nanmulin and Lhasa would each perform in turn.

During the Sho Ton Festival, government personnel were also permitted a holiday so that they might participate in the festivities. All of the officials would assemble at Norbu Lingka to enjoy the opera performances and to pay their respects to the Dalai Lama. At noon, a banquet was held to treat all the assembled officials, and, as a way of paying homage to the monks, yoghurt was also served. The urban residents of Lhasa and the peasants from the countryside would dress up in their finest costumes, then head for Norbu Lingka, with picnic baskets full of food and drink, where they would attend the opera performances. In this way, the Yoghurt Festival became synonymous with the Tibet Opera Festival.