TIBETAN LOSAR- 2148 Year of the Iron Ox (Buffalo)

Losar (Tibetan: ལོ་གསར་, Wylie: lo-gsar; “New Year”) is a festival in Tibetan Buddhism. Tibetan Losar 2021 (New Year) Festival falls on Friday, February 12, 2021. While the Gregorian calendar is a purely solar calendar, the Tibetan calendar (Tibetan: ལོ་ཐོ, Wylie: lo-tho) is a lunisolar calendar. This means that the Tibetan year is composed of either 12 or 13 lunar months, each beginning and ending with a new moon. A thirteenth month is added every two or three years so that an average Tibetan year is equal to the solar year.

How to Celebrate Tibetan Losar 2021:

Tibetans consider Losar to be an auspicious time of year to renew ones life. This year is the Year of the Iron Ox of 2148 according to the Tibetan lunar calendar. Losar related rituals fall into two different parts.  Firstly, on the 29th day of the 12th month, Buddhists, like all Tibetans say goodbye to the old year and let go of all its negative or bad aspects. Part of this involves cleaning one’s home or room from top to bottom, including any stairs outside. Tibetans all over the world will celebrate by making  a special Tibetan festive noodle soup (gu-thuk) to be enjoyed later that night.

Next, on the 30th day, is a busy day spent cooking and preparing for the New Year. Lastly, on the third day, the Losar or “Tibetan New Year” is welcomed with wholesome prayers and by inviting all good, auspicious things into our homes and into our lives. As with all auspicious celebrations Tibetans begin by paying homage and making offerings to the Three Jewels.

Tibetan Losar 2021 Celebration at the Buddhist Institute:

Stay tuned to the Event Calendar on our website as we are currently planning a celebration for this festival.

Year of the Iron Ox Astrology:

The Year of the Iron Ox is also connected with unity and focusing on hard work ““ such as ploughing the fields. We are advised not to be too hasty in Ox years, but to take time for consideration before acting or making decisions. It is said that some efforts planted in the Ox year will take time to harvest and enjoy fruition.

Direction: north-east

Fix element: (Chinese) water, (Tibetan) earth

Hour: 1 am ““ 3 am

Metal buffalo: 1901, 1961, 2021
Water buffalo: 1853, 1913,1973
Wood buffalo: 1865, 1925, 1985
Fire buffalo: 1877, 1937, 1997
Earth buffalo: 1889, 1949, 2009

Favourable day: Saturday

Favourable day for health: Wednesday

Bad day: Thursday

Good harmony with: Cock, Snake, Mouse, Rabbit, Dragon

Bad harmony with: Sheep, Tiger, Dog, Horse

Qualities: perseverance, balance, patience, laboriousness, liability, seriousness, sincerity, modesty, carefulness, parsimony, loyalty, love for traditions.

Lacks: intransigence, pedantry, lack of introspection, stiffness, severity, lack of phantasy, stubbornness, resentment, slowness, authoritarianism.

Favourable planet: Saturn, Mercury

Non-favourable planet: Jupiter