Tibetans welcome the new year with 15 days of celebration, the first three of which are most important. First, people clean and decorate their homes and monasteries where they perform rituals for protection. The second day is for contemplation and prayer and from the third day there is for eating, drinking and celebration.

During the first month of the Tibetan calendar, Buddhist devotees visit the temples to pray, worship, burn incense and listen to scripture recitals. At this time, the monasteries’ greatest treasures are displayed, they are particularly spectacular in Jokhang and Labrang. The monks chant and perform ritual dances called Cham.

This festival marks the end of the New Year celebrations throughout Tibet. It is a day of feasting and traditional dance and music is performed. Lamps made of yak butter are carved into the shapes of deities, flowers and animals and displayed in the middle of decorative shrines. On the day of the festival, the lamps are lit.