Lhasa Aristocratic Family's New Year
Tsarong Yangchen Dolkar
(1940s, photographed by Heinrich)
Tsarong Yangchen Dolkar (ཚ་རོང་དབྱངས་ཅན་སྒྲོལ་དཀར།), born in 1927 into the Dokhar family (མདོ་མཁར།). Her father, Phuntsok Rabgyas (ཕུན་ཚོགས་རབ་རྒྱས།), had served as a Kalon and later received the rank of Lieutenant General in the People's Liberation Army. Her mother, Rinchen Putri (རིག་འཛིན་བུ་འཁྲིད།), was the eldest daughter of the Tsarong family, a collateral branch of the royal house of Sikkim. In 1941, she married Dondul Namgyal (བདུད་འདུལ་རྣམ་རྒྱལ།), the eldest son of Tsarong Dazang Dündul.
The Dokhar Family
From left: Son Sonam Dorje, Daughter Yangchen Dolkar
Mother Rinchen Putri, Father Phuntsok Rabgyas
(1940s, photographed by Heinrich)
New Year in Memory
In my memory, Losar was the most important celebration of the year. Preparations usually began a month in advance. The first step was making various kinds of fried dough snacks called "khasé" (ཁུ་ཁོག), which were both excellent offerings for deities and essential treats for guests. Our Dokhar household would set up a stove and place a large pot in the stable, and every year a woman was assigned to spend a whole week making these pastries.
The north side of the Dokhar Mansion (with the victory banner on the central roof) and Barkhor Street
(1920s, included in *Wisdom Eyes Gaze Upon the Snowland*)
The flour and oil were all supplied by our family's estate in the Racha area east of Lhasa. Each year, we would fry nearly two thousand pieces. For frying, butter and rapeseed oil were mixed together in a large iron wok. There was a wide variety of fried dough snacks, an array of types, including Kukuo (donkey ears), Nyakshak (long strips), Ledok, Bulu (rings), Bindo (small pieces), and so on.
Khasé
(Source: Douyin)
At the same time, the interior and exterior of the mansion also began to be repaired and decorated. The walls were whitewashed anew, and the window frames were repainted with black paint. The victory banners and drapes on the rooftop shrine platform were also replaced. High up on the roof, we would also hang "Tashi Chandar" (བཀྲ་ཤིས་ཁྲ་རིང་།), the auspicious colored streamers.
Tashi Chandar
(2020s, photographed by the author)
This is a rectangular drape made from colored silk and cotton fabrics, cut and pieced together. According to Tibetan custom, it is hung on the rooftop during festive occasions, symbolizing good fortune and fulfillment. Inside the mansion, all door curtains and drapes were replaced with new ones. In the spacious courtyard, the Eight Auspicious Symbols (བཀྲ་ཤིས་རྟགས་བརྒྱད།) were carefully outlined with white lime.
New drapes on doors and windows
(2020s, photographed by the author)
On the offering table, people began to build "Dekha". The Dekha custom mainly originated from the sacrificial killing practices of the ancient Tibetan people, later evolving into offerings made in the shape of dough. When arranging them, first the Kukuo (donkey ear pastries) are placed facing downwards, stacked steadily in pairs. On top of these are placed Nyakshak (long strips) and Ledok. At the very top, Bindo are placed.
The Symbolic Meaning of Dekha
(2010s, Source: Snowwing Culture)
Once the Dekha was built, all kinds of precious dried and fresh fruits, as well as brown sugar, rock sugar, tea bricks, and butter, were placed around it. In addition, making the "Chema box", preparing the tea and liquor offerings, and mixing the sweet rice with ginseng fruit were also essential tasks.
Sweet Rice with Ginseng Fruit
(1980s, Source: *Rejoice, Tibet*)
The Chema box is made of wood, carved or painted with auspicious patterns, mostly the Eight Auspicious Symbols, the Six Long-Life Symbols (ཚེ་རིང་རྣམ་དྲུག), and the Four Harmonious Brothers (མཐུན་པ་སྤུན་བཞི།). These were the main offerings for the New Year.
New Year's Offering Table
(1930s, photographed by Spencer Chapman)
Lively "Guthuk"
Two days before the New Year, the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth Tibetan month, is known as "Gutor" (དགུ་གཏོར།). On this day, the monks of Namgyal Monastery at the Potala Palace perform magnificent cham dances in the eastern courtyard, during which a grand exorcism ritual (གཏོར་རྒྱག) is also held.
Potala Palace Gutor Ceremony
(1930s, photographed by Spencer Chapman)
In one corner of the venue, a pot of boiling hot oil was heated. Black-hat sorcerers, holding silver bowls filled with barley liquor, chanted mantras and then poured the liquor into the hot oil. Instantly, flames shot up. They then thrust a canvas painted with evil spirits violently into the fire, symbolizing the complete expulsion of all inauspicious things.
Potala Palace Gutor Ceremony
(1930s, photographed by Spencer Chapman)
Afterwards, a torma adorned with skulls would be taken to the stone tablet at the entrance of the Potala Palace and burned together with a stacked pile of hay. At the same time, Tashilhunpo Monastery and other major monasteries in the Ü-Tsang region would also hold the same ritual, jointly praying for peace and well-being in the coming year.
Potala Palace Gutor Ceremony
Torma
(1930s, photographed by Spencer Chapman)
On the evening of this day, every household in Lhasa city would drink "Guthuk" barley porridge. Nine dough balls were specially cooked in the porridge, each containing a small slip of paper with a word written on it. The words included Sun, Moon, Cotton, Salt, Coal, White Porcelain, Pea, Chili, and Carrying Karmic Debt (ལན་ཆགས་རྒྱབ་ཁུར།).
Guthuk
Each person would receive one dough ball in their bowl, and everyone would then tease and interpret each other's fortunes based on the content of the slip inside. For example, drawing White Porcelain or Cotton meant a kind heart; Sun and Moon symbolized good luck and happiness; Salt indicated being weighed down by worries; Coal suggested a dangerous person; Pea meant an impatient character; Chili described someone as mean and harsh; and "Carrying Karmic Debt" meant one might face many obstacles in the coming year.
Guthuk: Dough Balls with Paper
(2010s, Source: Internet)
People always compared, associated, and joked about the results they drew, creating a very amusing atmosphere. Before drinking the porridge, additional dough was used to mold small human figures (dri-lu) and distributed to everyone. Each person would take a dough figure and touch it to their own body, especially parts where they felt unwell, as if transferring their ailments and misfortunes into the dough.
Guthuk: Dough Figures for Exorcism
(2020s, Source: Internet)
Afterwards, these dough figures were placed into a container together with an effigy of an evil spirit also made from dough, and a little bit of the barley porridge soup was poured in. Then, a bundle of highland barley straw was lit and gently waved in every room, symbolizing the cleansing of all misfortune and evil spirits from the house. Finally, this bundle of straw and the container with the dough were thrown out onto the street, marking the successful conclusion of the Guthuk evening rituals.
Guthuk Lit Highland Barley Straw
New Year's Day Feast
On the evening of the thirtieth day of the twelfth month, we children could hardly contain our anticipation and excitement for the coming New Year. I remember one year, even before my nanny was ready to sleep, I ran to her room and pestered her to play with me. In the end, she just scolded me playfully, and I had to slink back to my room to sleep.
Mother and Daughter of Dokhar
Mother Rinchen Putri and Daughter Yangchen Dolkar
(1930s, photographed by Anonymous)
The first day of the New Year had finally arrived! Everyone put on their carefully prepared festive attire. At five o'clock in the morning, our entire household, including all the servants, began to get up and change clothes. I put on a brand-new chuba, and my hair was braided into long braids called "Janglo" (ལྕང་ལོ།). Mother dressed in her full noblewoman's finery, wearing on her head a "Barko" headdress from the Tsang region. It was said that mother's headdress was the most famous in Lhasa at the time.
Dokhar Rinchen Putri wearing the famous Tsang region headdress
(1940s, photographed by Tsarong Dondul Namgyal)
Father also changed into his brand-new official robe. After the two of them were fully dressed, the family first went to the Dokhar mansion's Gonkhang to make offerings. Afterwards, in the main hall of the Dokhar mansion, sitting cushions (བཞུགས་གྲལ།) had already been arranged in order of precedence, and family members took their seats accordingly. Everyone first drank tea and tasted the sweet rice with ginseng fruit.
Traditional Seating Order of the Tsarong Family
(1940s, photographed by Anonymous)
Then, servants holding the Chema box and exquisite silver bowls filled with barley liquor came before each person in turn. We would gently take a pinch of the Chema grain and toss it into the air, then dip our ring finger in the barley liquor and flick it into the air two or three times, thus completing the Chema greeting and the liquor offering ceremony.
Liquor Offering Ceremony
(2010s, photographed by the author)
Afterwards, the steward of the Dokhar mansion led all the servants, holding khatas respectfully presented before the family at the main table. After expressing their New Year's greetings, they each returned to their own homes to conduct their own smaller New Year ceremonies. Most of these servants had their own families in Lhasa, and while their ceremonies were on a smaller scale, the procedures were largely the same.
Tsarong Family New Year Celebration
(1920s, photographed by Anonymous)
On this day, close relatives of the Dokhar family, as well as the aristocratic families and merchants friendly with us, would come one after another to pay New Year's calls. We would give them New Year's fried dough snacks as return gifts. Many tenants lived in the outer courtyard corridors of the Dokhar mansion, and we also had to visit them house by house, offering them the Chema greeting and liquor ceremony.
Dokhar Mansion Front View
Main Gate and Outer Courtyard Corridors
(1920s, photographed by Raten Lepcha)
In their homes, I also saw neatly stacked Dekha offerings, and the stoves and water storage pots were outlined with white lime and tied with pure white khatas, symbols of good luck everywhere. In my eyes, everything was completely different from ordinary days, appearing especially fresh and interesting.
Dokhar Mansion (right side of the frame)
and the Jokhang Temple in the distance (left rear)
(1930s, photographed by Williamson)
After the family celebration ended, Father would go to the Jokhang Temple to pay homage, and then proceed to the Potala Palace to attend the Kashag government's New Year ceremony, not returning home until around two o'clock in the afternoon.
New Year Court Ceremony
(1950s, Collection of the Tsarong Family)
We, however, accompanied Mother separately to pay homage at the Jokhang Temple. After returning to the Dokhar mansion, it was playtime for us children. Several games were popular in Lhasa at that time, such as "Boli" (འབོ་ལི།, marbles), skipping rope (ཐག་མཆོང་།), "Aju" (ཨ་ཅུག, knucklebones), and shuttlecock kicking (ཐེབས་པད།).
Children of a Lhasa Aristocratic Family
(1930s, photographed by Richardson)
When playing "Boli" (marbles), we would first dig a hole in the ground and put coins inside. The referee would designate the target to hit. If six or seven people played together, each would put down five or six coins. The challenger had to hit the target precisely without touching any other coins. If successful, they would win all the money. This game was very captivating. The girls, on the other hand, preferred skipping rope.
Aju (Knucklebones)
(2020s, Source: Internet)
There was also a game played with the knucklebones of sheep or goats called "Aju", which was both fun and fascinating. We would paint the knucklebones in colors like green, red, and yellow as markers. The more worn and protruding side of the bone was called "donkey", and the opposite side was called "horse"; the round side represented "sheep", and the concave side represented "goat". When throwing, you couldn't touch anyone else's bones. The winner was determined based on which "animal" showed when they landed and the number of successful hits. There were many different ways to play.
Shuttlecock Kicking
(1940s, photographed by Tolstoy)
As for shuttlecocks, we would ask the people who transported bodies to the sky burial site for vulture tail feathers. When the sky burial master fed the vultures, they would sometimes suddenly pull out some tail feathers and sell them. Shuttlecocks of various colors could also be bought on the streets of Lhasa. We would also tie a small bell to the shuttlecock, so it jingled when kicked. Among the tenants in the Dokhar mansion, there were a few girls who could kick continuously over a hundred times without dropping it. They were truly amazing.
Children Buying Toys on Lhasa Street
(1950s, included in *Tibet Pictorial*)
We would also take the Chema box and liquor bowls to visit relatives and friends one by one, exchanging blessings. This lively bustle would continue until evening. The adults often got thoroughly drunk, and upon returning to the Dokhar mansion's courtyard, they would sing and dance, creating a scene of great joy and excitement.
Ceremonial Song and Dance
(1950s, included in *Tibet Pictorial*)
During the New Year, groups such as the Rakgyabpa and Rakgyab Ama (རག་རྒྱབ་དང་རག་རྒྱབ་ཨ་མ།), Drekar (འབྲས་དཀར།), and some beggars would go from house to house begging. The Rakgyabpa and Rakgyab Ama were dam maintenance workers in the Lhasa area, also responsible for handling corpses. The Drekar were those who went door to door during festivals singing auspicious greetings, considered an auspicious omen. Following tradition, we would give them some fried dough snacks, money, and khatas as alms.
Rakgyabpa
(1940s, photographed by Heinrich)
Third Day Prayer Flags
On the third and fourth days of the first Tibetan month, there was also the custom in the Lhasa area of hanging Lungta prayer flags and conducting Sang smoke offerings. Besides performing rituals on their own rooftops, people would usually go to Mount Gephel Utsé behind Drepung Monastery, or to the top of Vase Mountain on the southern bank of the Lhasa River to conduct these offerings.
View of Lhasa from the Top of Vase Mountain
(1930s, photographed by Spencer Chapman)
Before this, Sang smoke offerings would also be made on the banks of the Lhasa River. Tibetan people greatly valued this custom, believing that such rituals greatly benefited personal fortune and family prosperity. The Lungta prayer flags are made of cloth in five colors.
Tsarong Yangchen Dolkar and Aunt Kyibuk Gedun Wangmo
Performing Sang smoke offering on the banks of the Lhasa River
(1940s, photographed by Tsarong Dondul Namgyal)
Each color has its symbolic meaning: blue represents the sky, yellow represents the earth, green represents water, red represents the wind, and white represents metal. After the third day, the main New Year celebrations officially came to an end. This is the most profound and vivid memory of Losar from my childhood.
Women in Festive Attire Performing Rituals on Chakpori Hill
(1930s, photographed by Ernst Schäfer)