Losar in Lhasa
There is no way to Lhasa, Lhasa is the way
"There is no path to happiness, happiness is the path" the Shakyamuni Buddha spoke 2500 years ago. For centuries, the Tibetans have put that right in their ears and lived as much as possible thid way. And it worked. Life after life, after life. Suddenly that was over. Around 1950 the misery began. And that is not over yet. Meanwhile, the cultural heritage of the highest country in the world has been virtually destroyed by half a century of Chinese occupation. There is not much left of the capital Lhasa in particular. Slowly a kind of Boedisneyland is created here to allow as much foreign and domestic money as possible to slip into the wrong pockets. Only 4% of the area of Lhasa is inhabited by Tibetans. But with Losar, despite how astonishingly many Tibetans have already fled, been jailed or murdered, the capital is flooded by these fantastic people.
Losar is the Tibetan New Year and is celebrated in Lhasa as exuberantly as possible. From all over the country the Tibetans come to their capital to visit the most important sanctuaries, picnic with friends and make sacrifices. This book tries to give an image report of the festivities and life in the capital of Tibet during Losar in 2004. Losar takes place on the first day of the first month according to the lunar calendar. It is the most important festival in Tibet and is originally a celebration of the first blossom on the peach tree.
