The Tamang community across the country observed Sonam Lhosar today by organizing various programs.
The festival is taken as the commencement of the near year as per the Manju Shree calendar or Tibetan lunar calendar and today marks the beginning of the year 2859. As per the Tamang tradition, today they complete the ‘year of the tiger’ and enter the ‘year of hare’.
The festival falls on the Magh Shukla Pratipada, the first day of the bright fortnight in the month of Magh in the lunar calendar.
There is a custom in the Tamang community to count the year with the association of symbols of 12 different animals: rat, cow, tiger, hare, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, bird, dog, and boar. It starts with a rat and ends with boar.
According to researcher Tika Sherpa, the counting of the year with the name of animals suggest that the Tamang people are worshippers of nature. Various districts in the Bagmati Province are the Tamang-majority districts and this festival is observed in such districts with much fanfare.
The Bouddhanath Area Development Area has planned various programs today to observe the festival. Likewise, Nepal Tamang Ghedung has decided to mark the festival by organizing programs in the local Tundikhel for the next three days. Likewise, the Swoyambhu area in Kathmandu is hosting programs on the occasion.
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