FESTIVALS

• LOSOONG FESTIVAL 

 Losoong is the Sikkimese New Year, of the Bhutia tribe, celebrated every year in the month of December . .Losoong falls on the 18th day of the 10th month, when farmers   celebrate the harvest. It is a traditional festival of the Bhutias, but the Lepchas also celebrate it and call it Namsoong. The festival have been adapted from the traditions and rituals of the Tibetan New Year, Losar. The festival is conducted at the Phodong and Rumtek Monasteries in Sikkim. Loosong is not only celebrated in India but its also celebrated in Nepal and Bhutan. The dance forms performed in the festival depict narrativized tales from the life of Padmasambhava (or Guru Ugyen). 

• LOSAR 

It is a festival in Tibetan Buddhism. It is celebrated on various dates depending on the location ( Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal, India ) tradition. The holiday is a new year's festival, celebrated on the first day of the lunisolar Tibetan calendar, which corresponds to a date in February or March in the Gregorian calendar. In 2020, the new year commenced on the 24th of February and celebrations ran until the 26th of the same month. It also commenced the Year of the Male Iron Rat. The variation of the festival in Nepal is called Lhochhar and is observed about eight weeks earlier than the Tibetan Losar.