Tamu Lhosar being marked today

By A Staff Reporter, Kathmandu, Dec. 30: The Gurung community is marking 'Tamu Lhosar' as their New Year on Monday by organising various programmes across the country, including Kathmandu.

The Gurung community is going to celebrate Tamu Lhosar on a week-long basis. Tamu Lhosar Main Organising Committee informed that Lhosar, which is celebrated as New Year, is being celebrated on a week-long basis by organising various programmes at Tundikhel.

The Gurungs mark Tamu Lhosar as their New Year on Poush 15 every year. In the Gurung language, 'Lho' stands for class and 'Sar' for change.

The Gurungs divide their year into 12 cycles and each cycle is represented by 12 different animals -- Garuda (eagle), serpent, horse, sheep, monkey, bird, dog, deer, mouse, cow, tiger and cat -- which they call “lho.” During each Lhosar, they bid farewell to the existing 'lho' and welcome a new one.

This year, the Gurung community is going to celebrate Lhosar by bidding farewell to the Garuda cycle and welcoming the Snake cycle on Monday.

A rally taken out to mark Tamu Lhosar in New Road, Kathmandu, 30 December 2024. Photo: Nanda Lal Tiwari/TRN.

The Gurungs in Kathmandu will organise several programmes, with a special programme at Tundikhel, to mark their annual festival on Monday.

Tamu Lhosar Main Organising Committee will hold a cultural rally that passes through New Road, Ratnapark and Bhadrakali before ending at Tundikhel. Different programmes will be organised in the major Gurung settlements of Lamjung, Gorkha, Tanahun, Syangja, Manang, Kaski and Parbat of the Gandaki Province.

They celebrate the festival with much fanfare by extending greetings to each other and feasting on traditional cuisines

For a week, greetings exchange, tea gathering, book release and literary honour, sports programme, folk dance competition, blood donation, cultural programme and formal ceremony will be organised, according to the committee.