During the time of Buddha Sakyamuni, all the monks in the monasteries had to go out in towns and cities to get alms from the local communities. Once during the time of monsoon, he found lots of insects and living being around the walking path of the Monastery. After seeing these, he makes rules for all his monks to retreat during the time of monsoon to avoid killing those animals by monks stepping on them without seeing them.
This rule continues in Tibetan Buddhism. In Ganden Monastery during the last day of the retreat, locals would go to the monastery to offer yogurt to the monks. That is how the festival was initially started. later the festival becomes grander each year and added many additional rituals and custom on the festival like display of Gaint Thangka, playing Tibetan Opera, Picnicking in Norbulingka and going to different Tibetan spiritual site for pilgrimage.
In Lhasa the first item in the festival is a display of Giant Thangkha at the Ganden monastery. If any visitor doesn’t mind walking in the line for over five hours. We would recommend you to go for it, otherwise it is a very long walk at a very slow pace. There will be the display of thangka in Sera monastery too.
In the afternoon, there will be a Tibetan Opera at the Norbulingka Palace. At the same time, lots of the local families would be picnicking in the park. We think they would welcome you if you might want to join them in their picnic.
The picnic and Tibetan Opera show will last for a week.
This place was recommended by: i-Tibet Travel
