Sonam Losar

Sonam Losar is the new year of the Tamang community, also celebrated by the Hyolmo and some other Himalayan communities. It falls on the first day of the bright half of the lunar month of Magh, usually in late January or February, and is a public holiday in Nepal.

Celebrations

Families clean and decorate their homes, hang new prayer flags and visit monasteries to pray for the year ahead. People wear traditional clothes and jewellery, and there are feasts of meat, sel roti, khapse and other festive foods. The Tamang Selo songs and damphu drum dances are performed at community gatherings.

The animal years

Like the Tibetan and Chinese calendars, the Losar calendar names each year after one of twelve animals — mouse, ox, tiger, hare, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, bird, dog and pig — which people see as influencing the character of the year.

In the valley

Sanothimi and the surrounding area are home to many Tamang families, and on Losar you may see groups in traditional dress heading to celebrations. The largest public gatherings are at Tundikhel and around Boudha stupa in Kathmandu.