Folk Custume in Tibet

Tibetan is an ethnic group with a mysterious cover, there are many unique Tibetan folk customs there. Their wisdom, knowledge about life, compassion, tolerance and peace of mind, all contribute in making the Tibetan culture. The simplicity of life, the spirituality of minds and rich customs and traditions give a strong hold to this alpine region. 

Birth Ceremony

The birth ceremony is called Pangsai in Tibetan, with "pan" meaning fowls and "sai" cleaning away. The Tibetans believe newborn babies come to the world alongside fowls, and a ceremony should be held to wipe them out so that these babies would be able to grow healthily and mothers recover soon. Such rituals, evolved from a Bon religious ritual to worship the God, have been going on for more than 1,500 years.

Tibetan Opera

Tibetan Opera is an important cultural content of Tibetan people' s social life. In Mainland China, Tibet, Sichuan, Qinghai, Yunnan and other areas where Tibetans are living, Tibetan opera is very popular among them. This art form, at its content and the performance practices, has strong religious overtones of Tibetan Buddhism. Tibetan Opera is a very large branch of drama. Due to the natural conditions of the Tibetan Plateau, customs, culture and traditions, dialect differences of the Tibetan Plateau, it has many varieties of art and genres. During the Shoton Festival, Tibetan operas will be performed in Norbulingka Palace as well.

Sky Burial

Sky burial is to feed the vulture with the body. After the vulture finishes eating the body and fly into the sky, the Tibetan people think that the dead man will go to the heaven.The sky burial is held at some specific sky burial spot. After one man dies, his body will be held for several days until the lamas are invited to chant scripture and select someday to hold the funeral. This ceremony is quite private so normally speaking, travelers won't be able to see this.

Tibetan Buddhism

Tibetan Buddhism refers to Tibetan-language Buddhism, there have maalso known as Lamaism. In the early 7th century, Songtsan Gambo wed Tang Dynasty (618-907) Princess Wencheng from the Central Plains and Nepalese Princess Bhributi. Each princess brought to Tubo a statue of Buddha, and the Jokhang and Rampoche Monasteries were built to house the two statues. Artisans who accompanied the princesses had monasteries built, while accompanying Buddhist monks set about translating the Buddhist scriptures. As a result, Buddhism made its way into Tubo life, and Buddhist tenets gradually infiltrated its politics, economics, culture, education, customs and habits. Tibetan Buddhism that emerged was widely worshipped by the Tubo residents.

Tibetan Calendar

According to historical records, as early as 100 BC, Tibetans already had their own calendar using the moon to calculate the day, month and year. After several centuries, Bon followers (the primitive religion of Tibet) could accurately calculated the time of the winter solstice, and took it as the initial year, forming a variety of festivals and rituals. In the 7th century, two princesses-Wencheng and Jincheng married successively for Tibet alliance, bringing the mainland calendar to Tibet. Since then, the Tibetan and Chinese ancient calendar of India combined and in Yuan Dynasty formed into one unique calendar. Tibetan calendar is a lunisolar. The year is divided into four seasons, winter, spring, summer, autumn, and 354 days of the year. Most Tibetan holidays are established according to the Tibetan Calender. Check some famous Tibet Festivals.

Tibetan Name

Tibetan name often has two words or four words, most of them originating from the Buddhism works and that's why so many Tibetan people have the same names. In order to tell the difference, Tibetan often add the junior or the senior, the character of the person, the birth place, the residence or his career title before their Tibetan names. When a baby is born, the parents ask the lama to name the baby, so most of the names are given by the lama, which come from the Buddhism scripture, including some words symbolizing happiness or luck, for example, Tashi Phentso, Jime Tsering, etc.

To know more about Tibetan Taboos.