Tibetan New Year celebrated in Columbia

The Dalai Lama celebrates Losar New Years will be celebrated in March this year, with momos and chai, as Tibetan Buddhists in Columbia invite the community to join them for Losar, the traditional Tibetan new year festivities. Welcoming the Year of the Wood Bird, according to the Tibetan calendar, the South Carolina Dharma Group (SCDG) is hosting a Tibetan meal with a cultural film and a raffle with proceeds to assist tsunami victims.

The Losar celebration of the lunar new year dates from the 6th century BCE in Tibet, and became a Buddhist festival in later years. In Tibet, preparations for Losar include cleaning and whitewashing houses, making new clothes, and masked dances by lamas (Tibetan priests). The American version of the celebration includes momos, which are Tibetan dumplings traditionally eaten at Losar, and other Indo–Tibetan foods including samosas, chicken curry, basmati rice, fried daal, butternut squash, green beans with red potatoes, and rice pudding. Red or white wine will be served.

SCDG invites everyone to join in the Losar festivities, which will be held on Saturday, March 5 at 6 pm at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 2701 Heyward St, Columbia, 29205 (corner of Heyward and Woodrow Streets in Shandon). Tickets are $20 for the general public, $15 for SCDG members, and $12 for students and children. To purchase a ticket, contact Tony or Carolyn Cox at (803) 695-0612, tccox99@earthlink.net

The South Carolina Dharma Group 

The purpose of the SC Dharma Group is to promote the study and practice of Tibetan Buddhism and provide Buddhist teachings of the Gelukpa tradition to be led by a resident Tibetan Buddhist teacher and administered by a Tibetan Buddhist spiritual director.

Their center is located at 1320 Brennen Road Columbia, SC