Saga Dawa Festival

Brief Introduction

In the April of Tibetan calendar, Tibet people celebrate the Saga Dawa Festival. It is said that Sakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism, was born on the 7th of Saga Dawa month, of Tibetan calendar ironic monkey Year, sambodhied on 15th of Saga Dawa month, of Tibetan Calendar wooden horse year and Parinirvanaed on 15th of Saga Dawa month of Tibetan Calendar Ironic dragon year. So the Tibetan people regard the month the Buddha born, sambodhi and Parinirvana as to be with good fortune and lucky.

The Feature

Doing good works is the main feature of Saga Dawa Festival. In this special Tibet festival, you may see many Christians kowtow along the streets of Lhasa. They do this, out of pure blessings, or just to fulfill their dreams in mind. The April 15 of Tibetan Calendar is the climate day of showing mercy. From the early morning, there have been people doing donations. On that day, as long as meeting with someone begging on the way, no matter they are monks or beggars, the Tibetan people would be willing to give alms. Of course, the poor people would be busy on that day, which is why Saga Dawa Festival is also called the day of the poor. Generally, the Tibetan people who are in favor of having yak meat would avoid eating meat on April 8 and April 15. They also avoid doing evil things, because they believe in that there would be worse retribution for evildoing.

The Meaning

As for the meaning of Saga Wada Festival, there are two sayings. On one hand, it is to memorize the day Sakyamuni sambodhied. On the other hand, it was for the commemoration of the day Princess Wencheng's being to Lhasa. On this day, religious commemorative activities would also be held. Some of the Tibetan people in Yunnan Province even go to worship on the Damo Mountain of Weixi County. They also held the Zhungela ceremony on the mountain.