Michael Yamashita ’71: ‘Happy 2140!’

Michael Yamashita '71, photographer, writer and volunteer fireman, documents Losar, the Tibetan New Year, on his blog. Although the Tibetan celebration has been subdued this year, Yamashita offers a view into the Losars of the past.

Happy 2140, the year of the snake! Though Losar, like Chinese New Year, is generally an occasion for festivities, things for Tibetans are a little different this year. For the fifth year in a row, Lobsang Sangay, the exiled prime minister of Tibet, has asked Tibetans to tone down celebrations for the new year, in memory of those who have self-immolated in recent years (up to 99) in protest against the Chinese occupation of Tibet.

No one feels like dancing and singing anymore,’ says Kunga Tashi, the representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to the Americas. In lieu of parties and feasting, he is appealing to Tibetans to mark the passage of the year with silence, candle-lighting and burning incense in memory of those who have lost their lives in protest..

Lha Gyal Lo. Bhod Gyal Lo. May all beings be happy and well, as we celebrate Tibetan New Year.

Here are some scenes from a Losar past in Labrang Monastery, Xiahe, Gansu Province.

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Image: from Michael Yamashita.

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Related links

• Photos by Yamashita '71 capture disappearing Tibetan life, culture
• National Geographic photographer Yamashita speaks at Freeman Asian Studies
• Yamashita '71, Bestor, speak on Tohuku earthquake, disaster
• Michael Yamashita's website

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