Festivals of Sikkim

  LOSOONG- 'Losoong' a n ethnic Sikkimese harvesting festival, began in Sikkim on Saturday with traditional enthusiasm and fanfare.Celebrated mainly by Bhutia community of Sikkim, the week-long festival also marks the end of the Tibetan lunar calender and beginning of new year.Dressed in new clothes, men and women marked the festival by merry making, serving traditional brewed millet (chang) or country-made liquor and participating in sports activities.All state government institutions and banks would remain closed from Saturday till December 21 next for the celebrations.In many monasteries, the celebrations were accompanied by ritual Lama dance (chham).

  Dasain The Dasain festivals is the main festival of the Hindu Nepalese communities residing is Sikkim. The festival signifies the victory of good over evil or dharma over adharma , remembering goddess Durga’s victory over the buffalo demon Mahishasura to restore and protect the dharma. On the following day elders apply vermilion Tikkas on the forehead of the young to bless them with longevity and success. The fifteen days long festival commences on the bright lunar fortnight (Shukla Paksha) of the holy Ashwin month of Bikram Sambat Calendar (mid-September to mid-October). Among these fifteen days, the most auspicious and celebrated days happen to be first, seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth, with tenth being the day of ‘Bijaya Dashmi’. Puja ceremonies, community processions, family get-togethers and festive meals are some of the integral parts of the Dashain celebrations.