each house burns junipers or sang (incense) along with the champo prepared for the festival – with a simultaneous rendition of Lha Gya Lo. And people exchange ‘Tashi Deleg Phunsom Tsog/Ema Bhagdo Kukham Zang/Tenlo Dewa Thopar Tshok’ (May all the properties be accumulated here/O my mind be in cheerful, pure and healthy state/may happiness remain here forever).

Interestingly, Losoong is preceded by a fantastic display of masked dances, which are performed each year in major monasteries of Sikkim like Enchey, Rumtek, Ralong and Phodong Gonpas.

Bag Chaam or mask dance held at different intervals of the year holds special significance for the people of Sikkim, particularly Buddhists. The Chaam held on the eve of Losoong is called Gutor or Kagyed as per the Dharma order.

It is performed as Loshi Kurim or a yearly puja. It is a major prayer service where monks of a respective Gonpa take more than ten days reading the sacred texts invoking deities in destroying evils from the earth and praying for universal peace in the new year ahead.

Later, on the 29th day after seven days of rigorous prayers, monks come out and perform Chaam. Taking the guise of deities, they dance to the tune of tantric instruments following the ancient Chaam Yig (dance text). This dance shows what the monks have been doing during the prayer service. The process of invoking the deities, seeking their help in destroying and killing the evils that bring disturbances, war, diseases etc. are evident through the dance.

After five auspicious Losoong days, it is time for the Nyempa Guzom on the 6th and 7th. Losoong is not over. For people living in far off places, it may carry on into the fifteenth day. There is a belief that each week and a month has a black day which total to make Nyempa Guzom. These days are black, painful and sad because the deities are supposed to undergo cleansing on the day.

People are thus advised not to start anything new on this day. Any welfare work initiated on this day brings only disaster and misfortune. So instead gambling, idle talk and gossip are encouraged on Nyempa Guzom. People in Lahaul and Kinnaur districts of Himachal Pradesh also celebrate Losoong.

Yishey D