This year, the Tibetan Buddhist New Year coincides with the Chinese New Year. (Photo : Reuters)
Tourists and locals flocked to the Labrang Monastery to witness the annual Sunbathing Buddha Festival on March 3. Tens of thousands of Tibetan pilgrims traveled to China's Gansu Province hoping to see the first rays of sunlight hit the huge thangka.
Early in the morning of March 3, Tibetan monks brought a huge Thangka of Buddha, which is made up of sacred paintings on silk canvasses, to the site where the annual ceremony would be held. Believers and tourists made the rigorous hike up the mountain before dawn so they could see the sun come up and the sunlight hit the sacred 400-square-meter thangka.
Once the thangka was unrolled and presented, spectators laid their Hada scarves beside it to express their faith and respect to the Buddha.
The sacred painting holds a special spot for Buddhists. The thangka is a meditation tool to further support Buddhist believers' travel toward the ultimate goal of enlightenment.
Apart from showing their respect, people also made the early trip to the Labrang Monastery so they could be bestowed with blessings.
Besides the annual Sunbathing Buddha Festival, the monastery also held other activities and festivals during the first lunar month. For example, the monastery had a festival where captive animals were freed. Another is when the monastery held a festival where a lively, masked Cham dance was held.
The monastery can be found in Xiahe County, Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. Built in 1709, it has evolved into one of the six major lamaseries of the Gelugpa.
