Ongkor Festival

Festival
Monks playing the Tibetan horn during the Tibetan summer festival Ongkor, 2016
Traditional Tibetan dancing in fields during the Ongkor summer festival, 2016

The Ongkor Festival (Standard Tibetan: འོང་སྐོར་, Chinese: 望果节, Wylie: 'ong skor, or Serkor (སེར་སྐོར་) in some dialects) is one of the most important Tibetan festivals of the Tibetan lunar year. Ongkor is usually held at the end of summer. [1] It is a national intangible cultural heritage, popular in Lhasa, Shigatse, Shannan and other places in Tibet.[2]

Activities

The meaning of the festival's name is "good wishes for harvest", literally "making a circle around the field". During this festival, one person from each family in the village participates in kora in the fields. People in the procession dress in traditional clothes and play different roles—warriors, riders, drummers, those praying, or monks. In some regions Tibetan opera, dancing to drums and horse racing is performed. During this festival, many different aspects of traditional Tibetan culture are shown, including singing, dancing, the art of debate, and praying.[3]

Recently the festival has been known as the Horse Race Festival, due to travel agencies who want to attract tourists.[4][5]

References

  1. ^ "西藏拉萨："望果"赛马正当时-新华网". 新华网_让新闻离你更近 (in Chinese). 2024-07-24. Retrieved 2024-08-24.
  2. ^ "西藏琼结村民盛装欢度"望果节"_现代西藏_中国西藏网". 中国西藏网 (in Chinese). 2024-07-24. Retrieved 2024-08-24.
  3. ^ "馬背上唱響豐收之歌——拉薩林周縣"望果節"見聞". 西藏频道--人民网_网上的人民日报 (in Chinese). 2024-08-08. Retrieved 2024-08-24.
  4. ^ "西藏那曲：观策马奔腾 赏草原盛会-新华网". 新华网西藏 - 西藏新闻,西藏热点,政情,舆情 (in Chinese). 2024-08-12. Retrieved 2024-08-24.
  5. ^ "西藏那曲：赛马节带热特色产品-新华网". 新华网_让新闻离你更近 (in Chinese). 2024-08-15. Retrieved 2024-08-24.