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Sikkim
Festival Calendar
Magha
Sankranti
(1st day,Nepali Month Magha)
Hindus ritually bathe at a holy spot, celebrating spring's arrival.
Guthor Chaam ( Two Days Prior
to Losar)
Dances at Rumtek and Pemayangtse Monasteries to welcome the Tibetan
New Year.
Losar
Celebrated for several days at home and in Monasteries. Govt.
Offices are closed.
Bumchu,
Tashiding Bumchu/ Sinek
Blessings, celebrations at Tashiding/ Sinek. The Bumchu is a sacred
water vessel whose water level foretells the luck of the year
ahead.
 Sagadawa
The triple blessed festival. Celebrates Buddha's incarnation
, enlightenment and Mahapri-nirvana. The procession of monks and
Buddhist devotees carrying the holy scriptures in most of the
imortant Monasteries of Sikkim.
Guru
Rimpoche's Trungkar Tsechu/ Tse Chu Chaam
Spectacular 'Black Hat' Dances at the Rumtek Monastery.
Tendong Lho Rum Fat
Lepcha festival worshipping Mount Tendong, focus of many Lepcha
myth.
Drukpa Tseshi
Prayers at the main Monasteries in Sikkim to celebrate Buddhas
first teaching of the Four Noble Truths.
Phang
Lhabsol
Dances at Pemayangtse celebrate the treaty of brotherhood between
Lepcha and Bhutia and to honour the guardian deities Khangchendzonga
and Yabdu. This festival is unique to Sikkim, where the snowy
range of Khangchendzonga is worshipped for its unifying powers.
Durga
Puja ( Dasain)
Devotees
pay homage with flowers and blood sacrifice to the supreme goddess
Durga.
Family members
receive a 'Tika'- a red powder mark on the forehead.
Lhabab
Duechen
Another very colourful and importatant festival of the state.
 Laxmi
Puja, Diwali
( 3 weeks after Dasain, Hindu month of Kartik)
Festival of lights, inviting Laxmi, goddess of wealth into every
home.
Kagyat Dances
( 28th - 29th days of the 10th Tibetan month)
Dances
at several Monasteries. Effigies are burnt representing the destruction
of evil, and inviting an auspicious New Year.
Lossoong
Celebrating Sikkim's New Year. Marked by family gatherings and
archery contests.
Enchey
Chaam
(18th - 19th day of the 11th Tibetan month)
Ritual dances at Enchey Monastery with elaborate costumes and
masks.
Flower
Festival
Throughout spring, White Hall , Gangtok.
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