Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c12.s1.t3: Sa Ga Zla Ba Festival
Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c12.s1.t3
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Sa Ga Zla Ba Festival
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Saga Dawa Festival (sa ga zla ba), also called Visakha Day, is an important festival in Tibetan Buddhism, which commemorates three auspicious days (birth, Buddhahood and nirvana) of Sakyamuni.
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Saga Dawa Festival is universally celebrated in Tibetan areas on 15th day of fourth month. On that day, both ecclesiastic and secular followers are mainly engaged in fast, go-around prayer-making and chanting of oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ (the six-syllabled Sanskrit mantra). It is believed that helping others in anyway or performing Buddhist activities doubles their Karmic retribution. As a result, the festival has been very popular among Tibetan folk world, especially in Lhasa, which is the largest and most spectacular. The festival is strongly characterised by folk traits — tens of thousands of secular followers chant their prayers around Lhasa. The prayers have three routes: first, the inner route around the main hall of Jokhang Monastery; second,
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Worshippers celebrating the Dawa festival in the Saga county of Tibet
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the middle route around Jokhang Monastery; and last but not least, the outer route around the entire ancient city. The people pray from early morning to evening. On the very day of such an event, people walk like an endless flow.
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(*Kalsang gyal*)