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Lhasa, Tibet
Overview
This awesome tour takes you to the holy Mount Kailash during Saga Dawa Festival, one of the biggest festivals of the year, which celebrates Buddha’s birth, enlightenment, and death. It is a particularly big draw for thousands of pilgrims from Tibet, India, and beyond.
The unique opportunity to see the greatest diversity of Tibetan national dress as everyone wears their finery will be yours. This also includes a 3 day trek around Mount Kailash as it is considered a pilgrimage route every Buddhist must experience at least once in their life.
On the first day we reach main celebration area where the pole and prayers are changed; on the second we go across Dolma la Pass (5,650 meters); and on the third we stroll along mountain streams through a breathtaking valley.
Itinerary
What is Included
- All necessary Permits travelling in Tibet
- All accommodations based on double occupancy in hotels, dormitory in guesthouses
- Breakfast when staying in hotels in Lhasa and Shigatse only
- Airport pick up and send off service
- Transportation: comfortable tourist vehicle
- English-speaking knowledgeable Tibetan guide
- Entrance fees to the attraction sights and monasteries per the itinerary
- First Aid Kit
- Oxygen supply
Cost Excluded
- International flight ticket
- Domestic flight/train (We can help booking domestic flight/train ticket
- Meals (Usually costs about USD3-15)
- Tips and gratitude to tour guide and driver
- Personal expenses
FAQs
Saga Dawa Festival usually provides an array of memorable scenes. Hundreds of Tibetans can be seen circumambulating around the Barkhor, Tsekhor, and Lingkhor simultaneously, with many also releasing fishes and other animals in the Lhasa River (Kyichu).
At monasteries across the city, monks recite prayers in assembly halls and serve butter tea during intermissions. Elsewhere, lines of Tibetans form at Drepung Kitchen to make donations for those chanting in assembly halls.
On the 15th day of Saga Dawa, Tibetan traditions dictate that people abstain from eating meat and instead dine on vegetables at restaurants after completing their pilgrimage.
Elsewhere, generous individuals provide material help to those in need while others go on picnics to take a break after visiting multiple monasteries. Even during these leisurely moments, older Tibetans can be seen mumbling mantras with rosaries in left hands and small prayer wheels in their right hands.
At an astonishing 6714 metres, the mythical Mt Kailash has been a spiritual site since pre-Buddhist times. Considered one of the most sacred pilgrimages in Asia, a single kora around Mt. Kailash is said to absolve one of their sins, while 108 circuits grants them nirvana upon death.
The Saga Dawa Festival is an excellent opportunity to do kora as it’s when good deeds and prayers are multiplied many times over.
Furthermore, on April 15th, devotees can take part in the once-a-year ceremony where a new flagpole will be erected at Tarboche and those present can do thirteen circles around that holy pole – considered equal in merit to one kora around Mt. Kailash.
If you are planning to attend the Saga Dawa Festival at Kailash, 2023 is a great year to do so.
The festival takes place in Tibet during the fourth lunar month of the Tibetan calendar, which falls between May and June.
This month-long celebration commemorates Buddha’s enlightenment, birth, and death. During this time, thousands of pilgrims journey to Mount Kailash, one of the most sacred sites in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Bon religion.
Tibetans perform circumambulation around this holy mountain as a way of purifying the souls and gaining merit.
The climax of the festival comes on the full moon day when devotees offer prayers and light butter lamps to honor Lord Buddha. With its colorful rituals and spiritual significance that draws people from all over Asia; attending Saga Dawa Festival at Kaialsh can be an experience like no other!
