Tibetan New Year Fragrant Smoke Pūjā – Losar Sangchöd Pūjā

The final day of the Tibetan lunar year is devoted to purifying and refreshing one’s environment on the very eve of the New Year. Tibetan families typically undertake rigorous house-cleaning on this day. It’s usually a joyful light-hearted occasion taken up in the spirit of “out with the old, in with the new!”

At Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery, and other monasteries throughout the Himalayas, a special vajrayana Cleansing Smoke Offering Puja, or sang, is performed both in the main temple and in its adjacent courtyard. In Tibetan, ‘sang’ means ‘to eliminate, cleanse, or purify’. All manner of harmful negative influences lingering from the past 12 months are thereby ritually cleared away.

The half-day puja will take place in the morning and conclude just prior to noon. All visitors are welcome as observers or participants in the puja, and may come and go as they wish. Since it is smoke offering, it is particularly beneficial for visitors to circumambulate the fire puja in the adjoining courtyard, while offering a handful of incense and precious substances, which the monks will provide, to the fragrant blaze. This is said to invite a powerful downpour of blessings upon those making such offerings.

For an in-depth explanation of the Sang Pūjā, please refer to this article.

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