Wind horses carry wishes for a new year Feb 24, 2020

For the first day of Losar, or the Tibetan New Year, we"re paying a visit to these Buddhist pilgrims at the Ganden Monastery in Lhasa, Tibet. Losar is celebrated for 15 days, but most events occur in the first three days. They include wishing family members a prosperous year, praying at monasteries or temples, exchanging gifts, burning incense, chanting, wrestling, horse racing, and more. Celebrations for the new year end with Chotrul Duchen, or the Butter Lamp Festival. The pilgrims in today"s image are releasing prayer flags called "wind horses" or lungtas, a ritual they perform for Losar and during the rest of the year as well. Upon releasing the prayer flags, the pilgrims ask the mountain deity to "increase their fortune like the galloping of a horse and expand their prosperity like the boiling over of milk."

© Ian Cumming/plainpicture

palette

Today in History

Feb 24, 2018A red fox on the Swiss side of the Jura Mountain range
Feb 24, 2019A long path to freedom
Feb 24, 2021Getting to the bottom of the underwater waterfall
Feb 24, 2022Glacier cave in Iceland
Feb 24, 2023Mandarin duck, Richmond Park, London, England
Feb 24, 2024Almond trees in full bloom, California
Feb 24, 2025Group of giant cuttlefish, Whyalla, South Australia

More Desktop Wallpapers:

Dec 6, 2020A hidden jewel in Croatia
Mar 8, 2025International Womens Day
Apr 27, 2025Halemaumau Crater, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
Dec 3, 2024Amber Fort, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India
Jul 27, 2021Maybe we should be looking up
May 5, 2020A courtyard scene from Spain
Nov 29, 2024Mont-Saint-Michel, Normandy, France
Oct 5, 2020Hey, you two in the front!
Mar 5, 2019Stompin’ with the Big Chief
Mar 31, 2022Happy Birthday, Eiffel Tower
Feb 7, 2024St. James Tidal Pool, Cape Town, South Africa
Sep 18, 2021Hanging out on a limb
Nov 21, 2020Headed to the High Country
Sep 25, 2023Sea Otter Awareness Week
Mar 4, 2020A different kind of dive
Mar 15, 2019A plot was afoot
Sep 26, 2019Kelp buddies
Jun 1, 2021Pretty poetic for a pit
Jan 27, 2025Zoroaster Temple, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona
Apr 30, 2024Cheetah in Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania
Apr 10, 2026Siblings Day
Feb 4, 2024Devetashka Cave, Devetaki, Bulgaria
Apr 19, 2021Rays on parade
Aug 22, 2025Rolling hills of the Palouse, Washington
Mar 20, 2024National Cherry Blossom Festival
Jul 1, 2023The Tour de France begins
Dec 12, 2023Poinsettia Day
Dec 3, 2025Sandhill cranes, Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico
May 30, 2021Who s hiding in the kelp?
Feb 11, 2026Death Valley National Parks Anniversary