ཤིང་སྦྲུལ་ལོའི་གནམ་ལོ་གསར་ཚེས་ལ་བཀྲ་ཤིས་བདེ་ལེགས་ཞུ། Happy Year of the Wood Snake.

February 28, 2025, marks the start of the Wood Snake year (2152) in the Tibetan calendar and across many Himalayan and Mongolian communities. We wish you all Happy Losar 2152.

We extend our invitation to you to the Losar Event on March 5, 2025 at the 1st floor of Gugg. Please join us for an evening featuring Tibetan momos and snacks, along with a variety of cultural activities. This event is free and open to the public, so feel free to bring your friends and family! We look forward to seeing you at this special occasion.

This event is sponsored by the Department of Geography, Anthropology, and the Tibet Himalaya Initiative.

About Losar:  

Losar (ལོ་གསར་ or “new year”) is the most important celebration in the Tibetan calendar, which consists of twelve lunar months. It is celebrated across the Tibetan Plateau, as well as in the Himalayan regions of Nepal, India, Bhutan, and among Mongolian communities. The celebration takes different forms depending on the location.

During the fifteen-day celebration, Tibetan families reunite to engage in various activities that symbolize purification and welcome the arrival of the new year. This includes cleaning one’s home from top to bottom, having new clothes made for the family to wear during the festival, and preparing food offerings made of butter or tsampa (roasted flour) to place on the family altar.

Tibetan Buddhists visit their local monasteries, where religious ceremonies featuring songs, readings of sacred texts, dances, and music are organized. Many offerings are made, prayer flags are hung, blessings are exchanged, and butter lamps are lit.

Losar is also an opportunity to enjoy delicious Tibetan dishes such as dresil (sweet rice), khapsey (Tibetan cookies), and guthuk (noodle soup). Various types of meat, bread, butter tea, and other dishes are served to guests invited to celebrate the holiday. During this period, chang (rice alcohol) is also enjoyed, either for drinking or as offerings.

The description of Losar above is compiled from Smithsonian Institution website. Please find links to "" and "" on the same website. 

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Date: December 5, 2024
Time: 12:15 PM - 1:45 PM
Location: Gugg 201E

Join us for an event featuring Nepalese scholar Nabraj Lama, who will share his research titled "Indigenous Affairs of Nepal through a Political and Economic Lens." This event is open to faculty, graduate and undergraduate students from �鶹��Ѱ�����and THI.

About Nabraj Lama

Nabraj Lama is currently a faculty and research scholar at Lumbini Buddhist University. He is an accomplished research scholar specializing in Himalayan Studies, International Political Economy, Indigenous Affairs, and Sustainable Development. Holding advanced degrees in Economics and Development Studies, he has significantly contributed to academic and public discourse through various publications and op-ed articles.

His career is marked by advocacy for marginalized communities, climate action, and world peace, as well as collaborations with leading organizations and the co-founding of influential think tanks.

Nabraj Lama has extensive experience in the fields of water resources, international affairs, political economy, and indigenous nationalities. His research background includes academic and developmental projects, with collaborations involving: The World Bank Nepal, India China Institute (ICI) at The New School University, Durham University, UK, Helvetas/Swiss Inter-cooperation Nepal, Heifer International Nepal, and Central Department of Anthropology at Tribhuvan University

Having traveled to more than 55 districts of Nepal, Nabraj Lama is deeply passionate about preserving the socio-cultural aspects of indigenous nationalities, various ethnic communities, castes, and other groups.

For more information about Nabraj Lama, please visit his profile at Lumbini Buddhist University: .

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The Crown Institute invites you to experience the creation of a Chenrezig Mandala, a symbol of compassion, healing, and impermanence. This sacred ceremony, led by the Jangchub Choeling Nunnery based in Mundgod, South India, will unfold over several days.

The Crown Institute warmly invites you to visit throughout the mandala’s creation and attend both the Opening and Closing ceremonies.

The event begins with a consecration ritual led by Buddhist nuns, invoking the force of goodness through the rhythmic chanting of mantras, accompanied by drums and cymbals. The first steps of the mandala’s creation will commence with the intricate drawing of the design.

Once the Chenrezig Mandala is completed, the Venerables will consecrate and to symbolize the impermanence of all that exists, the Sacred Sand Mandala is swept up. Attendees will be welcome to take a small packet of the sacred sand as a keepsake, while the remaining sand will be poured into Boulder Creek to release its healing energy into the world.

Throughout the week, you will have the unique opportunity to watch millions of colored sand grains meticulously laid in place, gradually bringing the mandala’s breathtaking beauty to life.

You are welcome to stop by and observe anytime during drop-in hours. For classes or groups who wish to visit, please contact Shubham Sapkota via shubham.sapkota@colorado.edu to make arrangements.

Location: Renée Crown Wellness Institute,  1135 Broadway Boulder, CO 80302

For more information about the event, visit the Crown Institute website. 

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The Dalai Lama's Future Succession: Understanding the 14th Dalai Lama and His Formidable Contributions
Dr. Dawa Lokyitsang
Friday, September 13 at 4 pm

Hale 230 | Reception to follow

All are invited to join us on Friday, September 13 for a keynote lecture by Dr. Dawa Lokyitsang on "The Dalai Lama's Future Succession: Understanding the 14th Dalai Lama and His Formidable Contributions." Scholars Tenzin Dorjee (Columbia University), Cameron Warner (Aarhus University), and Nicole Willock (Old Dominion University) will be the respondents for the lecture. Free and open to the public, plus livestreamed at: https://cuboulder.zoom.us/j/93464212808

Talk abstract:

At a recent tenshug, a long-life ritual and prayer ceremony offered by the Tibetan, Mongolian, and Himalayan communities to the 14th Dalai Lama in New York, the Dalai Lama affirmed once again that he would live well past the age of 100. The crowd responded with boisterous applause. Yet, everyone including the Chinese government, Western governments and academics, former Tibetan politicians and activists have been in a rush to weigh in on his future succession. Why is this? My presentation will answer this question by contextualizing the 14th Dalai Lama’s legacy as a refugee who created foundational Tibetan institutions in exile for the thrivance of the Tibetan refugee community and their cause for freedom. In addition, given the Dalai Lama’s status as a formidable leader with immense global influence, he is capable of shaping and challenging the People’s Republic of China’s international relations and its legitimacy in Tibet. Understanding how and why international debates about the Dalai Lama’s succession have evolved requires a detailed consideration of his leadership accomplishments in exile.

Sponsored by the University of Colorado Department of Anthropology, Center for Asian Studies, and Tibet Himalaya Initiative together with the School of Culture and Society at Aarhus University. Co-sponsored by JLF Colorado.This is part of the Leadership and Reincarnation of the Dalai Lamas Project (LEAD): A Research Network on Succession, Innovation, and Community.

For further information, contact Professor Carole McGranahan at carole.mcgranahan@colorado.edu

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Dumra/The Secret Garden – Commemorating the CIA-Tibet Training Program at Camp Hale, 1958-1964

Together with the Colorado Tibetan community, the Vail Symposium, and CU’s Department of Anthropology, the Tibet Himalaya Initiative is pleased to invite you to a special event this summer linked to Professor Carole McGranahan's longstanding research. On Sunday, June 9 at 12 noon, we will hold a memorial gathering at Camp Hale National Monument in Colorado. This event is to commemorate the CIA-Tibet training camp which operated at Camp Hale from 1958-1964. The Tibetan men who trained there were members of the Chushi Gangdrug army, a citizens’ army formed to defend the Dalai Lama, Tibet, and Buddhism against the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. The CIA offered training and support to the Tibetan resistance, including this secret project at Camp Hale. The CIA officers called the training camp “The Ranch.” The Tibetan soldiers called it “Dumra,” meaning garden. The event is free and open to the public.

Co-Sponsors for the event are Polar Star Properties, 10^th Mountain Whiskey, and from the University of Colorado: The College of Arts and Sciences, the Departments of Communication, Ethnic Studies, Geography, History, Linguistics, Religious Studies, and Sociology, the Center for the American West, the Center for Asian Studies, the Institute for Behavior Science, and the Museum of Natural History.

Additionally, on Friday, June 7 at the Vail Symposium, Professor McGranahan, India-based filmmakers Tenzing Sonam and Ritu Sarin, and retired CIA officer Bruce Walker will present a research talk  about the secret CIA training camp for Tibetan resistance soldiers at Camp Hale that operated from 1958-1964. This presentation is the basis for a book they are co-authoring about Camp Hale’s Tibetan history. Their presentation will be live-streamed, and tickets are free for webinar access. 

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Echoes from Forgotten Mountains: A Conversation about Tibetan History and Politics with Jamyang Norbu 

April 26, Friday, 4 pm, Hale 230. Reception to follow

Join us for a conversation and book signing with critically acclaimed writer Jamyang Norbu about his just-released book – Echoes from Forgotten Mountains: Tibet in War and Peace. This magnum opus documents and comments on contemporary Tibetan history from an insider’s perspective. Ranging from detailed insights about aristocratic life to his personal experiences in the Tibetan resistance to invaluable analyses of Chinese and Tibetan government politics, Echoes from Forgotten Mountains offers perspectives gleaned over a lifetime of activism, criticism, and commitment. All are welcome to join us for this very special event.

Jamyang Norbu is the leading writer and critic of the Tibetan exile community. Novelist, historian, playwright, polemicist, and scholar, he is at the forefront of documenting and shaping contemporary Tibetan history. Author of The Mandala of Sherlock Holmes, former director of the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts, online essayist extraordinaire at Shadow Tibet, Jamyang Norbu has been praised as the “Lu Xun of Tibet” and denounced by Beijing as a “radical Tibetan separatist.” He was a member of the Tibetan resistance force based in Mustang, Nepal in the 1970s and is currently founder and director of High Asia Research Center in New York City.

This event is co-sponsored by the Tibet Himalaya Initiative, the Anthropology Department, the Center for Asian Studies, the UVA Tibet Center, and the Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF). 

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Feeding Asceticism: Himalayan Buddhist Renunciation,
Devotion & Embodied Intimate Care 

6pm on Thursday, February 22nd
Humanities 250

In Tibetan and Himalayan Buddhist biographies, devotion frames stories of the intimate, emotionally intense connections between gurus and disciples. By contrast, Tibetan Buddhist accounts of renunciation often highlight separation, departure, and absence, themes that appear in tension with the intimacy of the devotional ideal. This talk focuses on accounts of the life of the reclusive twentieth century Himalayan Buddhist meditator and poet, Khunu Lama Tenzin Gyaltsen (1895-1977), highlighting the impact of his renunciation on his closest disciples, especially women. Khunu Lama’s female students, in particular the renunciant meditator Drikung Khandroma Sherab Tharchin (1927-1979), attempted to practice embodied forms of devotional care for him, while grappling with the separations his renunciation required. Stories about disciples’ devotional care for Khunu Lama highlight the role of longing as a bridge between renunciation and devotional practice.

Annabella Pitkin is associate professor of Buddhism and East Asian religions at Lehigh University. Her research focuses on Tibetan Buddhist theories of modernity, Buddhist ideals of renunciation, miracle narratives, and Buddhist life-story writing. She is the author of Renunciation and Longing: The Life of a Twentieth-Century Himalayan Buddhist Saint (2022), which explores themes of renunciation, memory, and teacher-student relationship in the life of Khunu Lama Tenzin Gyaltsen.

Co-sponsored by Religious Studies, the Tibet Himalaya Initiative, and the Center for Asian Studies.

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