Tibetan calendar facts for kids
The Tibetan calendar is a special type of calendar called a lunisolar calendar. This means it tracks time using the cycles of both the Moon and the Sun. A Tibetan year usually has 12 months, but to keep it in line with the seasons, an extra 13th month is added every two or three years. Each month begins and ends with a new moon.
The most important holiday in the Tibetan calendar is the New Year celebration, known as Losar. It usually takes place in February or March in the Gregorian calendar, which is the calendar used in most of the world.
The Tibetan calendar is very important for Tibetan Buddhist practices. Certain days and months are considered special for celebrating events from the life of Shakyamuni Buddha.
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How Tibetan Years are Named
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In Tibet, years are not just counted with numbers. They are given special names based on a 60-year cycle. This system was first introduced to Tibet around the year 1025. It combines 12 animals and 5 elements to create a unique name for each year, like "Male Fire-Horse" or "Female Earth-Sheep."
The 12 Animals and 5 Elements
Each year is linked to one of 12 animals and one of 5 elements.
The 12 Animals
The animals always appear in the same order:
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Hare Dragon Snake Horse Sheep Monkey Bird Dog Boar Rat Ox Tiger
The 5 Elements
The elements also follow a specific order:
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Fire Earth Iron Water Wood
Creating a Year's Name
Each element is used for two years in a row. The first year is considered "male" (pho), and the second is "female" (mo).
For example, a Male Earth-Dragon year is followed by a Female Earth-Snake year. After that, the next element begins with a Male Iron-Horse year. This pattern of an animal and an element repeats every 60 years.
The table below shows the animal and element for recent and upcoming years.
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Year (Gregorian) Element Animal Sex 2008 Earth Rat male 2009 Earth Ox female 2010 Iron Tiger male 2011 Iron Hare female 2012 Water Dragon male 2013 Water Snake female 2014 Wood Horse male 2015 Wood Sheep female 2016 Fire Monkey male 2017 Fire Bird female 2018 Earth Dog male 2019 Earth Boar female 2020 Iron Rat male 2021 Iron Ox female 2022 Water Tiger male 2023 Water Hare female 2024 Wood Dragon male 2025 Wood Snake female 2026 Fire Horse male 2027 Fire Sheep female
Different Ways of Counting Years
Besides the 60-year cycle, Tibetans also count years with numbers, just like the Gregorian calendar. However, they have used different starting points, or "epochs," throughout history. This means the same year can have different numbers depending on which system you use.
For example, one system starts from the year 127 BCE, another from 255 CE, and a third from 1027 CE.
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Year (Gregorian) Year Number (starting from 127 BCE) Year Number (starting from 255 CE) Year Number (starting from 1027 CE) From about Feb/Mar 2019 2146 1765 993 From about Feb/Mar 2020 2147 1766 994 From about Feb/Mar 2021 2148 1767 995 From about Feb/Mar 2022 2149 1768 996 From about Feb/Mar 2023 2150 1769 997 From about Feb/Mar 2024 2151 1770 998 From about Feb/Mar 2025 2152 1771 999 From about Feb/Mar 2026 2153 1772 1000
The Months of the Year
A Tibetan year has either 12 or 13 months. In the past, months were named after the seasons, such as "first spring month." Later, they were named after the 12 animals of the zodiac.
Today, it is common to simply number the months, from the "1st Hor month" to the "12th Hor month." The name "Hor" is another word for Mongolian, as this system became popular in the 13th century.
Understanding Tibetan Days
The Tibetan calendar has a very interesting way of counting days. A normal day, from one dawn to the next, is called a nyin zhag. But the calendar also tracks the Moon's phases with something called a tshes zhag, or "lunar day."
Because the Moon's speed changes as it orbits Earth, these lunar days are not all the same length. To make the calendar work with our normal days, sometimes a date is skipped, or a date is repeated.
For example, the 5th day of the month might be followed by the 7th day, skipping the 6th! Or, you could have two 10th days in a row. However, the days of the week always follow their normal order (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, etc.) and are never skipped or repeated.
Days of the Week
The days of the week are named after objects in our solar system, like the Sun, Moon, and planets.
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Day Tibetan Name What it's Named After Sunday Nyima Sun Monday Dawa Moon Tuesday Mikmar Mars Wednesday Lhakpa Mercury Thursday Purbu Jupiter Friday Pasang Venus Saturday Penba Saturn
Nyima, Dawa, and Lhakpa are common names given to people born on Sunday, Monday, or Wednesday.
History of the Calendar
The Tibetan calendar has a long history and was influenced by different cultures. Early on, it was a simple calendar based on the four seasons.
Later, ideas from India brought in astrology based on stars and planets. From China came the system of 12 animals and 5 elements that is still used today.
A very important moment was in the 11th century when a Buddhist teaching called the Kalachakra Tantra was translated into Tibetan. This text contained detailed information about astronomy that helped make the calendar much more accurate.
Over the centuries, different scholars improved the calendar. The two most famous versions are the Tsurluk calendar and the Phukpa calendar. The Phukpa calendar, created in the 15th century, is the one most widely used in Tibet today.
See also
- Buddhist calendar
- Horology
