Sikkim and Kalimpong, February
Losar usually falls in February or early March. In Sikkim's monasteries the old year is danced out first; then families carry khadas, the white offering scarves, and butter lamps up to the gompas.
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The date
Losar fell on 18 February in 2026, and Gangtok's festival calendar gives 7 February for 2027. Because the day moves every year, the monasteries are asked for the exact dates before a week is fixed.
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Rumtek, two days before
Two days before the new year, Rumtek dances the Gutor chaam, the battle between good and evil, which ends with evil burnt. The monastery itself opened as the Karmapa's seat in exile on Losar in 1966.
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Pemayangtse, Pelling
Pemayangtse, the house whose lamas anointed Sikkim's kings, holds masked dances on the 28th and 29th days of the old year's last month, usually in February. Losar follows.
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Gangtok and Pelling
On the day, families carry khadas and butter lamps to the monasteries of Gangtok and Pelling. The greeting you will hear all day is Tashi delek, blessings and good fortune, said above all at Losar.
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Darjeeling and Kalimpong
In Ghum, Lebong and Darjeeling's gompas, new prayer flags go up. In Kalimpong, families carry khatas to Tharpa Choling on Tirpai and to Thongsa Gompa, and the Gelug house on Tirpai is at its fullest.
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February weather
February runs about 3 to 12 °C (37 to 54 °F) in Darjeeling and 7 to 14 °C (45 to 57 °F) in Gangtok, cold and dry. Shoes come off on monastery floors, so pack warm socks along with the down jacket.
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Soon after
In the first Tibetan month, Tashiding's monks open a sacred vase of water and read the year's fortune from its level. Both dates move, so let that year's calendar set the week, then build the days around it.
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