The calendar has a cycle of 12 years named after mouse, cow, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, bird, dog and boar.

[2] According to mythology, the Losar was first celebrated when an old woman named Belma introduced moon based time measurement.

People went to the local spring to perform rituals of gratitude and offerings were made to the Nagas (the snake god), or water spirits, who activated the water element in the area, and smoke offerings were made to the local spirits associated with the natural world.

[3] Gyalpo Losar was celebrated as a spring festival from the reign of Pude Gungyal, the ninth emperor of Tibet.

One of the main dishes is a soup called Gutung[3] cooked with nine kinds of beans and meat, wheat, rice, sweet potato, cheese, peas, green pepper, vermicelli noodles and radish.