Itanagar celebrates Silver Jubilee of Losar festival

 Itanagar (Arunachal Pradesh): The Buddhist Community of Itanagar celebrated the silver jubilee of the Losar Festival at the Nyokum Lapang Ground here.

The three-day festival, organized by the Itanagar Buddhist Cultural Society (IBCS) was celebrated from March 2 to March 4 with a lot of enthusiasm and traditional zeal.

Addressing the people on the occasion, Education Minister and chief guest at the event Honchun Ngandam emphasised the need to preserve their tradition and especially their dialect.

Capital Complex Deputy Commissioner, Prince Dhawan graced as Guest of Honour and appealed the people about the need to take a resolution for cleanliness and retain Open defecation free status.

For the Buddhist community, the festival is termed as the 'New Year' according to their Buddhist calendar.

For the locals, Losar gives them a good harvesting year ahead.

"We've been celebrating this festival since 24 years. Today is its silver jubilee. We celebrate Losar so that harvesting is good and we stay healthy, away from any kind of illness," said a organising committee member.

The festival was full of cultural presentations from across the state, including the colourful Bhutanese and the Gorkha Cultural programs.

A community feast and prize distribution were also a part of the three-day festival.

The Losar festival which is celebrated as the New Year by the Buddhist community has entered into 2145 Earth Dog year as per the Buddhist calendar.