Tibetan Bath Week (Heavenly Shower) Festival: the carnival of body and soul

The Bathing Festival lasts a week, also know as the Bathing Week, usually falls on 6th to 12nd of July accoring to Tibetan calendar. During this week, tens of thousands of Tibetan men and women, old or young, all go to river or lake to have baths. The tents, big or small, dot the beach and Lingka into a colourful world.

The Bathing Week

Why choose this week?

The Bathing Festival is called “Gamariji” in Tibetan, meaning Qishan Star or Venus, which appears only at this period. As the star rises to the sky, the mass bathing starts, as the star sets, the bathing ends.

According to the Tibetan Buddhism, the Qishan star makes the water have eight advantages: sweet, cool, soft, light, clear, clean, unharmful to throat, nor to belly. While judged from the natural environment and climate of Tibet, it is the autumn when the weather is the most comfortable, neither cold nor hot, and is very suitable for bathing.

The Autumn of Tibet

What People Do besides Bathing?

Nowadays, it is not just a festival and it’s more like a social gathering. The Tibetan people not only take a shower, but also wash their clothes and beddings. After the bath, they gather to drink the highland barley wine and butter tea, eat the Zanba and other local festival food, while chatting, dancing and singing.

For more information about Tibetan bath festival, please feel free to ask our Tibetan travel experts and tailor your own trip to Tibet in this autumn.