Chokhor Duchen Festival on the 4th day of the 6th month in the Tibetan calendar

Chokhor Duchen Festival is one of the great Tibetan Buddhist festivals along with Losar, Saga Dawa, and Lhabab Duchen that will be celebrated by all Tibetan Buddhists. It falls on the fourth day of the sixth month in the Tibetan calendar to mark the first sermon of Sakyamuni at Sarnath. As the common religious object in Tibet, Chokhor or prayer wheel is used to turn by Buddhists and followers to spread spiritual blessing.

Chokhor Duchen Festival

It is said that on this day, Buddha Shakyamuni first turned the wheel of the dharma after attaining enlightenment. And it was also on this day, he first taught the Four Noble Truths in Sarnath, India. The Four Noble Truths include dukkha - the truth of suffering, samudaya - the truth of the cause of suffering, nirhodha - the truth of the end of suffering, and magga - the truth of the path that frees people from suffering. It laid the foundation of Buddhist doctrines. And all those important philosophical thoughts of Buddhism are closely related to the Four Noble Truths. As one of the basic Buddhist doctrines, the Four Noble Truths have been constantly improved.

It is believed that positive merits will be multiplied ten million times on this sacred day. So, Buddhists will take the chance to practice well to accumulate more virtuous merits during the festival. They also believed that the Four Noble Truths that Shakyamuni taught when he first turned the Dharma Wheel have been helped thousands of followers to enter the realm of Nirvana. So, Tibetan Buddhists will choose to read sutras, meditate, visit monasteries, make offerings, and take a pilgrimage to holy spots to hang prayer flags. And Tibetan people will dress in new clothes and have kora to visit holy spots and sacred monasteries to worship the Buddha, burn incense, present offerings, and chant the sutras as well to celebrate this festival.