Balha-xizhuk: a Special Day for Tibetan Women

Every October 15 on the Tibetan calendar, the Tibetans, especially Tibetan women, would gather in Lhasa around the Jokhang Temple to pray for happy marriage and true love.

Local legends have it that once upon a time the third and youngest daughter mistreated her mom who before dying laid a curse: when married, her lazy daughter would meet her husband once a year on October 15.

The curse worked and the miserable daughter has been regretting what she had done while her mother was still alive in this world.

For those who follow the Tibetan school of Buddhism, the legend was changed to recount:

The oldest of the three daughters was so true to her love that she pulled the wool over her mom's eyes to slip away from her duty at the temple and live with a brave warrior.

Her mother, a goddess who had traveled from India to guard the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa, got so angry at the deception that she asked to have her daughter sending way away from her lover and allowed her to see him only from across the Lhasa River once a year on October 15.

Up till now, the lamas in Lhasa still carry the statue of that brave daughter to the Jokhang Temple to give her the annual chance to see across the Lhasa River her true lover on the other side of the stream.

For the ordinary people the secular version of the legend serves as an instruction for good behavior while for Buddhism followers the religious version of the legend serves as an instruction for sound belief.

Each year on October 15 on the Tibetan calendar, the Jokhang Temple gets shrouded in light blue smokes rising from the incense burners along the Barkor Street around the temple.

Prayers continuously add branches of pine trees and roasted barley flour in the burners to keep the mist-like smokes rising all day long for lasting good luck and happy marriage.