MORE than 100,000 Tibetan Buddhists gathered at a monastery in Lhasa on Tuesday to celebrate a traditional religious festival ahead of the Tibetan New Year that begins Saturday.

    The annual Sera Bengqin Festival is an important religious ceremony celebrated four days before the Tibetan New Year. It is held exclusively at Sera Monastery, one of the three leading monasteries in Lhasa along with Drepung and Ganden.

    Tibetan Buddhists formed a procession several kilometers long moving through the streets of Lhasa proceeding to the Sera Monastary to receive the blessing of the Vajra Pestle, treasure of the monastary, at the monastery, which is opened to the public once a year.

    Yeshe, a 73-year-old man, traveled with his grandson nearly 100 km from his home in Yangbajing Township, Dangxiong County to attend the ceremony.

    He said his family had been in line since 5 a.m. “Today I come to pray for all sentient beings to have a calm and healthy new year,” he said.

    The ceremony started at 1 a.m. Tuesday and lasted until about 2 a.m. Wednesday. It attracted Buddhists from throughout the Tibet Autonomous Region, as well as Tibetan communities in the western provinces of Qinghai, Sichuan and Yunnan. (Xinhua)