The role of key Sherpa holidays in preserving and broadcasting their traditional culture in modern Tibet

Abstract

The aim of the work was to identify the role of holidays of the Sherpa ethnic group in the preservation and continuity of their traditions. The tasks were to analyze the characteristics of traditional holidays, such as the Sherpa New Year, religious holidays and agricultural holidays, and to find out their role in modern Tibet. The author comes to the conclusion that, despite the strong influence of external cultural factors, a significant layer of the traditional local holiday culture of Sherpas remains. Using comparative historical and typological approaches and the method of system analysis based on a large amount of information, the characteristics of Sherpa holidays are systematized. The novelty lies in the vastness of the collected information and its analysis and generalization, previously such research results have not been published. The author comes to the conclusion that, despite the strong influence of external cultural factors, a significant layer of the traditional local holiday culture of Sherpas remains. Thus, the study of the holidays and the festive culture of the Sherpas showed that, along with the influence of external cultural factors, the Sherpas still retain a significant traditional layer of their local culture. Thus, the New Year is more influenced by external factors and changes in time and customs, while agricultural and religious holidays preserve traditional customs. Among the agricultural and religious festivals, one can see the manifestation of the traditional folk beliefs of the Sherpas. Chinese Sherpas, being a very small ethnic group, are becoming an important subject of study, as is the protection of their cultural heritage, and holidays and festivals, as vivid indicators of their traditional culture, are even more valuable for research.