The Onkor Festival (Harvest Festival)The Onkor Festival (Harvest Festival) is one of the most popular and busy festivals in the rural areas of Tibet, except the Losar Festival (Tibetan New Year). In general, Onkor is celebrated at the end of the seventh month on lunar calendar just before peasants begin to reap their crops. According to the agronomic arrangement, the specific dates for the Festival vary according to places.It is said that the Onkor Festival has enjoyed a history of more than1500 years. According to the relevant Tibetan documents, aqueducts were constructed in the Yalong area at the end of the 5th century AD, people began to use wooden ploughs to plow, and the agricultural production was comparatively developed. In order to ensure the plenteous harvest, the Tibet King sbu-de-gung-rgyal asked the hierarch of Bon religion for guidance. Following the tenets of Bon religion, the hierarch of Bon religion taught the peasants to walk around their field, beseeching the Heaven for a plenteous harvest, which is the origin of the Onkor. But the Onkor was not a formal festival at that time, only an activity before reaping the crops.During the late years of the 8th century, Tibet came to the Silver Age of Tibet Buddhism when the representative sect was the Nyingmapa sect, and the Onkor activity therefore was tinged with the features of the Nyingmapa sect. In the 14th century, Tsong Khapa, the founder of the Gelugpa sect came to Tibet. Through rectifying various sects of Tibet, the Gelugpa became the main sect in Tibet with dominant authority. More features of the Gelugpa sect were added into the Onkor activities of the time accordingly. Along with the evolution of the time, the contents and forms of the Onkor changed continuously.Harvest Festival (September) The farmers in Lhasa, Gyantse and Shannan to celebrating their boomer harvest in this time. During that time, people enjoy with horse racing games, custom fashion show, songs and dance Archery and picnic etc.It is a time for the farmers in Lhasa, Gyantse, and Shannan to celebrate the end of harvest time with horse-racing games, archery contests, costumed fashion shows, songs and dances, and--of course--food. It is a holiday for Tibetans, looking forward to harvest. It is usually celebrated when crops are ripe, and will last three to five days. People dress up, hold colorful flags with good wishes, and carry a "harvest tower" built with barley stalks and ears. They sing and dance, beat drums and gongs and walk around the fields. On this day, people also enjoy horseracing etc. Then they will begin the intense autumn harvest.After the bath day, the field is ready for reaping in the 8th month. Then there will be 'wan-guo' (circling field) festival. All people will put on ancient warrior dresses, ride on horses with fancy colors to go through the fields. They will be led by people holding barley plants, flags, Buddha's images, and carrying scriptures. Parties are organized with drinking and archery to celebrate the crops. It is only after these rites that the people harvest. This is a very ancient tradition of Tibet. When Bonism dominated years ago, Bonism priests would manage the procedures. After the rising of Tibetan Buddhism, the ceremony changed to the present form. The original intention was probably to train Tibetan farmers for military coordination.