Saga Dawa  is an important Tibetan Buddhist festival, held each year on the full moon day of the fourth lunar month of the Tibetan calendar. The festival marks  the anniversary of Lord Buddha’s enlightenment and earthly death. Mt. Kailash is the most important place to celebrate this festival. During the festival pilgrims  raise a new flag pole at Darboche in Kailash. Tibetans gather  to attach their prayer flags, to pray, and to help erect the flagpole. The ceremony is led by a Lama. The flag pole is raised under his instructions . After the flagpole is erected, people  pray and throw ‘wind horses’ (little pieces of colored paper with Buddhist scriptures on them) into the air. They help to remove last year’s prayer flags and attach new ones.

Darboche, in the background is Mt.Kailash

Pinnacle of Mt. Kailash, as seen from Dharboche