The Tibetan almanac [Photo/ 51tibettour.com]

In winter, the whole city of Lhasa was quite as in hibernation. The drawing room of Kunga Rigzin, however, was filled with guests. They were here to ask Kunga to choose an auspicious day for their traveling or building a house. They sat quietly waiting for the master to calculate in a solemn atmosphere. They came here early in the morning, and until noon, the last one had left.

Current Tibetan calendar has been used since 1027 A.D., a combination of Tibetan phenological calendar, Indian Sri Kalachakra Tantra (Wheel of Time Tantra), and Tang's calendar brought by Princess Wen-Cheng. It has evolved into a sound and scientific calendar system. It was awarded as “the most authoritative calendar” by Chinese Academy of Sciences and approved as "intangible cultural heritage”.

The Complexity of Tibetan calendar can be seen through the Tibetan almanac. Even though you know the Tibetan language, it is still difficult to read the almanac except some superficial and symbolic content. Only the expert can tell you what the book is really about. Kunga Rigzin is one of the experts. As a professor of Tibet astronomy and calendrical calculation research institute, he is one of the few experts who know the Tibetan almanac well and are responsible for the compilation. His family is engaged in Tibetan calendar calculation, and his ancestors had served the Dalai Lama. Kunga is the 23rd generation of the family.