KATHMANDU: The indigenous Sherpa community will celebrate their annual festival — Gyalbo Lhosar— across the country tomorrow by wishing each other peace, prosperity and good health.

The Lhosar also marks the new year of the northern Himalayan ethnic communities.

The government has declared public holiday on Sunday for celebrating the Lhosar, which is widely celebrated in Nepal by Sherpas, Tamangs, Gurungs and Tibetan communities alike.

The Tibetan New Year (Lhosar) and the one followed by the Sherpas, also known as the Himalayan tigers, who are adept mountain climbers, are called by two different names —Sonam Lhosar and Gyalbo Lhosar.

Gyalbo Lhosar is observed usually in February by religious groups and business entrepreneurs. While the Sonam Lhosar is celebrated mostly by people who work on farms and fall on the 12th Tibetan month.

Likewise, Tamu Lhosar was observed by Gurungs one and half month ago. There are about 200,000 Sherpas in the country.

The festival is also celebrated in Tibet. On the eve of the Lhosar, various programmes featuring the Sherpa cultures and their way of life were organised here. The government has declared public holiday on Sunday to mark the festival.