Loochoe Without Meat (2011)

Loochoe in other word is the annual  day  of offering.  People offer their new harvest to the local guardian deities. -the deities and god whom they believe have protected their crops from the wild vermin and other natural calamities. It is also a day to pay gratitude and tribute to those deities for having kept them healthy, wealthy  and productive for a year.  It officially ends the harvest season and  for many, its also time to reflect upon past success/mistakes and anticipate future progress. 

It is at this time, I take a week off form my office and move to my wife's place along with my family. I also invite my mom and dad to join us. I call it a vacation.  

My mother-in-law would have prepared everything back home including massive brewing of ara and my father-in-law would have shopped everything starting from salt to sugar in Thimphu.

This year, I had one responsibility less. -responsibility of bargaining and buying beef and pork. In the past years, enormous chunk of meat used to be served during our loochoe and I personally felt  that the idea was not right. It involved slaughtering of many animals before hand. At least 1 cow, 1 pig,  4-5 chickens, 7-8 fishes were sacrificed every year just to satisfy our gluttony. For me it was not at all a good offering by any means. I have even debated this topic with my wife with deep sense of regret. Apart from saying it as a "tradition of the valley", she had nothing more to say.


Finally this year, I have heard of people in different communities forming committees among themselves to do away with this weird tradition. In many places, people have decided not to serve any  meat products on sacred  occasions (like loochoe in particular). Thanks to the His Holiness the Je-Khenpo and central monastic body, who happened to the fountain source of this noble initiative.

Even though there were instances of monks refuting the idea, People everywhere seem to embrace the idea. Loochoe without meat means loochoe without sacrificing innocent animals and worthy of being called a Buddhist way of offering. 

No meat was served during our loochoe and I am happy because I found villagers happy being served mushroom curry  and emadatse along with aludam and dal.

I will have no regret going home next year for another loochoe and another vacation