The Losar Tibetan new year festival (lo means year and sar means new or fresh)  was, in ancient times celebrated by indigenous Tibetans (Bon) who made offerings to the nagas, water spirits, and water elements, as well as to the local spirits associated with the natural world as a way of expressing gratitude and relating to the five elements. Later, it became an annual religious festival for Buddhists and other Tibetan communities. In Tibetan culture, the great celebration takes place in the monastery beginning with the first day of the first month of the Tibetan New Year.  The first day of Losar is February 22. (The Bon Foundation)