Mahakala Assembly at the end of the year and
Dharma Assemblies at the beginning of the year

Before Losar (remark: Losar is  the Tibetan word for ‘new year’), the Tibetans usually hold The Mahakala Assembly 大黑天法會 (which usually lasts for three days) at the end of the previous year. The purposes are
	●	to purify and remove all misfortunes and obstacles faced in the previous year,
	●	look forward to having good luck in the coming New Year.

On the first day of Losar, Khenpo 堪布 and Lama 喇嘛 usually lead the dharma friends to practise The Sixteen Arahant Dharma 十六阿羅漢法 together (the particular dharma chosen for each year is different as it is determined by the need and demand of that year). At the same time, they also make offerings of their bodies, speech and minds to The Three Jewels (The Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha) as well as to their Venerable Guru Rinpoche. Besides, there are lamp-offering and presentation of hada 獻哈達, etc. Moreover, during the (three) days of the Assembly, every worshipping area, no matter it is as big as a temple on the mountain or as small as a group cultivation centre in the city area, all of them offer buttered tea and fertile rice cakes for participants  so that everyone can enjoy the benefits of luck.

The Sixteen Arahant Dharma is reputed to places with the presence of Arahant: Buddha dharma is flourishing, the places are prosperous and people living there are safe as well as relaxed, and these places appear a state of peace and prosperity. At the beginning of a New Year, Buddhist practitioners can have lamp-offering, flower-offering etc. in the Assembly and then through dharma practices to entreat new hope, good fortune, good luck and happiness in the New Year.