In the gentle breeze and fresh air, well-dressed men and women gather in the courtyard of the Samkhar village committee in Jieba village, Nedong County in Lhoka, Tibet. As the drums and cymbals beat, the crowd grows.The important annual Ongkor Festival has begun.

Looking out at the fields, filled with healthy crops, is gratifying. Beneficial policies have given Tibetan farmers confidence, working hard to till the land, this year, it must also be a bumper crop year.

Ongkor Festival, or “Wangguo” in Chinese, is a transliteration. “Wang” is close to the Tibetan word for land; “guo” is close to the Tibetan word for to turn. “Wangguo” refers to encircling the fields, a folk ritual to pray for a bumper crop.

Each year, the celebrations of the Ongkor Festivalare basically performed around the 5th and 6th Tibetan months, when the barley is just about to ripen. Various activities organized during the festivalare popular around Lhasa, Shigatse, and Lhoka, since it is an important festival to pray for good weather for crops and an abundant grain harvest in rural Tibetan areas.The elevation and climate of different areas in Tibet is diverse, so the barley ripening time is different as well. The specific date of the Ongkor Festival varies by village and depends on local circumstances for when crops ripen.

At around 10 in the morning,villagers have already assembled. They first stand side by side to form a circle,witha pile of burning incense in the middle.. When the leader of the group issues the order, people start calling out auspicious incantations, beating drums, cymbals, and blowing conch shell trumpets. After encircling the center pile of incense smoke three times, the group sets out towards the village fields.

At every household, families have already started burning incense. When the field group passes a household, male and female, young and old members of the family stand in the doorway to smile and wave at the group and accept the auspicious blessings. After the field encircling ritual and prayers are completed, artistic performances and entertainments activities will continue for two days. Under this happy atmosphere, everyone welcomes the arrival of the bumper harvest.