Protein is often at a premium in the Tibetan monasteries I’ve visited. The Dalai Lama has asked monks to become vegetarian but Tibetans love meat and so many resist. Around Tibetan New Year (Losar) monks receive a variety of food and sweets they don’t get at other times. This young monk was happy eating egg.

The monk is six years old and is part of a Losar (Tibetan New Year) ceremony. He joined the monastery a few weeks before I took this photo.

This shot was taken during a Losar (Tibetan New Year) ceremony in 2003. I’d just had a cup of tea with HH Penor Rinpoche and then went for a look at the temple. I took this shot on a film camera and then scanned it on a crappy scanner. Hence the less than pristine quality. There is something I’ve always liked about the shot — probably those horns.

A Photo Friday photo assignment: this Feminine young girl is all dressed-up and ready to dance. I photographed her at a Tibetan folk festival I attended in Bylakuppe, India in 2005.

Happy Tibetan New Year — it’s the year of the Fire Dog. This snap was taken during Losar celebrations last year at the monastery of Ayang Rinpoche in Bylakuppe, India.

A Photo Friday photo assignment: this masculine little guy is all dressed-up and ready to dance. I photographed him at a Tibetan folk festival I attended in Bylakuppe, India in 2005.