The scent of burning juniper branches filled the morning air in Lhasa on Thursday as the annual Lhabab Duechen – Buddha Descending Festival - began.

Monasteries and temples welcomed more pilgrims and tourists than usual and businesses around the religious sites did a roaring trade.

Yeshe Drolkar is an assistant in a shop near Lhasa's Drepung Monastery. She could not go to the monastery in the morning, but stopped eating meat for the day.

"I was not able to pay a visit to the nearby monasteries, but I had a vegetarian day and prayed in my heart," said the 20-year-old.

Karmo, who runs a restaurant in Lhasa, said she had prepared mainly vegetarian dishes because many Tibetans do not eat meat on the day of the festival.

Unlike other Tibetans who mostly undertake religious rituals, Sonam Phuntsok, a Tibetan from China's Qinghai province, called his family in the morning and posted a woolen scarf to his mother as a festival gift.

The Lhabab Festival is observed on the 22nd day of the ninth month according to the Tibetan calendar. This year it fell on Nov 13.

According to historical records, Tibetans celebrate religious festivals including the Lhabab, the Great Prayer, the Saga Dawa and the Choekor throughout the year to commemorate great achievements of the lord Buddha.

The Lhabab Festival commemorates the descent of Buddha from heaven back to earth having left for heaven at the age of 41. Many Tibetans choose to do good things on this day because they believe any good or bad deeds committed on this occasion are multiplied ten million times. (source: china daily)