Prayer flag

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Prayer flags in Ladakh , India
Prayer flags with wind horse

Prayer flags or prayer flags ( Tib . : rlung rta ; རླུང་ རྟ་; German: Windpferd ) are common flags in Buddhism today, mostly in a small rectangular shape.

They are exposed to the wind by the faithful until they are completely weathered, so that, according to their conviction, the prayers can be carried to heaven.

features

These flags can be found in the area of ​​the Tibetan cultural area , in the Himalayas including the entire Tibetan plateau and partly also in the adjacent regions, on every mountain pass and on every summit. They usually have the colors blue, white, red, green and yellow in the order from left to right or, in the case of flags hung in a star shape, from inside to outside. The number five plays a central role in Tibetan Buddhism and embodies the four cardinal points and the center (see stupa ). The colors stand for one element each, blue for the void (the space, the sky), white for the air (the clouds, the wind), red for the fire, green for the water and yellow for the earth element.

Often the prayer flags are printed with symbols and / or prayers and mantras using traditional wood printing. Mantra prints often include as with mani stones traditional Tibetan mantra " Om mani padme hum ". This should be carried out into the world with the wind for the happiness of all sentient beings. To support this concern, the mythological figure of the Tibetan windhorse (རླུང་ རྟ་, rlung-rta ) is depicted on many prayer flags in the middle of the mantra imprints , so that the prayers are particularly effective in the fluttering of the flags with the horse flying in the wind Heaven should be worn.

The four “power” or “symbolic animals” of the four cardinal directions are often located in the corners of the flags: the Garuda top left, the dragon top right , the tiger bottom left and the snow lion bottom right . These frame a wind horse in the middle.

Suspension locations

Prayer flags are particularly hung on mountain peaks, mountain passes or stupas . Many Buddhists also hang prayer flags on their homes. In some mountain towns in Nepal, large monochrome prayer flags are hung on poles like flags and sometimes changed on festive days.

See also

literature

  • Diane Barker: Tibetan Prayer Flags: Entrust your prayers to the wind. / Text and photo Diane Barker. From the English by Zoe Weller. Hugendubel, Kreuzlingen et al. 2003, ISBN 3-7205-2376-4 .
  • Tad Wise: Blessings on the Wind: The Mystery & Meaning of Tibetan Prayer Flags. Chronicle Books, San Francisco 2002, ISBN 0-8118-3435-2 .
  • Robert Beer: The symbols of Tibetan Buddhism (= Diederich's yellow row. ). Hugendubel, Kreuzlingen et al. 2003, ISBN 3-7205-2477-9 (Original title: Handbook of Tibetan buddhist symbols. ).
  • Samten G. Karmay : The Wind-Horse and the Well-Being of Man. In: Charles Ramble, Martin Brauen (Ed.): Anthropology of Tibet and the Himalaya. Proceedings of the International Seminar at the Ethnological Museum of the University of Zurich, September 21-28, 1990. Vajra Publications, Kathmandu 2008, ISBN 978-9937-506-03-8 , pp. 150-157.

Individual evidence

  1. Timothy Clark: The Prayer Flag Tradition . (English).
  2. ^ Robert Beer: The Handbook of Tibetan Buddhist Symbols. Serindia Publications, Chicago / London 2003, ISBN 978-1-932476-03-3 , p. 68 ( at Google-books [English]).

Web links

Commons : Prayer flags  - collection of images, videos and audio files