Lung Ta - Prayer Flags
The Buddhist Sutras, written on cloth in India, were later transmitted to other regions of the world. These sutras, written on banners, are probably the origin of the prayer flags. Legend ascribes the origin of the prayer flag to the Shakyamuni Buddha, whose prayers were written on battle flags used by the devas against their adversaries, the asuras. Flags were first recorded in Ladakh in 710 CE. It was the Indian monk Atisha who probably first flew a prayer flag in Lhasa, Tibet around 1000 CE.
Lung Ta - Prayer Flags
There are two kinds of prayer flags: horizontal ones, called lung ta, and the vertical darchor. The ‘lung ta’ translates into ‘wind stallion’. The Lung Ta’s five panels represent the elements: blue-sky, white-wind, red-fire, green-water and yellow-earth. The mantras on prayer flags promote universal peace, compassion, strength, and wisdom.
Lung Ta is square or rectangular shape and are connected along their top edges to a string. They are commonly hung on a diagonal line from high to low between two objects in high elevations found on the top of monasteries, stupas or even mountain passes. Their altitude and the speed of the wind that blows past them is directly proportional to the strength or if you please the intensity of prayer. If you believe in them, this is a very rational yet charming thought. The wind blows over these flags, the rain wets them and they fade from exposure to the elements. Quite literally, carrying the prayer from the flag across the earth.
Text and picture, courtesy by bhisham
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Tags: Buddhist Symbols, Himalaya, Tibetan Buddhism
February 13, 2010 2:08 pm1 Comment
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Twitter Trackbacks for Lung Ta - Prayer Flags | Tibetan Incense Blog [tibet-incense.com] on Topsy.com — August 22, 2009 @ 2:56 pm
[...] Lung Ta - Prayer Flags | Tibetan Incense Blog tibet-incense.com/blog/lung-ta-prayer-flags – view page – cached The ‘lung ta’ translates into ‘wind stallion’. The Lung Ta’s five panels represent the elements: blue-sky, white-wind, red-fire, green-water and yellow-earth. — From the page [...]
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