The practice started long back, when travellers and traders in ancient times made arduous journeys across high mountain passes. These stacked stones with prayer flags are known as “la btsas.” Here the word la means mountain pass, and btsas likely refer to a tax paid when going to a sacred place. These cairns are revered objects, as it is believed they help to please the natural spirits/deities. Often stacked stones that are seen on mountain passes are covered with prayer flags. The stacked stones, a common sight in the mountains, tell us tales of previous travellers who have been to that place.
Interestingly, a common form of this flag known as “wind-horse prayer flag” has Garuda as one among the four supreme power animals shown on it. In this case the colours should be placed giving precedence to the raiser’s dominating natural element. There is another line of Tibetan philosophy that claims the colours represent water (blue), iron (white), fire (red), wood (green), and earth (yellow). When the balance is lost, unhappiness and misery will engulf the world. The Tibetans belief that there must be a balance between these five natural elements for prosperity (good crop yield and thriving cattle), which in turn will fill the world with happiness and peace. The five colours denote five natural elements, wherein blue denotes the sky, white stands for clouds, red is for fire, green is for water, and yellow depicts the earth. As Buddhism took hold among the Tibetans, even the ancient war symbols (flags and spears) slowly turned into philosophical symbols of positive energy that brought forth good fortune, while removing obstacles and unhappiness.Ī closer look at the flags and banners show that five different colours are always used in the same order: blue on top, followed by white, red, green, and yellow. This custom has been in practice for more than a thousand years now, and it is believed that initially the tradition started as a symbol of war, which later modified itself to denote religious activities. In Tibetan language these flags are referred to as “dar lcog,” wherein dar means cotton cloth and lcog means an upright position (silk and synthetic fabrics are also used). Hanging long strings of prayer flags/banners, and hoisting prayer flags on poles is a unique characteristic of Tibetan culture, and these are frequently seen on mountain passes and tops, farms, forests, beside water-bodies, houses, and gompas. The Bon religion still survives in some parts of Tibet, and the adherents follow practices and philosophies that show a striking similarity to Tibetan Buddhism. Many aspects of the Bon traditions were absorbed into Indian Buddhism, which finally gave rise to the form of Buddhism followed in Tibetan platuea and India’s Himalayan frontier regions. The Bon religion believed in the worship of natural spirits, and exorcism to drive away demons and remove negative effects. Before Buddhism arrived from India, Tibetans practiced Bon religion, an ancient form of worship. The history of Tibetan Buddhism is strongly rooted in India, and records show that while Buddhism made an appearance in the Tibetan kingdom around 7th century CE and received royal patronages, it took a firm shape only after the famous monk Atish Dipankar (982–1054 CE) from the Pala era Bengal carried with him the essence of Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism and spread it among the masses, from Tibet to Sumatra and beyond.
Besides the locals, many refugees from Tibet owing to political crises in their own country have made India their home in the last few decades, and have kept their religious and cultural practices intact. In the modern context, Tibetans refer to those from Tibet (in a geographical and political sense) however, owing to ancient and early medieval cultural ties with the old Tibetan kingdom, many Indians also practice Buddhism as practised in Tibet, which is pretty obvious when we travel to the Himalayan states.