Athena Review Image Archive ™
Tibet: Buddhist prayer wheel with Tibetan script (1852 drawing)
Tibetan Prayer Wheel with writing in the Tibetan alphabetic script (Huc 1852)
Tibetan
Buddhism (Lamaism) evolved from Mahayana Buddhism brought by
missionaries from India during the reign of Songtsen Gampo (AD
618-640). The native Tibetan religion, called Bön, included shamanism
and animal sacrifice. From the beginning, Lamaism incorporated ritual
practices of the mystical sect known as Tantric Buddhism, which showed
affinities with the shamanistic features of Bön. One major monastic
order in Tibet, the Nyingmapa ("Old order"), still retains elements of
Bön.
Also
during Songtsen Gampo's reign, writing was introduced into Tibet based
on Sanskrit texts from India, Kashmir and Nepal. All available Buddhist
literature in India and Tibet was translated into Tibetan by the 14th
century. Tibetan writing (read from left to right) is shown here on a
prayer wheel, of a type used by many Tibetans on a daily basis.
This drawing of a Buddhist prayer wheel is from Huc's 1852 account of his travels in Tibet.
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