Travellers to Tibet have lots of questions about the lifestyle, people, religion, and culture that they encounter. What are the colourful flags for? Are there any common festivals? What makes Tibetan Buddhism unique? What is yak butter tea like? Whatever your questions – whether you are preparing for your first trip to Tibet, or just want to know more about this remarkable culture – you’ll find answers to many of your questions here. Powered by Tibetpedia.
Chorten or Stupa (མཆོད་རྟེན་དཀར་པོ།) is an important religious monument in Buddhism, symbolizing Buddha’s presence. It also holds precious Buddhist relics and sometimes even preserved bodies of renowned lamas. Tibetans believe that performing Koras of the…
It is a Tibetan custom to offer a khata (ཁ་བཏགས།) or greeting scarf to friends, relatives or guests as a way of indicating your honorable intentions, and wishes of happiness. When given as a farewell…
Kora (བསྐོར་བ།) is a form of pilgrimage and meditation that is shared by both Tibetan Buddhist and Bon traditions. The foundation of Kora is that, because of the trials of the pilgrimage, religious merit will…
The Tibetan New Year (བོད་ཀྱི་ལོ་གསར། ) is referred to as Losar. The Tibetan Calendar is based on the lunar calendar and consists of twelve (or thirteen) months. Losar starts on the first day of the…
Mani stones (མ་ཎི་རྡོ་འབུམ།)are stone plates or rocks that are carved with the Tibetan Buddhism six-word mantra Om Mani Padme Hum. But nowadays people not only carve the six words, but also carve other texts from…
Momos ( ཤ་མོག) are seen as one of the most quintessential Tibetan foods, and travellers love to enjoy them. Often described as “Tibetan dumplings”, most see momos as a basic home cooked meal and it is…
Tibetan Buddhism (བོད་བརྒྱུད་ནང་བསྟན། ) is the major religion of Tibetans around the world. It covers the teachings of Mahayana Buddhism along with Tantric and Shamanic rituals, and is in some part influenced by Bon, the…
To say that Tibetan people are very good at dancing and singing is a gross understatement. There is a common saying that Tibetan people dance when they start walking, and sing when they start talking. In Tibet, dancing and singing accompany every occasion, such as harvest celebrations, weddings, religious and local festivals.
Tsampa (Barley) (རྩམ་པ། ) is one of the main cuisines in Tibet. Tibetan crops must be able to grow in the high altitudes of Tibet. The most important crop in Tibet is barley. Flour milled…
The Windhorse (དར་ལྕོག) is a legendary Tibetan creature, considered to carry prayers from the earth to the heavenly gods using the strength and speed of the wind. This basic symbol is thought to possess powerful energy—an energy…
Yak Butter Tea (འོ་ཇ། ) Probably the most quintessential Tibetan food. Visitors to Tibet either love it or hate it. If you’ve been to 10 different places in Tibet, you have likely had 10 different…
The yak (འབྲོང་། ) is considered the backbone of Tibetan nomad life, with this animal being important to the economic and personal wellbeing of the family. From the products crafted from yaks, the nomad family…
