The flags come in five colours each signifying a different element of life and they are always hung in this order from left to right:
Blue - sky
White – air
Red – fire
Green – water
Yellow – earth
The Buddhist chant ‘om ma ni pad me hum’ is printed on each flag. These words represent the bad things in life that we should try to rid ourselves of in our quest to reach enlightenment.
The wind carries the positive energy of the prayers away.
Prayer flags
Prayer wheels
A prayer wheel is a carved wooden cylinder mounted on a central metal rod, so that it can rotate. The Buddhist chant ‘om ma ni pad me hum’ is carved on the outside of the wheel and also written many times on paper or cloth inside the wheel. The idea is that s the wheel is rotated the prayer is send out into the atmosphere. The wheels vary in size from small to very big. The smaller ones are usually in a row and a person walks along the whole row turning each one
Prayer wheels in a row
A monk turning a big prayer wheel
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