The fluttering prayer flags are colourful cotton cloth squares in white, blue, yellow, green and red. They are adorned with images and mantras and connected with a long string. The Tibetan word for the flags is Lung ta, lung meaning wind and ta meaning horse – literally “wind horse” a mythical Tibetan creature from pre-Buddhist times that combined the speed of the wind and the strength of the horse to carry prayers from earth to heaven.
To the Tibetan people the word Lungta means fortune or good luck and the Tibetans believe that their prayers and mantras will be blown upwards as offerings to their deities and will bring fortune, happiness and good health to all who hang them, as well as their families and neighbours.
The prayers of a flag become a permanent part of the universe as the images fade from wind and sun. Tibetans renew their hopes for the world by continually mounting new flags alongside the old. These dates are inauspicious to hang flags: (2019) October: 11, 23 / November: 6, 19 / December: 3, 15, 30 / (020) January (2020): 11, 22, 25 / February: 7, 18.
