prayer flag

plural prayer flags

1. A colourful rectangular cloth hung from a thread and strung along mountain ridges and peaks high in the Himalayas by practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism to bless the surrounding countryside or for other purposes.

   On the final night of his journey, he strung up the inflated balloons at Duchala, a sacred mountain pass at 10,000 feet, bobbing amidst Buddhist prayer flags.

   2011 November 6, Maria Popova, “'Balloons for Bhutan': Jonathan Harris Documents Happiness”, in The Atlantic

   1 more example

   There are two kinds of prayer flags: horizontal ones, called Lung ta (Wylie: rlung-rta, meaning “Wind Horse”) in Tibetan, and vertical ones, called Darchor (Wylie: dar-Icog, meaning “flagstaff”).

   2017, Carol A. Wilson, Stillness on Shaking Ground: A Woman's Himalayan Journey Through Love, Loss, And Letting Go, John Hunt, →ISBN

   Synonyms: thangka