life-in-tibet Photos

All the different altitudes of Tibet spots average at 4,900 m (16,000 ft), which makes it the highest region of the planet and it earns it the other name under which it is known – the Roof of the World. Hidden behind a wall of the highest mountains in the world, Tibet has been through the centuries the most isolated state or region in the world.

Beside the dazzling heights, what astonished anyone who traverse Tibet is its vastness, and then its emptiness, almost thoroughly, and the absolute silence.

Probably the most religious people in the world, Tibetans pray daily, spinning their mani-chorlo - the hand prayer wheels, making yak butter offerings to the Buddha, prostrating themselves sometimes all day long in buddhist temples, or surrounding them, always clockwise. Filled with superstition and tabus, their existence is governed by talismans and religious symbols, aimed at purification, chasing away evil spirits and attaining a superior reincarnation.

Tibetan Buddhism, which came in the 5th century from India in its purest form, is surprisingly different, in culture and faith, from Buddhism outside of Tibet. The doctrine of the spiritual leaders Dalai Lama who are reincarnations of the Buddha is specific of Tibetan buddhism (lamaism). Tibet has been ruled by a Dalai Lama for over 350 years, from 1600 to 1959. Also, Tibetan buddhism includes elements of the old shamanic religion Bon (or Bo), a primitive faith born in Tibet, which still survives here as an independent religion. Consequently, Tibetan buddhism is filled with elements that have to do with the world of the dead. The famous “Tibetan Book of the Dead” is considered shamanic in structure.

In such an arid, infertile and rocky land, with temperatures that are very low throughout the year, exclusively vegetarian food, as demanded by the buddhist religion, is extremely hard to obtain. Meat consumption, the only viable in many areas, has always been for Tibetans an issue of spiritual and religious importance. However, some compromise solutions have been found, which help reduce the negative effects of its consumption.

Tibetan houses are traditionally made of bricks and clay and seem to be never completed. They reflect the spirituality of the place with their mantra flags flapping in the wind or interior wall decorations featuring Tibetan religious symbols. Windows’ contours imitate temple windows, and gates are originally and carefully sculpted and painted in lively colours. Houses are protected by clay walls, which also shelter the household animals – usually goats or cows. Yaks are animals specific to Tibet, resembling long-haired bulls that are well adapted to high altitudes and can climb mountain rocks easily. They provide the inhabitants of this dry cold land not only with a precious source of meat, dairy and clothes material, but also with butter for the offerings burning on the Buddha’s shrines.