Culture & History

The mala beads necklaces are called by many names like Buddha beads, yoga beads, prayer necklaces and many more. The bead necklace is made from materials like sandalwood, jade and lava stone, mala necklaces can be found in many varieties. It is believed that the natural material promotes the spiritual healing and calms the soul of the person using it. Certain stones are also said to bring out the hidden qualities from within the people. Religious people use specific stones for their personality.

The four major Buddhist holidays are in celebration of the life of Buddha Shakyamuni – the prince, Gautama Siddhartha, who reached enlightenment and shared the spiritual path of the Dharma (known as Buddhism).

The Four Harmonious Friends (or Brothers) Story – The story tells of an elephant, monkey, rabbit, and bird who are trying to work out who is the oldest by comparing themselves to a large tree that they are standing next to.

The first king of Tibet was called Nyatri Tsenpo གཉའ་ཁྲི་བཙན་པོ་ (meaning Neck-Enthroned King) – his reign began in 127 BCE after being chosen by the people of Tibet as their ruler.

The Cham འཆམ་ dance is a lively form of dance that is held during certain Buddhist festivals, such as Losar (the Tibetan New Year), and thought to bring merit to all those who take part and witness the dance.

Nalanda University ནཱ་ལེནྡྲ་ in India was the largest and most known of the ancient Indian monastic universities. The Nalanda monastery is associated with some of the greatest figures in Mahayana Buddhism. These prominent are known as the Seventeen Great Masters (Pandits) Nalanda Monastery.

The Tibetan creation myth is a beautiful story about how humanity came to be through the union of a monkey (Pha Trelgen Changchup Sempa ཕ་སྤྲེལ་རྒན་བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་པ།) and a female demon. Pha means “father” in the Tibetan language, Trelgen is “old monkey” and Changchup Sempa is the bodhisattva’s enlightened mind.