What is the significance of offering ghee lamps

The ghee lamp is very important in the hearts of Tibetan Buddhist followers, and it is not too much to compare the ghee lamp to the spiritual lamp of the believers. The end of life, if there is no ghee lamp company, the soul will be confused in the darkness. Ghee lamp in the Tibetan believers life occupies an important position, in addition to the temple, can see a thousand ghee lamp flickering spectacular scene, in the Tibetan home, you can also see the long bright and indestructible ghee lamp.

Customs

On the night of the Lantern Festival, Gelugpa temples will be lit to commemorate the passing of Tsongkhapa.

During the festival of lights, there are different worship customs in different places, but all Gelugpa temples and their followers light many ghee lamps on the roofs, window sills, and scripture halls, and offer bowls of water in the Buddha Hall. In addition, on this day, people will also recite prayers, wishing that all beings can be reincarnated into the "three good" (heaven, asura, human).

The Tal Temple in Qinghai, the birthplace of Tsongkhapa, is the site of the Lantern Festival, and on the evening of the festival, people climb to the roof and recite sutras. Labrang Monastery in Gansu will open all the halls in the temple to devotees during the Lantern Burning Festival, and each Buddha will make offerings in front of the snow. In Tibet, the main place to celebrate the Lantern Festival is in the Dazhao Monastery. In the afternoon of the day of the festival, people will be ghee lamps dressed in the Barkhor Street and Da Zhao Temple Square, in the Da Zhao Temple outside the wall is also placed with ghee lamps.

People attending the festival dress up, while in the Barkhor Street clockwise, while simmering in the mulberry. Devotees throw mulberry branches into the incense burner in front of the Da Zhao Temple, praying that the Buddha will bring them good luck. In Kangding City, Sichuan Province, the festival is known as the "Yuan Gen Lantern Festival".

After the completion of the Anjue Temple, people chose to hold the temple's opening ceremony on the day of the Lantern Festival, but because of the lack of offerings needed to make the lamp, only the local abundance of yuan root (i.e., turnip) in the center of the hollow, made of yuan root lamps to the Buddha, the Lantern Festival is also known as the "yuan root Lantern Festival" (said to be called). "Coriander Root Lantern Festival").

Today, most Mongolians do not celebrate the Lantern Festival. The Mongols of Usu city usually do not burn lamps during the festival, and instead they have recreational activities such as horse races, wrestling, songs and dances.

References: Baidu Encyclopedia - Ghee Lamp (extract from cow and goat milk fat), Baidu Encyclopedia - Ghee Lamp