In the monasteries / gompas of Tibet and Ladakh as well as other parts of the Himalayas you will always find burning oil / butter lamps. Maybe you've heard of the yak butter lamps. And there's a difference nowadays between Tibet and Ladakh. In Tibet yak butter is burnt, whereas in Ladakh one uses vegetable oil.
Filling oil in the lamps
Igniting the lamps
དཀར་མེ་ is Tibetan for butter lamp, Chinese uses 酥油灯 (酥油燈). The first and second character mean butter and the third one light [1]. Pilgrims and lay buddhists offer butter or oil to gain merit. Because of the danger of fires in th wooden structures butter lamps are often restricted to separate closed cabins, which sometimes resemble a greenhouse, in another courtyard on stonefloor. The the lighting of „an oil lamp represents the light of wisdom illuminating the darkness of ignorance“ [2].
Ladakh: wicks swimming in oil
Phakchok Rinpoche explains that „light removes and dispels misunderstanding. All of our suffering comes from not knowing and not seeing. Offering lights or butter lamps indirectly removes confusion.“ [3]
Tibet: five wicks in yak butter
Tibet: yak butter ready for the lamps
So how can we explain the difference in practise? My educated guess is that the people always used what they had. And maybe there had been enough yak butter in Ladakh when trade was possible with the Tibetan nomads. There are yaks in Ladakh, but in small numbers as is lacking the vast pastures of the Tibetan highland. Ladakh is rugged and agriculture is restricted to the bottomland around streams.
Tibet: grocery store in Lhasa
with yak butter on the desk
Tibet: yak butter lamps in a gompa
Links and References:
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butter_lamp
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offering_(Buddhism)
[3] https://samyeinstitute.org/philosophy/light-offerings-why/
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