Tibet Religious Taboos – Kowtow

Kowtow is a traditional etiquette of Tibetan, which is practiced in worshipping Buddha sculptures, pagodas and living Buddha, sometimes also for visiting the prestigious the elderly.  There are three forms as kowtow of full length kowtow, short length kowtow and kowtowing with sound. It is common to find people practicing kowtows of full length and short length in Johkang Temple, the Potala Palace and other monasteries.

When practicing kowtows, people put palms together, old them higher than head. Then holding them from top of the head to forehead and keep still before chest, then bow three times and prostrate on ground with both hands parallel evenly on the ground, and practice it three times. Pious Buddhism can constantly practice full length kowtows from Sichuan, Yunnan, Qinghai, Gansu to Lhasa, with three steps one kowtow. Such a pilgrimage could last several years. When making a kowtow with sound, men, women, the old and the young all hold palms together first and bow to under the feet of Buddha, knocking the Buddha slightly by forehead, which means penitence.

tags: Tibet Tours and China travel