PRAYER WHEEL

Tibetan manichos 'khor in Tibetan Buddhism, a mechanical device the use of which is equivalent to the recitation of a mantra (sacred syllable or verse). The prayer wheel consists of a hollow metal cylinder, often beautifully embossed, mounted on a rod handle and containing a consecrated written mantra. Each turning of the wheel by hand is equivalent in efficacy to the prayer's oral recitation. Variants to the hand-held prayer wheel are large cylinders that can be attached to windmills or waterwheels and thus kept in continuous motion. The mantra on a prayer flag is similarly activated by the blowing of the wind.