Prayer Wheel
The prayer-wheel is the cylindrical device of Tibetan Buddhism that is spun to release the mantras printed on the paper scrolls inside, each revolution sending the prayer for compassion into the world. Rows of large wheels line the walls of temples and stupas, and smaller hand-held wheels are turned by pilgrims at shrines and along circumambulation paths, the turning of the wheel standing for the turning of the dharma. The practice descends from the Indian and Tibetan tradition of reading or rolling sacred verses, and the mantra most often printed inside is Om Mani Padme Hum, the invocation of