Parasol
One of the eight auspicious symbols of Tibetan Buddhism: a royal parasol, for protection from harm and from the heat of suffering.
Meaning
In India the parasol meant both protection and royalty, and Buddhists carried the idea over: the cool of its shade is protection from the heat of suffering, desire and other harmful forces, in the words of the Tibetan Language Institute's guide. In Lama Zopa Rinpoche's translation of his teacher Trijang Dorje Chang's explanation, the precious umbrella keeps away the obstacles of this life, such as sickness, contagious disease and spirit possession, and those of lives to come. Images of the Buddha often show a large parasol above his head.
Origin and history
In Tibet the parasol also marked rank. Religious leaders were entitled to a silk parasol and secular rulers to one embroidered with peacock feathers. The Dalai Lama is entitled to both: in procession a peacock parasol is carried after him, and then a silk one. The parasol is also one of the oldest signs of the Buddha's presence. On the railing at Bharhut, Foucher notes, a parasol above an empty throne can take the place of the tree that usually marks where the Buddha is. The discs on a stupa's spire are parasols too, "ensigns of authority" in Alice Getty's words, and in Tibetan temples a large silk parasol hangs above the altar, which L. Austine Waddell (1895) called the "oriental symbol of royalty".
The eight auspicious symbols
The parasol is one of a set of eight, called ashtamangala in Sanskrit, from the Buddhism of the Himalayas and East Asia: the parasol, a pair of golden fish, the treasure vase, the Lotus, the right-turning conch, the endless knot, the victory banner and the wheel. Tibetan tradition, as Robert Beer tells it, holds that they were the gods' offerings to the Buddha straight after his enlightenment.
The order changes from one list to another. Himalayan Art Resources puts the parasol first and the wheel last; the Tibetan Language Institute's guide begins with the conch; a painting published by the FPMT puts the banner first and the umbrella seventh. Jains keep a set of eight auspicious symbols of their own, and the two main Jain sects list slightly different objects.
Where you'll see the eight
The eight decorate Tibetan Buddhist objects of every kind, sacred and everyday: furniture, metalwork, carpets, silk brocade, jewellery, paper and temple hangings. When lamas come to visit, the signs are often painted on the ground. Older accounts describe them in two more places: figured in the Buddha's footprints, according to Waddell and Getty, and set out on temple altars as objects of wood or gilded metal on stands, as Getty describes. Waddell also saw gilt domes on temple roofs that stood for the royal umbrella and the banner of victory.
See also
Dharmachakra, Bodhi leaf, Triratna, Stupa, Pair of golden fish, Treasure vase.
Sources
- The Eight Auspicious Symbols, Tibetan Language Institute, quoting Robert Beer, The Encyclopedia of Tibetan Symbols and Motifs, Precious Parasol; introduction
- The Eight Auspicious Signs, Lama Zopa Rinpoche (translator), Mandala, Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition, introduction; no. 1
- Eight Auspicious Symbols (gallery text, illustration after Terese Tse Bartholomew, Hidden Meanings), Asian Art Museum of San Francisco
- Subject: Eight Auspicious Symbols, Himalayan Art Resources
- Eight auspicious symbols, Jainpedia, Institute of Jainology
- The Beginnings of Buddhist Art and Other Essays in Indian and Central-Asian Archaeology, A. Foucher, 1917, Paul Geuthner, Paris; Humphrey Milford, London (Internet Archive)
- The Gods of Northern Buddhism, Alice Getty, with an introduction by J. Deniker, 1914, Clarendon Press, Oxford (Internet Archive)
- The Buddhism of Tibet, or Lamaism, L. Austine Waddell, 1895, W. H. Allen, London (Internet Archive, Cornell University Library copy)
Last reviewed September 24, 2026 by Rory Hansen. How we research