Prostrations on the kora
November 1993

Prostration earns merit. To prostrate—or walk the kora, or turn a prayer wheel, or perform any number of rituals that complete a circle—an auspicious number of times or repeatedly, earns more merit. To do so on a holy day or at a sacred site earns even more. For these reasons, some Tibetans prostrate the entire one-kilometer kora around the Jokhang, or even the great distances of a pilgrimage to the temple or around sacred mountains.