Block carvings of talismans and religious flags

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The printed and posted Talismans were used to fend off evil spirits. There are various images, covering a wide range of themes and showing different carving techniques and styles as well as very high aesthetic value in addition to religious significance. The curved blocks that have been repeatedly used present unexpected beauty, which makes them a kind of unique art. The “religious flags,”printed with the blocks, are widely used in Tibetans’ religious life and so are found everywhere in the vast plateau.

For example, such flags fly all over the holy mountains and lands during religious activities attended by hundreds of thousands of people, which looks grand. The blocks for making the religious flags were carved by craftsmen and the flags printed by the believers.A block can be used to print numerous flags. The imprints then leave gorgeous relief art, with special artistic conception. Due to popular demand, carving blocks for making religious flags have become a handicraft industry.There used tobe many block carving craftsmen，who mainly lived in the countryside or sutra printing monasteries，such as the Samye Monastery and the Narthang Monastery.Now，this industry has mainly moved to large cities for market-oriented operations.However，there are still several villages with craftsmen possessing proficient blocking carving skills in Nyemo County.