View source for Butter lamp

{{Short description|Lamps traditionally burning clarified yak butter}}{{More citations needed|date=June 2025}}{{Citations broken|date=June 2025}}{{about|the form of temple lighting|the 2013 film directed by Hu Wei|Butter Lamp|the Festival|Butter Lamp Festival}}
[[File:Tibetan Butter Lamp.JPG|thumb|A Tibetan butter lamp]]
[[File:A Tibetan Pilgrim Lighting Ghee Lamps.jpg|thumb|A Tibetan pilgrim lighting ghee lamps in a sacred cave on the Tibet plateau]]
[[File:Light butter lamps.jpg|thumb|Lighting butter lamps]]
[[File:Preparing butter lamps at Thag-Thok Gompa. 2010.jpg|thumb|Preparing butter lamps at [[Takthok Monastery]]. 2010]]

'''Butter lamps''' or '''butterlamps''' ({{bo|w=dkar me|t=དཀར་མེ་}}; {{zh|s=酥油灯|t=酥油燈|p=sūyóu dēng}}) are a common feature of [[Tibetan Buddhist]] temples and [[monasteries]] throughout the [[Himalayas]].  The lamps traditionally burn [[clarified butter|clarified]] [[yak butter]], but now often use [[vegetable oil]] or [[Vanaspati#Hydrogenated vegetable oil|vanaspati ghee]].{{Citation needed|date=June 2025}}

The butter lamps help to focus the mind and aid [[meditation]]. According to the ''Root [[tantra]] of [[Cakrasaṃvara Tantra]]'', "If you wish for sublime realization, offer hundreds of lights".<ref>[http://www.khandro.net/ritual_offering_light.htm Khandro]</ref>

Pilgrims also supply lamp oil to gain [[merit (Buddhism)|merit]]. The monks in the monastery manage the actual lamps, taking extreme care to avoid starting one of the devastating fires which have damaged many monasteries over the years.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025}}  For safety, butter lamps are sometimes restricted to a separate courtyard enclosure with a stone floor.

Externally, the lights are seen to banish darkness.  Conceptually, they convert prosaic substance into illumination, a transformation akin to the search for [[bodhi|enlightenment]]. [[Esoteric]]ally, they recall the heat of the ''[[tummo]] yoga'' energy of the [[Six Yogas of Naropa]], an important text for [[Kagyu]], [[Gelug]], and [[Sakya (Tibetan Buddhist school)|Sakya]] schools of [[Tantra|tantric]] [[Buddhism]].

==See also==
*[[List of light sources]]
*[[Chotrul Duchen]] (Butter Lamp Festival)
*[[Nachiarkoil lamp]]
*[[Sky lantern]]

==References==
<references />
{{Commons category|Butter lamps|position=left}}

{{Butter}}

{{portal bar|Food}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butter Lamp}}
[[Category:Types of lamp]]
[[Category:Tibetan Buddhist practices]]
[[Category:Butter]]