Memorial Park

The Tarboche Memorial Park

The park consists of 5 acres containing a central 30’ flagpole, which is a smaller version of the great flagpole of Tarboche at the foot of Mt. Kailash in Tibet. Mt. Kailash, the most sacred mountain in Asia, is considered to be the axis of the universe around which suns, planets, and moon circle. Enclosing the flagpole is a pathway meandering through scattered pinon and junipers.

The path serves as a modest outdoor museum containing signs describing some of the tragedies that have befallen Tibet and its people during the past half-century.

Tarboche means “Place of Prayer Flags”, and this park is intended as a place of prayers. While the Memorial Park was initially intended for victims of the Chinese invasion of Tibet, since September 11, it is now a memorial for all victims of terrorism and oppression

The entrances to Tibetan villages there typically contain rows of banners or tarchos. As these banners flutter in the wind they give the appearance that prayers are being sent skyward. In the Tibetan tradition these prayers are for the good of all sentient beings. The green of our 12 banners represents Chenresi, the Tibetan Deity of Compassion, of whom the Dalai Lama is believed to be an emanation.

In Tibet practically every prominent place is adorned with prayers flags (darshok), which also utilize the wind to distribute the blessings of their prayers.

Prayer flags are also known as horses of the wind. One of the images printed on the prayer flags is the lung-ta or wind horse.

The horse, often shown carrying a jewel on its back, symbolizes a gift of ones belongings to the gods. At the base of the flag is written

“As the new moon rises in the heavens, so does the lung-ta, the wind horse of good omen, carrying up on high, from peak to peak, the fortunes of a whole people, its destiny, its riches, its children.”