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Districts bordering Tibet have Lamaism as the ruling religion but as we have discussed there is a happy co-existence between Lamaism and Hinduism in these regions. The same man is a Buddhist and a Hindu. He could even become a Lama or Monk and later change into his civil life and worship Hindu deities. Lamaism has two prominent branches, known after the color of their hats, -red and yellow. There is also another sect-the Kar-gyu-pa, i.e. the white sect.
The Red Hats (Ning-ma-pa) follow the older order while the Yellow Hats (Ge-lug-pa) follow the reformed school founded by Tsong-kha-pa (1357-1419). The founder was taken as an incarnation of Manjushri and had set up the Gen-den monastery, a few miles east of Lhasa. The Dalai Lama took charge of this religious order. The yellow order has taboos on marriage, drinking and meat-eating.
The Buddhist pantheon of deities is as flexible and large as those of the Hindu pantheon. They have got various Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Goddesses and as well later Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Besides the Buddhist mythological divinities there are Buddhist saints, like Padmasambhava, Atisa etc. who also were raised into objects of worship by the Buddhists' The usual prayer that constantly rings out is OM MANI PADME HUM with different interpretations.*
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* "Om is difficult to translate, but it may be understood to mean the initiation of worship. Mani stands for jewel and padme means 'in the lotus'. Hum implies defiance of one's own self."
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