The ancient shamanic religion of pre-Buddhist Tibet. Many small bronze artefacts found throughout Tibet — evidently amulets, decorations for clothing and horse harness, and jewellery — incorporate its symbolism of significant numbers (three, seven, thirteen) and mythical animals, especially the benevolent k’yun, a bird with horns, and the demoniac mk’a’-ldin. The royal tombs at Ap’yon-rgyas are entirely a product of Bon-po ritual, despite the fact that the kings buried within them had introduced Buddhism to Tibet. The kings of the Royal Dynastic period (c620-842) were all given traditional pre-Buddhist funerals, conducted by Bon-po priests or shamans, in tombs incorporating Bon-po symbolism.
The Macmillan dictionary of archaeology, Ruth D. Whitehouse, 1983Copied