Tibetan Tattoo

Tibetan script as a tattoo, and the mantra everyone chooses

Tibetan is written in a stacked script, and that is the first practical thing to know: a syllable is a cluster built vertically, hanging from a top line, and it does not survive being stretched, rotated or spaced out. A Tibetan phrase set as if it were Latin lettering stops being readable.

The most requested text by a long way is the six-syllable mantra associated with Avalokiteshvara, seen on prayer wheels, carved on stones along mountain paths and printed on prayer flags. It is a Buddhist religious formula rather than an ornament, which is worth knowing when choosing it, and it is written in Tibetan letters although the words themselves are Sanskrit.

Names transliterated into Tibetan are the other common request, and the name generator on this site does that. As always with a permanent mark, have the text checked by someone who reads the script before it is inked.