They are known as torma or "ritual cakes" in English. Torma are food offerings for deities.
In Tibetan Buddhism, which is the form practiced in Bhutan, torma are vehicles for communication between the humans and deities.
"Tor" means detachment, throwing away, rejecting desires. "Ma" refers to maternal, nurturing love. Together, torma combines selfless giving and unconditional love.
Offering of torma to deities are returned with blessings to humans.
Toma varies from extremely elaborate, big and ornate to small and simple. The biggest torma can be the size of a car or even house.
A simple, small cone shaped torma.
The shape of the torma represents Mount Meru, the centre of the world in the Buddhist universe.
Most torma are made with dough, hand kneaded from barley flour (known as tsampa) and butter - staples of Bhutanese diet. Wheat flour or oat flour may also be used in case barley flour is not available.
There are many different variations of torma depending on the purpose, and the communities / traditions. It varies even from monastery to monastery.
Torma can be seen around the Himalayas in Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, India, China, etc., wherever Tibetan Buddhism is practiced.
This black and white photo is taken in Tibet in 1939 (source Wikipedia).
There are iconic torma where they are shaped in the form of the specific deity like a dough sculpture.
(Credit: This photo is by Sandar Aung.)
(Credit: This photo is from अमिताभ बौद्ध केन्द्र Amitabha Buddhist Center.)
Stupa shaped torma in Tibet (source: Wikipedia).
Aniconic torma i.e. torma with no deity form are food offerings for ephemeral deities who will reciprocate by blessing the supplicant.
Most offering torma can be eaten by devotees after offering to deities.
Others like medicine torma which is used to draw illnesses from a patient cannot be eaten after the ritual.
A story on the origin of torma.
Ananda, the cousin of Buddha was meditating in Kalilavastu (a district in today's Nepal) when an hungry ghost confronted him. The hungry ghost told Ananda that he will eat him after 7 days.
Ananda ran to Buddha for help. Buddha adviced his cousin to make a torma and offer it to the hungry ghost with a mantra. It will protect him from untimely death by the hungry ghost.
So, the offering of torma goes back to the time of Buddha and was an instruction from Buddha himself.
Written by Tony Boey on 13 Dec 2025
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