The Lersi hermit tradition goes back to before the birth of the historical Buddha, whose parents received a visit from one of these holy men when the Buddha was only a baby!
The Lersi are traditionally represented as men of advanced age, long hairs,
bearded and wearing a
tiger skin. One often sees them depicted with walking sticks embellished with fantastic animals and carrying malas made of huge beads. Sometimes one encounters statues
and amulets of animal faced Lersi (tiger, lion, monkey but also cow and even Nâga!)
