Mani stone
Mani stones are stone plates or rocks inscribed with the six-syllabled mantra of Avalokiteshvara[1] (Om mani padme hum, hence the name mani stone).
The term "mani stone" may also be used to refer to stones on which any mantra or devotional designs (such as ashtamangala) are inscribed or painted.
Creating mani stones is done as a form of virtuous activity in Tibetan Buddhism. Creating the stones is particularly a form of devotional practice.
Mani stones are intentionally placed along the roadsides and rivers[1] or grouped together to form mounds,[1] cairns,[2] or sometimes long walls, as an offering to spirits of place or genius loci.
Mani stones are commonly seen in Tibet and the Himalayan regions of Nepal (where forms of Tibetan Buddhism are practiced.)
Carving and painting techniques
The preferred carving technique is sunk relief, where an area around each letter is carved out, leaving the letters at the original surface level, now higher than the background. The stones are often painted in symbolic colours for each syllable (om white, ma green, ni yellow, pad light blue, me red, hum dark blue), which may be renewed when they are lost by weathering.
Mani walls
Along the paths of regions under the influence of Tibetan Buddhism, mani stones are often placed in long stacks along trails, forming mani walls.[3] Tibetan Buddhist custom dictates that these walls should be passed or circumvented from the left side,[3] the clockwise direction in which the earth and the universe revolve, according to Buddhist doctrine.
They are sometimes close to a temple or chorten, sometimes completely isolated and range from a few metres to a kilometre long and one to two metres high. They are built of rubble and sand and faced with mani stones engraved in the Tibetan script.[4]
Gallery
Mani stone#Gallery, Wikipedia
See also
- Gsumge Mani Stone Castle
- Śarīra
- Stele of Sulaiman, 1348 stele with Om mani padme hum inscribed in six scripts
- Yongning Temple Stele, 1413 stele with Om mani padme hum inscribed in four scripts
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Mani Stone
- ↑ Mani stone at the British Museum
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Krakauer, Jon (1997). Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster (First ed.). New York: Anchor Books. p. 44. ISBN 978-0-385-49478-6. OCLC 36130642.
- ↑ Rizvi, Janet. 1998. Ladakh, Crossroads of High Asia. Oxford University Press. 1st edition 1963. 2nd revised edition 1996. Oxford India Paperbacks 1998. 3rd impression 2001. pg. 205.
External links
- Mani stone, Wikipedia
Media related to Mani stones at Wikimedia Commons- World's largest Mani stone mound in Qinghai, China. Estimated over 2 billion stones
- Longest Mani stone wall in the world
