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Mani stones are stone plates, rocks or pebbles inscribed with the six-syllabled
mantra A mantra ( Pali: ''manta'') or mantram (मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words in Sanskrit, Pali and other languages believed by practitioners to have religious, ...
of AvalokiteshvaraMani Stone
/ref> ('' Om mani padme hum'', hence the name ''mani stone''), as a form of
prayer Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deifi ...
in
Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in maj ...
. 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. Mani stones are intentionally placed along the roadsides and rivers or grouped together to form mounds or cairns or sometimes long walls, as an offering to spirits of place or '' genius loci''. Creating and carving mani stones as devotional or intentional process art is a traditional sadhana of piety to yidam. Mani stones are a form of devotional cintamani. The preferred technique is
sunk relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...
, 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 Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in maj ...
, mani stones are often placed in long stacks along trails, forming mani walls. Buddhist custom dictates that these walls should be passed or circumvented from the left side, the clockwise direction in which the earth and the universe revolve, according to
Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
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 elegant Tibetan script.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.


Nepal

The same type of mani stones can be seen in neighbouring
Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is ma ...
, where Buddhism is also widely practised. Large examples of mani stones resembling tablets carved out of the sides of rock formations are in locations throughout the Nepali areas of the Himalayas, such as
Namche Bazar Namche Bazaar (also Namche Bazar, Nemche Bazaar or Namche Baza; ne, नाम्चे बजार) is a town (formally Namche Village Development Committee) in Khumbu Pasanglhamu Rural Municipality in Solukhumbu District of Province No. 1 o ...
. Mani stone walls are most numerous in the high country of the
Khumbu Khumbu (also known as the Everest Region) is a region of northeastern Nepal on the Nepalese side of Mount Everest. It is part of the Solukhumbu District, which in turn is part of Province No. 1.Bradley, Mayhew; "Trekking in the Nepal Himalaya"; ...
. The
mantra A mantra ( Pali: ''manta'') or mantram (मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words in Sanskrit, Pali and other languages believed by practitioners to have religious, ...
of Avalokiteshvara is also a common design on prayer wheels and
prayer flags A Tibetan prayer flag is a colorful rectangular cloth, often found strung along trails and peaks high in the Himalayas. They are used to bless the surrounding countryside and for other purposes. Prayer flags are believed to have originated wit ...
in Nepal.


Gallery

File:Mani stones & prayer flags. Gandhola Monastery. Lahaul.jpg, Mani stones &
prayer flags A Tibetan prayer flag is a colorful rectangular cloth, often found strung along trails and peaks high in the Himalayas. They are used to bless the surrounding countryside and for other purposes. Prayer flags are believed to have originated wit ...
.
Gandhola Monastery Gandhola Monastery (Gaṅdolā, also called Gondla, Gondhla, Kundlah, or Guru Ghantal Gompa) is about before Keylong in Lahaul and Spiti district, Himachal Pradesh, India on the road from Manali, Himachal Pradesh. It is located on a hill ...
. Lahaul. File:Mani wall along driveway to Hemis Monastery.jpg, Mani wall along driveway to
Hemis Monastery Hemis Monastery is a Himalayan Buddhist monastery (''gompa'') of the Drukpa Kagyu, Drukpa Lineage, in Hemis, Ladakh, India. Situated 45 km from Leh, it was re-established in 1672 by the Ladakhi king Sengge Namgyal. The annual Hemis festiv ...
File:LadakhManiStones.jpg, Mani stones in
Ladakh Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory which constitutes a part of the larger Kashmir region and has been the subject of dispute between India, Pakistan, and China since 1947. (subscription required) Quote: "Jammu a ...
,
India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
File:Mune wall col.jpg, Mani wall in
Zanskar Zanskar, Zahar (locally) or Zangskar, is a tehsil of Kargil district, in the Indian union territory of Ladakh. The administrative centre is Padum (former Capital of Zanskar). Zanskar, together with the neighboring region of Ladakh, was brie ...
subdistrict, Ladakh File:Spiti - huge mani stone.jpg, Huge mani stone in the Spiti Valley, India


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


References


External links

{{Commons category, Mani stones
World's largest Mani stone mound in Qinghai, China. Estimated over 2 billion stones


Tibetan Buddhist ritual implements Tibetan Buddhist art and culture Buddhist religious objects Sacred rocks Stone monuments and memorials