RELIGIOUS SERVICE. 75 



Their religious service is performed in Tibetan/ 

 which is also the language of their sacred books. 

 The most famous is the Ganjtir, comprising 108 vols., 

 including, besides religion, such subjects as history, 

 mathematics, astronomy, &c. Service in the temples 

 is performed three times a day : at morning, midday, 

 and in the evening. The call to prayers is by blowing 

 trumpets made of large sea-shells ; when the congre- 

 gation are assembled, the lamas, seated on the floor 

 or on benches, chant passages from the sacred books. 

 From time to time this monotonous chanting is 

 interrupted by exclamations from the presiding lama, 

 repeated after him by the others, and at certain in- 

 tervals cymbals or brass plates are clashed, which 

 add to the general noise. The service continues for 

 some hours ; when the Kutukhtu is present in person, 

 the ceremonial observed is of course more imposing. 

 He always occupies a throne, robed in vestments, 

 Avith his face towards the idols, while the attendant 

 lamas swing censers in front of him and read the 

 prayers. 



The frequently repeated prayer, constantly on 

 their lips, is * От mani padmi Jiom! ^ We tried in 

 vain to discover its meaning. The lamas assured 



* Which the lamas themselves do not always understand. The 

 Tibetan letters are arranged in horizontal lines, not like the Chinese 

 and Mongolian, which are in vertical columns. 



'^ Klaproth's explanation of this prayer, which, he says, is composed 

 of four Hindu words, meaning ' Oh ! precious lotus,' is unsatisfactory. 

 See Timkowski's * Travels,' English edition, London, 1827, vol. ii. 

 p. 349, note. 



Mr. Wilson found these words beautifully inscribed on stones in 

 some parts of the Himalayas, even high up the mountains. In refer- 



