THE ALTAR AND ITS OBJECTS. 



275 



The ordinary water and rice offerings are set in shallow brazen 

 . bowls, called chh'6-ting,^ composed of a brittle alloy 



eo erings. ^^ brass, silver, gold, and pounded precious stones. 

 Their number is five or seven, usually the former. Two out of the five 

 bowls should be filled with rice heaped up into a small cone ; but as 

 this must be daily renewed by fresh rice, wliich in Sikhim is some- 

 what exiDonsive, fresh water is usually employed instead. 



Another food-off'ering is a high, conical cake of dough, butter, and 



sugar, variously coloured, named tormCi or zhal-se, 



00 o ermg. ^^^^ .^^ "holy food." It is placed on a metal tray 



supported by a tripod. To save expense a painted dummy cake is 



usually employed. 



The temple-lamp or chhd-konfj'^ is a short pedestalled bowl, into 

 _ ,. a socket in the centre of which is thrust a cotton 



wick, and it is fed by melted butter. As the great 

 mass of butter solidifies and remains mostly in this state, the lamp is 

 practically a candle. The size varies according to the means and the 

 number of the temple votaries, as it is an act of piety to add butter to 

 the lamp. One is necessary, but two or more are desirable, and on 

 special occasions 108 or 1,000 small lamps are ofi'ered. 



The "essential offerings," or Nyer-cho chhd-pa,^ which are needed 

 in every form of worship are seven in number, and must be placed 

 in line and in a definite order, as shown in the following diagram: — 



The cymbals are placed on the inner platform. On the top of 

 the rice heaps of Nos. 3 and 4 should be placed 

 Order of offerings, respectively a flower, preferably the large-winged 

 seed of the legume of the so-called paff-siam shing or "wish-granting 

 tree " and a stick of incense. And in the bowl marked " No. 6 " should 

 be placed perfumed water: but these details are only observed on 

 special occasions. Ordinarily the bowls are filled with plain water. 



These offerings have each received a special Sanskritic name 

 descriptive of their nature, viz. — 



1. Ar-gham (or Ar-ganga), in Tibetan chlio-yon,'^ or excellent 

 drinking river water. 



» OTchhodting. | ' rochhod skong. | ' nyer-spyoi] OTclihod-pa, | < mchhod yon. 



