THIBET. 



admifTion in that piri of Tibet bordering upon India, (which 

 from hence became the feat of the fovereign lamas,) to have 

 traverfed over Mantchcw Tartarj-, and to liave been ulti- 

 mately dilTeminated over China and Japan. Though it dif- 

 fers from the Hmdoo in many of its outward forms, yet it 

 ftill bears a very clofc affinity with the rehgion of Brahma in 

 many important particulars. The principal idol in the temples 

 of Tibet is Mahamoonie, the Budha of Bengal, who is 

 worlhipped under thcfe and various other epithets through- 

 out the great extent of Tartary, and among all the nations 

 to the cattward of the Berhampooter. In the wide extended 

 fpace OVV.T which this faith prevails, the fame objeft of vene- 

 ration is acknowledged under numerous titles ; among others, 

 he is ftylcd Godamaor Gowtama, in Affam and Ava ; Sa- 

 mana, in Siam ; Amida Bulh, in Japan ; Fohi, in China ; 

 Budha and Shakamuna, in Bengal and Hindooftan ; Dherma 

 Raja and Mahamoonie, in Bootan and Tibet. Durga and 

 Kali ; Ganeifh, the emblem of wifdom ; and Cartikeah, with 

 his numerous heads and arms, as well as many other deities of 

 the Hindoo mythology, have alio a place in their affemblage 

 of gods. 



The fame places of popular efleem or religious refort, 

 arc equally rcfpcfted in Tibet and in Bengal ; Praag, Ca(hi, 

 Durgeedin, Saugor, and Jagarnaut, are objedls of devout pil- 

 grimage ; and load* of the facred water taken from the Ganges, 

 have been feen travelling over thefe mountains, (which, by the 

 bye, contribute largely to its increafe,) upon the rtioulders of 

 men, whom enthufialls have deemed it worth their while to 

 hire at a confiderable expence for fo pious a purpofe. 



As far as can be judged refpefting their ritual or ce- 

 remonial worfhip, it differs materially from the Hindoo. 

 The Tibetians alFemble in chapels, and unite together in 

 prodigious numbers, to perform their religious fervice, which 

 they chant in alternate recitative and chorus, accompanied by 

 an extenfive band of loud and powerful inftruments. So that, 

 whaiever thefe congregations were heard, they forcibly re- 

 called to remembrance, both the folemnity and found of the 

 Roman Catholic mafs. 



The inftruments made ufe of were all of an enormous fize. 

 Trumpets above fix feet long ; drums ftretched over a cop- 

 per cauldron, fuch as are termed nowbut in Hindooftan ; the 

 gong, a circular Chinefe inftrument of thin hammered bell- 

 metal, capable of producing a furprifing found ; cymbals, 

 hautboys ; and a double drum, (hallow, but of great circum- 

 ference, mounted upon a tall, flender pedeilal, which the 

 performer turns with great facility, ftriking either fide with 

 along curved iron, as the piece requires a higher or a lower 

 tone : thefe, together with the human tibia, and fea-conch, a 

 large fpecies of the buccinum, compofe, for the moll part, 

 their religious band. Harlh as thefe inftruments, individually 

 taken, might found to a mufical ear, yet when joined toge- 

 ther in unifon with the voices of two or three hundred boys 

 and men, managed with varying modulation, from the Icweft 

 and fofteft cadence to the loudeft: fwelj, they produce to the 

 car an effeft extremely grand. 



Other mufical inftruments are in the hands of the people 

 of Tibet. 



Among the Tibetians, fays Mr. Turner, all is fyftem and 

 order. The mind readily obeys the fuperiority it has been 

 accullomed to acknowledge. A fovereign lama, immaculate, 

 inimortal, omniprefent, and omnifcient, is placed at the fum- 

 mit of thsir fabric. He is efteemed the vicegerent of the 

 only God, the mediator between mortals and the fupreme. 

 They view him only in the moft amiable light, as perpe- 

 tually abforbed in religious duty ; and, when called to be- 

 ftow attention on mortal beings, as employed only in the be- 

 nign office of diftributing comfort and confolation by his 



bleffing, and in exercifing the firft of all attributes, forgive, 

 nefs and mercy. He is alfo the centre of all civil govern • 

 ment, which derives from his authority all its influence and 

 power. At the fame time that he is the foul which animates 

 their whole fyftem, a regular gradation, from the moft vene- 

 rated lama, through the whole order of Gylongs to the 

 young noviciate, is obferved with rigid ieverity. 



The inferior gradations from the prefidentof a monaftery, 

 who is always ftyled lama, in addition to the name of the 

 ftation to which he belongs, are Gylong, Tohba, and 

 Tnppa. See Gylong, Teshoo-Loomboo, Tohba, and 

 TirppA. 



The nation is divided into two diftinft and feparate clafles, 

 thofe who carry on the bufincis of the world, and thofe who 

 hold intercourfe with heaven. No interference of the laity 

 ever interrupts the regulated duties of the clergy. The 

 latter, by mutual compaft, take charge of all their fpiritual 

 concerns ; and the former, by their labours enrich and po- 

 pulate the ftate. 



In Tibet there are two fefts, diftinguilhed by the appella- 

 tions of Gyllookpa and Shammar, but the external appear- 

 ance, or drefs of both, is fimilar, except the diftinftion 

 in the colour of the cap ; the Gylloopka having adopt- 

 ed yellow, the Shammar red ; a circumftance which is 

 ftriftly sttended to, on all occafions of ceremony. Three 

 lamas are placed at the head of each fedl ; Dalai lama, 

 Tefhoo lama, and Taranaut lama, prefide over the Gyl- 

 lookpa, who have their refidence at Pootalah, Tefhoo- 

 Loomboo, and Kharka. This feft prevails over the greateft 

 part of Tibet, and a divifion of the fame is faid to be eila- 

 bliftied in a province of the Decan, called Seurra or Serrora. 

 In like manner, three lamas alfo, lam' Rimbochay, lam' 

 Sobroo Nawangnamghi, and lam'Ghaflatoo, prefide over the 

 Shammar ; thefe have their refidence in Bootan, in feparate 

 monafteries, but, from the limited extent of that country, 

 at no great diftance from each other. The principal of the 

 Shammar feft in Tibet is ftyled Gongfo Rimbochay, and 

 has his refidence at Sakia. 



The Tibetians are aftuated by an ardent fpirit of devo- 

 tion ; and they attribute the merit of every thing great, 

 or fingularly beneficial, to the agency of fome fupernatural 

 being. It is the cuftom in Tibet to preferve entire the 

 mortal remains of their fovereign Lama only ; every other 

 corpfe is either confumed by fire, or given to be the promif- 

 cuous food of beafts and birds of prey. As foon as life has 

 left the body of the Lama, it is placed upright, fitting in 

 an attitude of devotion, the legs being folded before him, 

 with the inftep reaching upon each thigh, and the foles of 

 the feet turned upwards. It is the praftice here to cover 

 the bodies of men, found dead in the fields, with clods of 

 earth, which the rains gradually diflblvc and incorporate, 

 forming the loofe mafs into a compaft hillock. This 

 always attracts the fame refpeft, and paflengers continue to 

 add to the heap, long after all trac-es of the body are 

 loft, and its exiftence forgotten. Thus alfo the piety of 

 the Tibetians offers a fimilar rite to the bodies of thofe 

 whom chance may have led to the fpot, where the fragment 

 lay at the inftant of its fall, though the fatal effefts of it 

 may not have been certainly known. 



A tribute of refped is paid, in this region, to the manes 

 of the dead in various ways. The fovereign lamas are depo- 

 fited entire, in ftirines prepared for their remains, whjch 

 ever after are looked upon as facred, and vifited with reli- 

 gious awe. The bodies of inferior lamas are ufually burnt, 

 and their afhes preferved with great care in little metallic 

 idols, which have places afTigned them in their facred 

 cabinets. Common fubjefts are treated vnxh. lefs cere- 

 mony ; 



