TIBET. U9 



the society of women, and confine themselves to the austere practices 

 of the cloister. On the establishment of the monastery <^f Teeshoo 

 Loomboo, were reckoned no less than three thousand seven hundred 

 of these gylongs. There are also a number of nunneries, containing 

 annees or nuns ; and the strictest laws exist to prevent any woman 

 from even accidentally passing a night within the limits of a mon- 

 astery, or a man within those of a nunnery. 



The religion of Tibet," says Mr. Turner, " seems to be the schis- 

 matical offspring of that of the Hindoos, deriving its origin from one 

 of the followers of that faith, a disciple of Boodh, who first broached 

 the doctrine which now prevails over the wide extent of Tartary. It 

 is reported to have received its earliest admission into that part of 

 Tibet bordering upon India (which from hence became the seat of 

 the sovereign lamas) to have traversed over Manchew Tartary, and 

 to have been ultimately disseminated over China and Japan. Though 

 it differs from the Hindoo in many of its outward forms, yet it still 

 bears a very close affinity to the religion of Brahma in many impor~ 

 tant particulars. The principle idol in the temples of Tibet is Mah^~ 

 mocmie (a name which in Sanscrit literally signifies great saint) the 

 Budha or Boodh of Bengal, who is worshipped under these and various 

 other epithets throughout the great extent of Tartary, and among all 

 the nations to the eastward of the Burhampooter. In the wide ex- 

 tended space over which this faith prevails, the same object of vene- 

 ration is acknowledged under numerous titles : among others he is 

 styled Godama or Gowtama in Assam and Ava ; Samana in Siam ; 

 Amida Buth in Japan ; Fohi in China ; Budha or Boodh in Bengal 

 and Hindoostan ; Dherma Raja and Mahamoonie in Bootan and Tibet, 

 Durga and Kali; Ganeish, the emblem of wisdom; and Cartikeah 

 with his numerous h^ads and arms, as well as many other deities of 

 the Hindoo mythology, have also a place in their assemblage of gods. 



" The same places of popular esteem or religious resort, as I have 

 already hinted, are equally respected in Tibet and in Bengal. Praag, 

 Cashi, Durgeedin, Sangor, and Jagarnaut, are objects of devout pil- 

 grimage ; and I have seen loads of the sacred water taken from the 

 Ganges, travelling over those mountains (which, by the bye, contri- 

 bute largely to its increase) upon the shoulders of men whom enthu- 

 siasts have deemed it worth their while to hire at a considerable ex- 

 pence for so pious a purpose. 



" As far as I am able to judge respecting their ritual or ceremonial* 

 it differs materially from the Hindoo. The Tibetians assemble in 

 chapels, and unite together in prodigious numbers to perform the 

 religious service, which they chant in alternate recitative and chorus*, 

 accompanied by an extensive band of loud and powerful instruments: 

 so that whenever I heard these congregations, they forcibly recalled 

 to my recollection both the solemnity and sound of a Roman-catholic 

 mass."* 



Language. ...The language of Tibet is said to be radically different 

 both from that of the Manchews and that of the Moguls. According 

 to Mr. Turner, it consists almost entirely of nasal and gutural sounds. 

 The alphabetic characters are of two kinds, the uchem and the umin ; 

 the former of which is the character in which the sacred writings are 

 preserved, and considerably resembles the Sanscrit j the other is: the 



* Turner, p. 306, 307 



