28 
L. A. Waddell —Larnaic Rosaries: their Kinds and Uses. [No. I, 
form of spherical beads about the size of a pea, and a less common form 
of lozenge-shaped perforated discs about the size of a sixpence. This 
rosary may be used for all kinds of worship, including that of the 
furies. 
The Bo-dhi-tse rosary is the one chiefly in use among the 
Nying-ma-pa, or ‘ old, (i. e., unreformed) school’ of Lamas, also called the 
Shd-mar or ‘ red-hat sect.’ It is remarkable that its name also seeks 
to associate it with the Bodlii tree, but its beads are certainly not 
derived from the Ficus family. Its beads are the rough brown seeds of 
a tree which grows in the outer Himalayas. This rosary can be used 
for all kinds of worship, and may also be used by the Ge-luk-pa in the 
worship of the fiercer deities. 
The white rosary Tungtheng (strQyc;-), consists of cylindrical 
perforated discs of the conch shell (Tib. tung ), and is specially 
used in the worship of Che-re-si—the usual form of whose image holds 
a white rosary in the upper right hand. This is the special rosary 
of nuns. 
The rosary of plain crystal or uncoloured glass beads is also peculiar 
to Cheresi. 
The red sandal-wood rosary Tsen-den-mar theng 
consists of perforated discs of red sandal-wood ( Adenanthera pavonina ) 
or other wood of a similar appearance. It is used only in the worship of 
the fierce deity Tam-din (Skt. Hayagriva ) a special protector of Lamaism. 
The coral rosary— Chi-m-theng (§'&') —is also used for Tam-din, 
and by the Nyingmapa sects for their wizard-saint Padma Sambhava’s 
worship. Coral being so expensive, red beads of glass or composition 
are in general use instead. With this rosary, it is usual to have the 
counters of turquoise or blue beads. 
The rosary, formed of discs of the human skull—the thb-theng 
—is especially used for the worship of Dorje-jik-che (Skt. 
Yama) one of the forms of the King of the Dead, It is usually inserted 
within the Bo-dhi-tse or other ordinary rosary ; and it frequently has 
its discs symmetrically divided by 4 large Rak-slia beads into 4 series, 
one of these beads forming the central bead. There is no rosary formed 
of finger bones, as has been sometimes stated. 
° , ^ “V- X 
The ‘elephant-stone’ rosary— Bang-chhen-do-pa )—is 
prepared from a porous bony-like concretion, which is sometimes found 
in the stomach of the elephant. It also, being suggestive of bone, is used 
in worship of Yama. The real material, however, being extremely 
scarce and expensive, a substitute is usually had in beads made from the 
fibrous root of the bow-bambu ( Zhu-shing ) which has on section a struc- 
