Published: 03:06 PM, 22 December 2023 Last Update: 03:21 PM, 22 December 2023
Cop crackdown of Mani Stones exhibition in Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai
Mani Stones outside the residence of the Dalai Lama in Dharamshala. "Four men have been arrested for organizing a large event where thousands of the popular stones inscribed with the mantra “Om mani padme hum” were on display."
Mani Stones had always been popular among Tibetan Buddhists. They are stones on which the mantra of Avalokiteshvara, “Om mani padme hum,” and occasionally other mantras are inscribed. Tibetans place them along the roads and rivers, often forming long walls with thousands of them.
The practice also extends to Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, part of historical Tibet that the Chinese made a part of Qinghai province. This year, a Mani Stone Sculpture Exhibition was organized in Jyekundo (Ch. Gyegu). It was an unusually large event with thousands of Mani Stones on display.
On December 12, the police intervened, shut down the exhibition, and detained its organizers, two brothers called Nyima and Lhoga and their friends Tsedar and Rinchen. They were accused of misuse of religion and “deceiving the masses.”
The size of the event probably determined the police crackdown, although Mani Stones have been generally tolerated in the past. Local Buddhist devotees see the incident of a bad omen for the future. Increasingly, forms of popular devotion that are important for the local populace are denounced as “superstition” and prohibited.
Carving Mani Stones is not primarily a commercial activity for Tibetan Buddhists. It is a spiritual practice with a centuries-old tradition. Treating it with contempt or disrespect is just another example of how Chinese authorities disrespect and deny Tibetan identity.
>> Source: Bitter Winter
Mani Stones had always been popular among Tibetan Buddhists. They are stones on which the mantra of Avalokiteshvara, “Om mani padme hum,” and occasionally other mantras are inscribed. Tibetans place them along the roads and rivers, often forming long walls with thousands of them.
The practice also extends to Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, part of historical Tibet that the Chinese made a part of Qinghai province. This year, a Mani Stone Sculpture Exhibition was organized in Jyekundo (Ch. Gyegu). It was an unusually large event with thousands of Mani Stones on display.
On December 12, the police intervened, shut down the exhibition, and detained its organizers, two brothers called Nyima and Lhoga and their friends Tsedar and Rinchen. They were accused of misuse of religion and “deceiving the masses.”
The size of the event probably determined the police crackdown, although Mani Stones have been generally tolerated in the past. Local Buddhist devotees see the incident of a bad omen for the future. Increasingly, forms of popular devotion that are important for the local populace are denounced as “superstition” and prohibited.
Carving Mani Stones is not primarily a commercial activity for Tibetan Buddhists. It is a spiritual practice with a centuries-old tradition. Treating it with contempt or disrespect is just another example of how Chinese authorities disrespect and deny Tibetan identity.
>> Source: Bitter Winter
