Page:Narratives of the mission of George Bogle to Tibet.djvu/55

Rh Under the incarnate Lamas there is an order of Buddhist ecclesiastics in Tibet, China, and Mongolia, called Khutuktus, who also have divine incarnation; and indeed Mr. Brian Hodgson considers that the term is a Tatar equivalent for the divine Lama of the Tibetan tongue. There also appears to be at least one female incarnation, in the person of the abbess of a convent on the island iii Lake Palti, whose acquaintance was made by Mr. Bogle. The professed monks or clergy, subordinate to the holy and sacred lamas, are also called lamas, and are very numerous in Tibet. All who have taken vows of celibacy are called gedun. A professed monk is gylong; a neophyte, getshnl; a nun is anní. They are bareheaded, though those of high rank wear caps; their hair is cut short, and they are dressed in a yellow robe and high leathern boots, with the mendicant's food bowl and the prayer wheel in their hands. They are collected in vast monasteries scattered over the country, the largest and most numerous being round the city of Lhasa. The Galdan and Potala monasteries have already been mentioned. The valley of Lhasa also contains the Sara monastery, with 5500 lamas; the Muru and Kamoche monasteries, at the north end of Lhasa; the Chumuling, at the north-west corner; the Tankyaling, at the west end ; the Kontyaling monastery, about a mile to the west of the city; the Chochuling, and the Debang monastery, which is the most important. These monasteries contain many thousands of lamas, and similar establishments are scattered not only in the inhabited valleys, but over the wildest parts of Great Tibet.

The monasteries are called Gonpas; the Lama's house, Labrang; and the temple, consisting of a room full of images and pictures, Lha-khang. The Dung-ten is a relic repository, (the Stupa of India,) and the votive piles of stones or dykes, from a few feet to half a mile in length, covered with slabs, and stuck over with banners inscribed with the Tibetan prayer, Om mani padmi hum, are called Mani. The images of Buddha are always