Note 6 — Little Thibet.
Reading edition
This was the only explanation of the mounds of inscribed stones which I was able to obtain from a native source; and some foundation for the story may be traced in the legend—which will be found in Appendix B—upon which M. Klaproth has founded the only explanation of the mystic inscription, which I have been as yet able to discover.
By the Lamas themselves I never heard these mounds alluded to otherwise than by the words “Mani panee.” Cunningham, however, who had ample opportunity of ascertaining their meaning and origin, terms them “Manís” (in another form of spelling, “Munees”), and thus describes them:—“The Maní—a word naturalized from the Sanscrit—is a stone dyke, from four to five feet high, and from six to twelve in breadth; length from ten or twenty feet to half a mile The surface of the Maní is always covered with inscribed slabs; these are votive offerings from all classes of people for the attainment of some particular object. Does a childless man wish for a son, or a merchant about to travel hope for a safe return; each goes to a Lama and purchases a slate, which he deposits carefully on the village ‘Maní,’ and returns to his home in full confidence that his prayers will be heard.” ↑