Front


Back



Xylographic Print
showing the repeated mantra
om mani padme hum


Mongolia, probably Ulambator
20th Century C.E.




Dimensions:

    20.50 cm wide x 8.50 cm high

Description:
     
    Xylographic print on rectangular sheet of paper.
    Page is in the pothi format. 
    Off-white paper with faint purple printed lines.
    Paper shows signs of being torn along bottom edge.
    Bottom edge also shows four small notches (possiblly the 
    result of the leaf once being part of or stored in a 
    bound volume).
    The paper is printed with faint purple lines.
    Paper is unwatermarked.
    The paper is probably of Russian manufacture.
     

FRONT
       
    Block Printed Buddhist mantra
         "Om mani padme hum" in black ink.
    Sanskrit text printed in a Tibetan script.
    Mantra is repeated 35 times (5 columns of 7 lines).
    Text is enclosed in a box border.

    The paper used for the printing has faint purple printed
    vertical and diagonal lines.  
    The spacing between the vertical purple lines forms a patern
    forming one thin column (0.5 cm. wide) on either side of two 
    thicker columns (1.0 cm. wide).
    The diagonal lines are evenly spaced at 2.5 cm apart 

         
BACK

    Blank - No text
    A few ink stains and some ink bleed through from the opposite
    side of the sheet.

    The paper used was printed with faint purple vertical and 
    diagonal lines.
    The diagonal lines are clearly visible on the back.
    The pattern and spacing of the purple lines are the 
    same as on the front. 


NOTES

   The text printed on this sheet is the famous Tibetan Buddhist 
   prayer "Om Mani Padme Hum."  This is the Buddhist 
   mantra (prayer) of Chenrezig (the Buddha of Compassion) and 
   is the most frequently used of all the Buddhist mantras.  It 
   is used in meditationa and Buddhists believe that saying the
   mantra out loud or silently to oneself, invokes the benevolent 
   attention and blessings of Chenrezig. Viewing the mantra in 
   written form is believed to have the same effect.   







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