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Updated: May 3, 2025
They were a picturesque sight as they stood among the obos against the sky-line, the sunlight shining on their jewelled swords and the gay red flags of their matchlocks. Above their heads strings of flying-prayers waved in the wind. Having watched us for a little while, they disappeared.
Each passer-by deposited a white stone on one of these Obos. This was supposed to bring good fortune. The guard-house itself, of rough stone, would in any country but Tibet be recognized as better fitted for pigs than for human beings. Having gone a mile or so further, as the sun was fast disappearing we searched for a suitable spot to pitch our tents.
Sacrifices are offered by Tibetans when crossing a high pass, especially if there is a Lama close at hand to commemorate the event. The meat of the animal killed is eaten by the people present. If the party is a large one, dancing and singing follow the feast. Obos are found all over the country, generally on passes or summits of hills.
That is the home of a good god!" And he pointed to the peak with the most devout air of conviction. Hundreds of these had been erected at this place by devotees. These Obos, or rough pyramids of stones, were to be found on the paths over high passes, near lakes, and at the source of rivers. At no place had I seen so many as at Lama Chokten.
We crossed the plain, and slowly wended our way up the pass. Near the top we came to a track, the highway from Ladak to Lhassa via Gartok, along the northern side of the Rakastal, Mansarowar, and Gunkyo lakes. On the pass itself were planted several poles connected by ropes, from which flying-prayers waved gayly in the breeze. Obos, or mounds of stones, had been erected.
There are many Obos, which is a fruit nearly the size and taste of a peach, on whose leaves may be reared silkworms, as is done in other parts. There is a great abundance of a fruit which grows on tall trees, with large serrated leaves.
No Tibetan ever goes by one of these obos without depositing on it a white stone. The word yu in Tibetan means "middle." It is applied to this province because it occupies the centre of Tibet. To the north of the Maium lies the Doktol province.
The slabs used in the construction of these obos were mostly white, and bore in many instances the inscription "Omne mani padme hun." Yak, goat, and sheep skulls were laid by the side of the obos, the above four words being engraved on the bone, and stained red with the blood of the animals killed.
Sometimes, among the ice-clad peaks of the giant ranges of the Himalayas, they crossed snowy passes fourteen thousand feet above the sea, and did not neglect to throw a stone upon the obos the cairns that pious and superstitious travellers erect to propitiate the spirits of the passes.
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