Print Block

Item number 1431/5 from the MOA: University of British Columbia.

Public

Item Records

This page shows all the information we have about this item. Both the institution that physically holds this item, and RRN members have contributed the knowledge on this page. You’re looking at the item record provided by the holding institution. If you scroll further down the page, you’ll see the information from RRN members, and can share your own knowledge too.

The RRN processes the information it receives from each institution to make it more readable and easier to search. If you’re doing in-depth research on this item, be sure to take a look at the Data Source tab to see the information exactly as it was provided by the institution.

These records are easy to share because each has a unique web address. You can copy and paste the location from your browser’s address bar into an email, word document, or chat message to share this item with others.

Data
Data Source

This information was automatically generated from data provided by MOA: University of British Columbia. It has been standardized to aid in finding and grouping information within the RRN. Accuracy and meaning should be verified from the Data Source tab.

Description

Woodblock, or print block. Rectangular-shaped brown and black wood block with three rows of characters carved in relief and raised on surface. The top and bottom lines are in the Lantsa Sanskrit script and the middle line bears the mantra in Tibetan script, which may be transliterated as **||Om mani padme hum|. Thinly carved border around entire frame.

History Of Use

For printing on paper or textiles.

Cultural Context

A printed image from this block would have three lines of text that would be read left to right, with each line conveying the six-syllable mantra for Avalokitesvara, the bodhisattva of compassion of Mahayana Buddhism. The top and bottom lines are in the Lantsa Sanskrit script that became popular in eleventh-century Tibet for transcribing Sanskrit scriptures and for adorning temples, prayer wheels, and other sacred objects. The middle line bears the mantra in Tibetan script, which may be transliterated as **||Om mani padme hum|. Each line ends with two syllables in Lantsa script that belong to a fourth iteration of the mantra. All three lines also open with a different silent symbol that marks the beginning of a text, which is known in Tibetan as the mgo-yig, or “head letter” and transliterated as **||. This mantra is repeated as a daily prayer to summon Avalokitesvara and may be loosely translated as “Om, praise to the jewel in the lotus.” However, the deeper meaning lies in each syllable and their many layers of mystical significance.