Survivors resume religious observance
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A week after the 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck Yushu in northwest China's Qinghai Province, Tibetan Buddhists here have resumed observance of religious rituals to mourn the quake's victims and pray for the survivors.
About three kilometers away from Gyegu Town in Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Yushu, the epicenter, Tibetans walked slowly around a religious heritage site chanting sutra texts, each one tossing a piece of carved stone onto a crumbling stone mound.
Established in the 1700s, the Mani Stone Mound, the largest of its kind in the world, was badly damaged during the earthquake as millions of Mani stones had fallen down and three of the eight pagodas collapsed. Cracks are seen in the other five.
The site, comprising more than 2 billion pieces of Mani stones engraved with writings concerning law, calendar calculation, art theory, sutra texts and Buddha carvings, is about 283 meters long, 74 meters wide and 2.5 meters tall.
The number of Buddhists visiting has increased in the past few days, said Tenching Chosang, a Mani stone carver who sells his handicrafts to those on pilgrimage to the site.
The young Tibetan said he earned 100 yuan (14.6 U.S. dollars) Monday and 500 yuan Tuesday.
Mani stones are regarded sacred by Tibetans. In the vast land sparsely populated with Tibetans, Mani stone mounds have become shrines for prayer.
In the crumbling Changu Monastery, rescuers have brought tents for the monks who want to stay.
Rescuers and soldiers have salvaged some 1,000 Buddha statues and several thousand sutra texts.
