The Tibetans in Yushu area have a special feeling towards the Buddhist culture. Regardless of men and women, old and young, they consider the performance of Buddhist ceremony as a lofty affair.

Whether in the vast expanse of grassland or in the remote mountain valley, people there are fond of doing carvings or inscriptions on pieces of ordinary whitish stone plates or rocks untiringly, from "six magic prayer words" ( mantra ) to "Kagyul and Tangyul"; from various kinds of Buddhist images to different auspicious designs…;they carve all of them one after another, painted with multi-color, they are called Mani Stone. Thus, even these ordinary stones also acquired the property of Buddhist culture. Mani, is the short form for the "six magic prayer words" of the Buddhist scripture in Sanskrit. Its Chinese translation is "Om Ma-ni Pad-meHum".

The Tibetan Buddhism holds that the "six magic words prayer"is the essentials of all Buddhist scriptures.

Only through frequent recitation or chanting, can one get true comprehension. For many centuries, lots of pious and devout believers, men and women, have recited profusely the "six magic prayer words" in order to place their sincere expectations on the Buddha.

The innumerable Mani stones are the records of their ardent expectations. The rich people performed their good deeds by means of offering bought Mani stones; but the poor people performed their good deeds by walking around the Mani stones. As time passes, there are more and more Mani stones piled up, becoming "Mani Heaps", "Mani Walls".

According to investigation, all the whole and complete stones or rocks in Lebagou ravine and Beigo ravine within the boundaries of Yushu are carved or inscribed with Buddhist scriptures or prayers. After 300 years accumulation, the Gyana Mani Heaps founded by the first Gyana Living Buddha-Zongqiupawen in Xinzhai have reached the number as many as 25 hundred million pieces. It is really seldom seen.

Pile of Mani Stones in Jiegu (Jyekundo)

Jiegu Monastery is famous in Tibetan region for its magnificent structure, numbers of celebrated monks and rich relics. It was built on a mountain slope, so its palaces and rooms are in picturesque disorder. The temple is noted for its pile of Mani stone, which consists of 25 billion Mani stones accumulated for over 200 years. The so-called largest stone pile in the world in the distinguished representation of Tibetan culture.