Under the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) Tibetan-tradition Buddhism spread from Mongolia to Eastern Siberia, mainly to Bouriatie, Kalmoukie, and Touva, where this manuscript comes from, more precisely from Ter Hool, to the west of the capital Kyzyl.
It presents the musical score for an offering ritual consecrated to Chos-rgyal, a protector deity of the Buddhist Law (in Sanskrit Dharmapāla).
The notation reads from left to right and presents a vocal part, in the form of a wavy black line sometimes doubled by a red line, that accompanies the text and melodic changes, but without indicating either the value or the length of the notes. The instrumental part is distinguished by the presence of graphs or textual notations for each instrument. Traditionally these are wind instruments: shells, trumpets, horns, flutes, and percussions: cymbals, bells, and drums.
This type of book is used as a memorandum in the performance and recitation of the ritual that the monks know by heart, under the direction of a master of the ritual. Composed of 13 folios, 9 cm wide by 55,5 cm long, the manuscript begins with a swag adorned with 13 polychrome beads. Except for the first pages, the graphs in the text are simply written in black ink without any added colour.
