Show butter Js Is tax payment I 1 medium for nati natives ves of isolated tibet amit IN E URR MO G LI K aja fla N GHAN CHINA TIBET NIE AL 1 14 D I 1 A 0 INDIAN OCEAN worlds loftiest Loft iest state has queer religious ceremonies prepared Pra pared redby by national geographic society washington sh agton D C WIN service dead lama causes yak butter buiter crisis is the burden of news from faraway tibet and what it may be asked has a lama dead or alive got to do with the price of butter As much as christmas has to do with the price of fir trees or easter easier with the egg market for tibet libet the isolated land of shangri la is a theocracy ruled by the high priest of lamaism and lamaism uses yak butter where other governments use gold braid precious metals and fireworks especially in the ceremonies and gatherings occasioned by the death wit ofa prominent lama butter Is in such demand that the price soars and the market is pan panicked the most recent economic difficulty resulted from the prolonged ceremonies over the body of the late panchen lama second in authority to the supreme dalai lama on the high cold plateaus of the worlds loftiest loft iest state the tibetans Tibe tans follow the Lamal faith of buddhism which discourages slaughter of either man or beast instead of eating meat which is abundant in vast herds of sheep goats and cattle crossed with yak they balance theli their meager diet of barley bread and tea by consuming quantities of butter servants use goat butter the tibetan social scale could be measured by a butter barometer butter from the milk of sheep and butter goa goats s is rejected by all except servants and some of it can be slipped into the butter bags contributed to the government as taxes butter from yak milk however is a food of prestige the wealthy and the officials in tibet can dine sumptuously after is Z 4 GIFT to america is a few specimens of 0 the giant p panda anda A cub panda arriving in this thi S country for placement in a new york zoo is shown in the picture above these animals are very rare and live in the most inaccessible regions egions r 0 of tibet zoo goers have made ma e them a favorite for the animals antics resemble that of a huge live teddy bear the chinese fashion on varied foods imported over mountain passes two miles above sea level valley dwellers in fertile mountain sheltered pockets have home grown vegetables and even fruits but the poorer tibetans Tibe tans especially on the unbroken grasslands of the north subsist on butter kneaded into firmness carried about in woolly bags of sheepskin for several years they eat it mixed with parched barley flour they drink it in their tea they rub it on their bodies as a substitute tor for bathing in long seasons of cold and drouth they give it as a delicacy to their wiry hardworking hard working little horses they include it in the tribute they pay to the government they use it as lubrication on the single rope bridges on which they slide in dangling slings across the gorges of mountain streams but tibet is the country where you eat your butter and burn it too butter lamps ari are as essential to the ritual of the tibetan churches as candles are to other ieli religions gions in topped butof hut i of the northern nomad a tiny butter lamp flick fl ickers eis before the little family shrine blackened with greasy smoke of silver copper or humble earthenware some come stemmed like champagne glasses the butter lamps appear beside the bowls of holy water on ev LAND OF SHANGRILA SHANGRI LA map shows the location of lofty mysterious m 0 s tibet portions of the e country cou try are practically inaccessible ces sible and as a result weird tales of life in the interior are arc told tola by b a adventurers d t s the tibetan 4 7 follow 11 the Lamal faith of buddhism which has ceremonies and practices appearing 9 queer to an outside world and this jac fact gives rise to many of the stories stories ery tibetan church altar yak butter and incense are the chief offerings a tibetan carries to church butter is part of the payment to a lama for services or ex performed in the home this food staple is doubly valuable to the tibetan priesthood which comprises about one seventh of population and must live on the food produced by the other six sevenths made without churns wives of the yak herders gerders make butter without churns rolling day old milk in leather bags until the yellow lumps form it is pressed press ed into pats by hand its first aa acquaintance with a churn may come with tea for tibetans Tibe tans churn their hard boiled tea with butter and salt until the soupy mixture resembles hot chocolate crowning its year round service for countless everyday uses butter becomes the center of attraction at the tibetan winter religious festival which combines many features of christmas new years and the fourth of july instead of fireworks there is an art show of butter sculpture tur staged by the I 1 lamaseries lama ama series serles for tour four months in advance there is a rush on the butter market as the lamas famous for their talent as molders mo iders collect materials in the cold workrooms wor krooms of their respective lama series the butter is mixed with powdered pigments to give as many Is as 20 vivid colors for the sculptor to use |