the name of a monstrous idol worshipped in the kingdoms of Tangut and Barantola, in Tartary. It has nine heads, which rise pyramidally, there being three in the first and second row, then two, and one at the top of all. A bold, resolute young fellow, dressed in armor, and prompted by enthusiastic courage, on certain days of the year, runs about the city Tanchuth, and kills every one he meets in honor of the goddess. By such outrageous sacrifices as these the devotees imagine they extremely oblige Manipa. — Kircher, China illustr.; Broughton, Bibliotheca Hist. Sac. s.v.