Mani - Definition and Overview

Mani may have one of the following meanings.

• Mani Peninsula is a region in Greece.

• Maní is a small city in Yucatán, Mexico.

• Mani was a third-century Persian prophet, the founder of the dualistic Manichaean religion, which borrowed eclectically from Christianity, Zoroastrianism, and Buddhism.

• Mani is a Persian boy's name used in Iran.

• Mani is short for the mantra of Avalokiteshvara (Tibetan: Chenrezig).

The mantra is OM MANI PADME HUM.

Pronounced in Tibet OM MANI PE ME HUM.

• Mani wheels used for prayers in Tibetan Buddhism.

• In Norse mythology, Mani was the god of the moon and a son of Mundilfari and Glaur. Mani pulled the moon through the sky every night, pursued by the wolf Hati. Lunar eclipses were caused by Hati coming close to catching Mani; children banged pots together and made great noise, hoping to scare Hati away from the moon.

Mani is unusual because lunar deities tend to be female, nearly universally, probably because of the connection between menstruation and the phases of the moon.

See also Vidfinn for a hypothesis about the source of the nursery rhyme called Jack and Jill.

• Mani is the nickname of the bassist Gary Mounfield who played with the Stone Roses.

• Mani means Gem in Sanskrit and some South Indian languages and is also a boy's name in India.

• Mani is the nickname for popular Pakistani VJ Salman Saquib.