Three old ritual tools made of bronze, owned by a Tibetan Lama (or Tantrist):

1: An object with one whole and one half ‘dorje’ (also called a ‘vajra’, ‘diamond sceptre’ or ‘thunderbolt’). A dorje is complete when it has five spokes across from each other, connected with a handgrip. A complete dorje of this nature symbolises Buddha’s ‘eightfold path’ to Nirvana. During daily prayers (‘puja’), a Lamaistic monk would hold a dorje in his right hand and a bell (‘ghanta’) in his left.
The present ritual object has one complete and one half dorje at the top, connected by a circle with endless knots. The half dorje is opposite a longer handgrip, which culminates in a lotus bud. This is probably a pointing tool, which the Tantrist would use to emphasise particular items and processes in his rituals. Length: 15 cm; width: 8 cm.

2: A ‘phurbu’ (or ‘kila’, also called a ritual dagger or ritual spike) is a ceremonial implement used by Tantric Lamas to nail ‘evil spirits’ to the floor in special rituals. The present phurbu is completely cast from brass and bronze. There is another half-dorje at the top, followed downwards by two pearl shapes, a handle made of opposing lotus flowers, an endless knot and the head of a sea monster (‘Makara’). The open mouth of this mythical monster, Makara (who has the trunk of an elephant), has the typical triple-edged blade of the phurbu ritual dagger protruding from it, which is used to nail ‘evil spirits’ symbolically to the floor. Length: 14 cm; width: 4 cm.

3: A Tibetan-Lamaistic ‘katrika’ ritual knife with a blade that curves forward positioned high up at the top of the object. A katrika is a ceremonial knife for chopping and cutting, used in Lamaistic-Tantric rituals symbolically to slice through the threads of ignorance and ego. Here, it is combined with two half-dorjes (or ‘vajra’) and joined to a handgrip which ends at the bottom in a lotus bud. Length: 15 cm; width: 8 cm.
All three Tibetan-Lamaistic ritual objects are made from cast bronze. Between the 18th and the 19th centuries. (ME)

Provenance: Austrian private collection.