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A kartika or drigug (Sanskrit: kartari; Tibetan: གྲི་གུག་, Wylie: gri-gug, [1] or kartrika in Nepal [2]) is a small, crescent-shaped, hand-held ritual flaying knife used in the tantric ceremonies of Vajrayana Buddhism. The kartari is said to be "one of the quintessential attributes of the wrathful Tantric deities."
The kartika (Skt.) or curved knife symbolizes the cutting of conventional wisdom by the ultimate insight into emptiness. It is usually present as a pair, together with the skullcup, filled with wisdom nectar. On a more simple level, the skull is a reminder of (our) impermanence. Between the knife and the handle is a makara-head, a mythical monster.
The phurba (Tibetan: ཕུར་པ or ཕུར་བ, Wylie: phur pa or phur ba; alternate transliterations: phurpa, phurbu, purbha, or phurpu) [needs IPA] or kīla (Sanskrit Devanagari: कील; IAST: kīla) is a three-sided peg, stake, knife, or nail-like ritual implement deeply rooted in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism and Bön traditions.
'Kapala' (Tibetan: ཀ་པ་ལ་, Wylie: kapala) is a loan word into Tibetan from Sanskrit kapāla (Devanagari: कपाल) referring to the skull or forehead, usually of a human. By association, it refers to the ritual skullcup fashioned out of a human cranium.
In the Vajrayana of Tibetan Buddhism, the symbol of the skull-topped trident (khaṭvānga) is said to be inspired by its association with the Kāpālikas. [3] Pictured here is an ivory khaṭvāṅga, 15th century Chinese art, Metropolitan Museum of Art.
In Tibetan art, various wrathful deities, including the dharmapalas, wear the mundamala, a five-skull crown and human or animal skins. [19] Manifestations of Akshobhya are generally fearsome and are depicted wearing the mundamala as well as skulls and serpents. These include Acala, Heruka, Chakrasamvara and Yamantaka. [20]
Alexandra David-Neel in 1933 Tibet with a Kangling instrument at her waist. Kangling (Tibetan: རྐང་གླིང་།, Wylie: rkang-gling), literally translated as "leg" (kang) "flute" (ling), is the Tibetan name for a trumpet or horn made out of a human tibia [1] or femur, used in Tibetan Buddhism for various chöd rituals as well as funerals performed by a chöpa.
A sky burial site in Yerpa Valley, Tibet Drigung Monastery, Tibetan monastery famous for performing sky burials. Sky burial (Tibetan: བྱ་གཏོར་, Wylie: bya gtor, lit. "bird-scattered" [1]) is a funeral practice in which a human corpse is placed on a mountaintop to decompose while exposed to the elements or to be eaten by scavenging animals, especially carrion birds like vultures ...