BY.T-61 (previous number) and T-61 (original number)
Description:
Bronze vajra. Length: 11cm, width: 3cm
Collection place:
Tibet
Verbatim coll. place:
Tibet
Collector:
Theos C. Bernard
Materials:
Bronze (metal)
Object type:
ethnography
Function:
5.0 Use not specified (Ritual, Pageantry, and Recreation)
Production date:
19th-20th century
Department:
Asia (except western Russia)
Dimensions:
length 11 centimeters and width 3 centimeters
Comment:
This is a good quality old vajra, carefully crafted from dark bronze. Its features contrast with the poor quality modeling found in two of the other vajras in the collection, T-96 and T-97.A vajra, (rdo-rje) is a ritual device used in Tantric meditation to destroy all obstacles to enlightenment. Its counterpart is the ghanta bell. The vajra, held in the right hand of the mediator or the deity, is identified with compassion, skillful means for helping others and for attaining enlightenment, the diamond, the thunderbolt of Indra, and the male sex. The ghanta bell is identified with wisdom and the female. Vajras in the collection: T-51, T-61, T-62, T-96, T-97