BY.T-27 (previous number) and T-27 (original number)
Accession number:
Acc.4737
Description:
Thighbone trumpet, fitted with brass at the mouthpiece and bell, and ornamented with turquoise and coral insets. This is a ritual trumpet fashioned from a human thigh bone.
Donor:
Estate of G. Eleanore Murray, Estate of Theos C. Bernard, and Theos C. Bernard
Collection place:
Tibet
Verbatim coll. place:
Tibet
Collector:
Theos C. Bernard
Materials:
Bone (material), Brass (alloy), Coral (material), and Turquoise (mineral)
Object type:
ethnography
Object class:
Femurs and Trumpets (aerophones)
Function:
5.4 Secular and Religious Musical Instruments
Production date:
19th century
Accession date:
March 12, 2004
Context of use:
Thighbone trumpets are used extensively in the popular "Chod" ritual. It functions, when blown in the ritual context by a qualified yogin, to summon all living beings, including every manner of ghost and goblin, to a great feast. In the Chod ritual, the thighbone trumpet is blown at the beginning and occasionally during the procedure, and the yogin then puts it down and serves up the feast while chanting melodiously and play the large hand drum (Chod damaru) with his right hand and the ghanta bell with his left. The use of human bone is necessary as the yogin is ritually transforming his own flesh and blood into offerings suitable for the various classes of living beings. See: 9-21860, 9-22052, 9-22054.