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The skull drum or thod pa鈥檌 rnga (abbreviated as thod rnga) is a type of double-sided hand drum called 岣峚尘补谤耻 in Sanskrit, da ma ru or cang (r)te鈥檜 in Tibetan and which is specialized to the charnel methodologies of Buddhist tantra, including the practice of yoga in the form of Heruka and the gcod 蝉腻诲丑补苍补 of lus sbyin (figure 4.5.1; see chapters 2 and 3, respectively, on the historical formalization of these traditions). While the cang te鈥檜 is found in Tibetan sources by the seventh century, and the 岣峚尘补谤耻 is included as one of the implements for the performance of post-initiatory vrata in sources for Buddhist tantra鈥攁s well as the iconography of its sources and deities (figure 4.5.2)鈥攊t is the cultivation of ritualized charnel asceticism in Tibet which would refine and expand the forms and functions of the thod rnga in the region鈥檚 material religion and visual culture.^[1]

Figure 4.5.1: Thod rnga currently at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (89.4.213) and formerly part of US-based investment banker Crosby Brown鈥檚 collection of musical instruments, acquired in 1889.

Figure 4.5.2: The charnel deity 颁腻尘耻峁囜笉腻 from a 10th century 艢补颈惫补 site in Orissa with 岣峚尘补谤耻 at top left. Image from Donaldson 2002.

While the drum identified as 岣峚尘补谤耻 or cang te鈥檜 has been a consistent feature of the iconographies and practices explored in this dissertation鈥攕ee, for example, the eleventh century image of 厂补峁僾补谤补 from Ratnagiri in fig. 2.32; the thirteenth century representation of the siddha 狈腻谤辞辫补 at Alchi gSum brtsegs in fig. 2.1; and Ma gcig as the founder of gcod throughout chapter 3鈥攖he use of skulls as a substrate for this instrument represents a ritual and technical specification. For example, while the implements for yogic observances in the 尝补驳丑耻蝉补峁僾补谤补 and Hevajra tantras include the use of a 岣峚尘补谤耻, in neither text is it specified that these are made from skulls.^[2] And though the 厂腻诲丑补苍补尘腻濒腻 and 狈颈峁�p补苍苍补测辞驳腻惫补濒墨 each describe the 岣峚尘补谤耻 as an attribute for wrathful deities鈥攊ncluding the twelve-armed form of 厂补峁僾补谤补 preserved in the Phyang Guru Lhakhang in fig. 4.5.3鈥攊t is not specified in these twelfth century Vajry膩na iconographic sources that this drum should be made of skulls.^[3]

Figure 4.5.3: Detail of a skull 岣峚尘补谤耻 in an upper right hand of twelve-armed 颁补办谤补蝉补峁僾补谤补 in union with 痴补箩谤补惫腻谤腻丑墨, from a damaged image in the 15th century Guru Lhakhang at Phyang in Ladakh. Image by Christian Luczanits.

Some of the oldest descriptions of thod rnga are preserved in the 厂补峁僷耻迟补 tantric corpus where it is identified as rnge鈥檜 chung in an eleventh century Tibetan translation.^[4] This tantra describes the construction and preparation of this instrument as a form of cang te鈥檜 made with two human skulls, using monkey skin for the drumheads and bones from the feet of an aquatic bird as beaters.^[5] In the thirteenth century, the Sa skya scholar Grags pa rgyal mtshan elaborates on these technical details from the 厂补峁僷耻迟补 tantra鈥攄rawing in part from commentarial work by the Indian Buddhist tantric scholar 础产丑补测腻办补谤补驳耻辫迟补鈥攂y identifying this type of drum as the gsang ba鈥檌 rnge鈥檜 chung, or secret skull 岣峚尘补谤耻, and one of the six implements and musical instruments of a Heruka yogin.^[6] He notes that the alternative is to make a wooden cang te鈥檜 from species of acacia tree (rdo rje鈥檌 shing ngam seng ldeng gi shing).

Cultivated as an object for the practice or observance of ritualized charnel asceticism, the thod rnga 鈥攍ike the rkang gling鈥攊s constructed with materials appropriate to an instrument which is especially suited to the ritual purposes of tantric traditions like 尘补丑腻测辞驳补 or yogin墨 tantra and gcod, e.g. subjugation, making offering and/or empowerment through engagement with volatile deities, intermediaries, obstacles and adversaries (figure 4.5.4). However, in Ma gcig鈥檚 explanation of gcod in the Phung po gzan gyur rnam bshad, she praises a disciple鈥檚 wooden drum but makes no mention of its use for the 蝉腻诲丑补苍补 of lus sbyin.^[7] In the oldest surviving representations of her teachings from the fourteenth century, Ma gcig is nonetheless illustrated as a 岣嵞乲颈苍墨 with 岣峚尘补谤耻 in the right hand, emphasizing the historical and liturgical relationship of the gcod 蝉腻诲丑补苍补 of lus sbyin to the charnel methodologies of yogin墨 tantra (see chapter 3, figs. 3.2 and 3.3).^[8] Moreover, with increasing frequency after the fifteenth century, where Ma gcig and yogin墨 tantra deities like 颁补办谤补蝉补峁僾补谤补 (see fig. 4.5.3) are represented with a 岣峚尘补谤耻, it is rendered as a thod rnga.

Figure 4.5.4: Thod rnga and rkang gling used for an offering of byin chu to Ma gcig and a retinue of four 岣嵞乲颈苍墨, from the 鈥済Cod dbang gi tsak li鈥� manuscript (see chapter 3, note 39).

While the thod rnga was specialized to charnel methodologies like gcod, the 岣峚尘补谤耻 or cang te鈥檜 was more broadly adopted into Tibetan material religion as a sound offering and liturgical instrument used to replicate the syllabary of mantras or mark intervals.^[9] The musical historian Ter Ellingson has elsewhere explored how drums and other musical instruments have been used by Tibetan political and religious institutions鈥攅specially in Bon rituals鈥攆rom their earliest records of the sixth and seventh centuries, yet he finds that those made with human remains gain prominence only through the later spread of Buddhist tantra.^[10] In a liturgical function similar to the 岣峚尘补谤耻 or cang te鈥檜 as a form of musical or sound offering (fig. 4.5.5), the thod rnga is primarily used to engage with protectors and other wrathful deities, and depicted as such in a rgyan tshogs for example in figs. 4.5.6 and 4.5.7.^[11]

Figure 4.5.5: Detail of fig. 3.24, Vajradhatu 尘补峁囜笉补濒补 from the 厂补谤惫补诲耻谤驳补迟颈辫补谤补艣辞诲丑补苍补 tantra with musical offerings framing the central assembly including a double-sided hand drum, indicated with the black square at top center, 14th century Alchi Lha khang Soma.

Figures 4.5.6 and 4.5.7: rGyan tshog with offerings to 惭补丑腻办腻濒补 笔补帽箩补谤补苍腻迟丑补 (Gur gyi mgon po) and detail of a thod rnga with green skins, 18-19th century Tibet and now at the Wellcome Library (47089i).

Figure 4.5.8 (above): Thod rnga at the British Museum (1934,0314.1), acquired from a collector/donor in 1934. The sutures and orientation of these two skulls are mirrored, though they are different colors.

Figure 4.5.9: Thod rnga at the Pitt Rivers Museum (1938.34.47) which was purchased at an auction by curator Henry Balfour, as suggested by the accession record applied directly to the side of the instrument. The morphology and orientation of the two skulls are positioned symmetrically.

Documented and surviving examples of skull 岣峚尘补谤耻 exhibit a diversity of forms and techniques and, as with other objects examined in this dissertation, many of these material variations are derived from idiosyncratic, local ritual traditions and bodies of knowledge or conditioned by access to material resources (figures 4.5.8-4.5.10). The selection of two skulls to be used for thod rnga is governed by these contingencies as well as the expertise and religious education of the practitioner, though the symmetrical shape of the drum and its historical development as a tantric ritual object suggest thematic specifications like the pairing or juxtaposition of opposites (e.g. different genders) and/or the utilization of antinomian social values and narratives (i.e. donors who are victims of violent or premature death).^[12]

In the tantric iconographies discussed in the preceding chapters, this instrument is consistently shown held by a handle attached to the belt at center with the implication that it is played by ringing or rattling it (鈥�khrol ba) with a turning movement of the wrist.^[13] This ringing undermines the two-part opposition of the drum鈥檚 construction through continuous sound produced on both drumheads, with interpretive significances to structure and efficacy of the ritual鈥攄etermined by the specific teaching being practiced and the religious knowledge, capacity or education of the performer鈥攁s well as the historically established dynamics of tantric yoga.^[14]

Figure 4.5.10: Skull 岣峚尘补谤耻 on display at the Namgyal Institute of Tibetology, Gangtok, Sikkim, July 2018. The central object is made from two human crania with silk pennants ornamented by pieces of turquoise and coral; to the right is a smaller drum with similar shape made from resin.

The construction of this instrument moreover facilitates resonance between the two chambers of the drum: As in fig. 4.5.11鈥攃ollected at Drepung (鈥楤ras spungs) before 1904鈥攄amage has revealed that the crown of each skull was removed before the two halves were joined by cords threaded through holes drilled into the bone on either side. Yet in figs. 4.5.12-4.5.14鈥攁cquired by the British Museum in 1880鈥攕imilar damage reveals that the two crania are complete, with a slightly abraded, flattened cortical surface on the crown where they are joined mechanically with cords. Like the selection of crania used as a substrate, this technical variation may be ritual, practical or shaped by the individual material cultural knowledge and skill of the maker.

Figure 4.5.11: A damaged thod rnga at National Museums Liverpool (56.27.281) reveals the removal of the crown from the crania in joining the two halves, July 2017.

Figures 4.5.12 and 4.5.13: Damaged thod rnga at the British Museum (1880.2776) with human crania that have been abraded at the crown and joined with cords; the skin of this drum is a species of python native to the southern Himalayas, September 2017.

Figure 4.5.14: Detail of abrasions on the surface of the crown for figs. 4.5.12 and 4.5.13.

Drumheads are fixed in place by adhering them directly to the cranium edge, which is often incised or roughened; after drying, the hide can be trimmed to size in place, as indicated in figs. 4.5.15 and 4.5.16 by blade marks in the surface of the skull and along the edge of the skin. The type of hide varies according to the requirements of the ritual practitioner or methodology and/or access to material resources: Goat is most common but snake (figs. 4.5.12 and 4.5.13) and human are also possible, though rare, and highly valued for specialized use.^[15] In figs. 4.5.17 and 4.5.18, the use of human skin is suggested by the remarkable smoothness and delicacy of the drumhead and its lack of diagnostic follicle patterning in comparison with other types of skin or hide to which this community has had access historically; the identification of human skin is further supported by the use of two human skulls for the drum body, indicating鈥攁s this dissertation has demonstrated鈥攁n historical and social value for using human remains in ritual and cultural objects. Alternative to these anecdotal, textual, and cultural historic evidences and observations, confirming the species of this hide is not possible at present without chemical analysis and a larger range of documented comparative material.^[16]

Figure 4.5.15: Damage to the edge of this drum at the Wellcome Collection (A4737) reveals how the skin was attached to a cross-hatched surface. Cut marks around the edge of the drumhead show where it was trimmed down after being fixed in place, February 2017.

Figure 4.5.16: Detail of the edge of the drumhead from fig. 4.5.9 showing characteristic follicle patterns and local preparation for goat skin as well as possible evidence of repair or mechanical stabilization by lacing the skin in place as it dried through a series of small holes along the edge, later trimmed down.

Figures 4.5.17 and 4.5.18: Two angles of a thod rnga made with human skulls and (potentially) human skin, indicated by its relatively smooth surface and delicacy (see note 16), as well as its selective use by its monastic custodians, Ladakh, April 2018.

Hides might be treated in order to retain their elasticity using, again, a variety of techniques according to the source of material knowledge and available resources of the fabricators: This process may include the use of alkaline chemicals or organic tanning agents.^[17] One informant suggested that copper compounds are increasingly used to treat the skins and that these are furthermore responsible for the green hues common to the drumheads of both wooden and skull 岣峚尘补谤耻, a trend which is integrated into visual representations of the drum after the eighteenth century (figures 4.5.19 and 4.5.20).^[18] These green drumheads have a multivalent significance in documented sources: While some informants describe it as purely ornamental, Nebesky-Wojkowitz records that a green-skinned cang te鈥檜 is associated with ascetic or itinerant ritual specialists (i.e. sngags pa, gcod pa or brtul zhugs pa) while Loseries-Leick relates the color to the decay of human skin, reinforcing the Tibetan cultural historical association between the 岣峚尘补谤耻 and the charnel origins of the region鈥檚 most specialized tantric ritual methodologies.^[19]

Figure 4.5.19 (left): Thod rnga at National Museums Liverpool (56.26.305) with green painted skins (likely goat), multi-colored pennants and a section of conch shell, July 2017.

Figure 4.5.20 (right): Detail of the 19th century thang ka in fig. 3.1 showing green drumheads on the thod rnga in Ma gcig鈥檚 right hand as well as that of Pha dam pa in the upper left.

Other additions include textiles and metallic elements or precious stones attached at the waist of the drum where the beaters and handle are also secured. Though the illustration in fig. 4.5.21 provides a useful vocabulary for describing or identifying these components, surviving examples and documented evidence for the formal variations of 岣峚尘补谤耻 鈥攕uch as the objects included in this study鈥攑resent a range of material standards.^[20] In figs. 4.5.10 and 4.5.19, as well as the paintings in figs. 4.5.7 and 4.5.20, there are a number of combinations for these individual pieces, including various shapes for the five-colored pennant (cod pan sna lnga). Textiles most often used to supplement and ornament these drum include silk, cotton and occasionally hemp, as well as the red wool characteristic to monastic dress and certain lay specialists and which is seen on the belt of the objects in figs. 4.5.9, 4.5.27 and 4.5.28.

Figure 4.5.21: Illustration of the many components and ornaments for a 岣峚尘补谤耻 from a description by 鈥楪yur med blo gsal (n.d.) and reproduced in Dorje and Ellingson 1979.

Text and inscription can also be added to thod rnga, either visibly as a decorated surface or in a manner integral to the object鈥檚 construction and activation. One of Loseries-Leick鈥檚 sources describes inserting mantra or 诲丑腻谤补峁嚹�鈥攆or a male and female deity each鈥攊nto either half of the drum, creating a rattle when it is turned.^[21] Alternatively, an example in fig. 4.5.22 from the Victoria and Albert Museum鈥攁cquired by the institution in 1922 from a British collector鈥攅xhibits an alternating program of crudely (viz. illegibly) executed syllables or letters in 搁补帽箩补苍腻 script and skeletal faces cut into the exterior cortical layer of the skulls.^[22] Occasionally, thod rnga are further refined with iconographic programs and tantric visual motifs, as in an example from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in figs. 4.5.23 and 4.5.24 with a large knife or gri gug on one side, paired with a full skull vessel on the opposite, each supported by a lotus pedestal. As a set, these two objects are found in the iconographies of charnel figures and practices in Buddhist tantra, for example as implements of a yogin墨 or forms of the protector 惭补丑腻办腻濒补 (see chapter 2).^[23]

Figure 4.5.22: Thod rnga with carvings of text and skeletal faces on the exterior surface of the crania, with glass bead eyes, now at the Victoria and Albert Museum (IM.13-1922).

Figures 4.5.23 (left) and 4.5.24 (right): Two views of a thod rnga with painted drumheads, showing a ritual knife (gri gug) opposite a filled skull vessel on the opposite side, donated to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (AC1998.34.1) in the late 20th century.

Figures 4.5.25 and 4.5.26: A bKa鈥� brgyud monk demonstrates the position of the hand during play (left) and the resulting wear in the surface of the skull (right), April 2018. This type of damage and polish is relatively uncommon on objects in museum collections.

Because these are composite objects, constructed with largely organic materials and a variety of joining techniques, they are subject to a number of structural issues and deteriorations (figures 4.5.25-4.5.28). Use as a musical instrument during rituals produces characteristic patterns of wear and grime on the body and handle, as well as mechanical stress which can lead to detached drumheads, broken cords on beaters and the destabilization of the connection between the two crania. These objects are also prone to pest activity and damage to their proteinaceous and other organic materials.^[24] In storage in settings with fluctuating humidity and temperature, these objects are moreover subject to fluctuations which can also create mechanical stress and/or contribute to the embrittlement of the drumheads, significantly affecting the sound and therefore efficacy of the instrument.

Figure 4.5.27: Thod rnga at the Pitt Rivers Museum (1938.34.48)鈥攄onated by Balfour with the object in fig. 4.5.9鈥攕howing a detached beater, as well as previous pest damage in the red wool on the waist of the drum, September 2017.

Figure 4.5.28: Thod rnga at the Pitt Rivers Museum (1941.8.199)鈥攍ikely acquired in Sikkim by the archaeologist A.J. Evans鈥攚ith selective pest damage in the red wool on the waist and handle of the drum.

Figure 4.5.29: A skull 岣峚尘补谤耻 for sale by a non-Buddhist vendor near a pilgrimage site in A mdo, with large plastic 鈥渃oral鈥� decorations in a setting of white metal, December 2017. This drum is resting against a rkang gling in the same case, to the right, and both are for sale on consignment. There is also a false skull 尘腻濒腻 made of animal bone, the right.

These highly valued and specialized ritual objects are infrequently encountered outside museum, monastic or private collections (figure 4.5.29). Due to restrictions on the circulation and sale of human remains and their economic valorization, these objects are increasingly made from white resin (see fig. 4.5.10, on the left), the shape and color of which indicate that they are used as thod rnga. While this section has sought to explore the diverse bodies of knowledge and techniques used to construct skull 岣峚尘补谤耻, the present reliance on commercial production and industrial materials means that, where they are seen and used, the shape of these instruments is increasingly standardized through the use of non-charnel substrates.^[25]

Footnotes and references:

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[1]:

Ellingson, 鈥�Mandala of Sound鈥�, 74. The drum鈥攕pelled cang rte鈥檜鈥攊s mentioned in an inscription documenting the use of drums at the founding of 鈥楶hrul snang temple in Lhasa. See also Wedemeyer, Making Sense of Tantric Buddhism, 141 on the implements required for the observances of various tantras dated previous to the eleventh century.

[2]:

C.f. Hevajra, chapter 6 and 尝补驳丑耻蝉补峁僾补谤补 (root tantra of the Tibetan 颁补办谤补蝉补峁僾补谤补 corpus), chapter 27.

[3]:

de Mallmann, Introduction 脿 l鈥檌conographie du t芒ntrisme bouddhique, 188. De Mallmann translates 岣峚尘补谤耻 as the French tambourin, which should not be interpreted as equivalent to the modern English tambourine.

[4]:

鈥�Yang dag par sbyor ba'i rgyud chen po鈥� in sDe dge bKa' 鈥榞yur, vol. 79 (ga), fl. 154, available on BDRC, no. W22084, accessed 28 June 2019. This text was translated by 鈥楤rog mi sh膩 kya ye shes (992-1072) and in the Tibetan bKa鈥� 鈥榞yur it is classified as an ordinary explanatory tantra (bshad rgyud thun mong ba) of 颁补办谤补蝉补峁僾补谤补; see George Elder, 鈥淭he Sa峁僷u峁璦 tantra: Edition and translation, chapters I-IV鈥�, (PhD diss., Columbia University, 1978), 14.

[5]:

This same passage鈥攁ccessed in the Peking bKa鈥� 鈥榞yur鈥攊s also cited by Helffer as the basis of her musicological typology for the 岣峚尘补谤耻 in idem., Mchod-rol, 238.

[6]:

Grags pa rgyal mtshan, 鈥淗e ru ka鈥檌 chas drug鈥�, 269 (fl.193).

[7]:

See Harding, Machik鈥檚 Complete Explanation, 209-210.

[8]:

Working from a diversity of Tibetan historical sources, Helffer finds that the skull drum is more often associated with gcod than other types of 岣峚尘补谤耻, idem., op.cit., 235.

[9]:

Helffer, op.cit., 247.

[10]:

Ellingson, 鈥淭he 尘补峁囜笉补濒补 of sound,鈥� 222.

[11]:

This type of ritual application for thod rnga was observed in Ladakh, Kathmandu and Sikkim, April, May and July 2018. Deities addressed through the use of the skull 岣峚尘补谤耻 included 惭补丑腻办腻濒补 and local protectors; see also Nebesky-Wojkowitz, Oracles and Demons of Tibet, 399.

[12]:

These criteria vary depending on the source: Nebesky-Wojkowitz records that thod rnga should be made from donors who suffered an accidental death or illegitimate birth (ibid.) while Loseries-Leick emphasizes that different genders should be used (op.cit., 82). Helffer follows an eighteenth century dGe lugs commentator who specifies one each of a male and female donor and that they should be adolescent or young adults (op.cit., 238). These narratives resonate with information gathered on fieldwork, for example as told by an accomplished gcod pa and lay practitioner and yogin in Kathmandu, May 2018.

[13]:

The rNying ma musical scholar 鈥楪yur med blo gsal (n.d.) classifies the 岣峚尘补谤耻 鈥攍ike the bell, which is also used in gcod 鈥攁s a rung instrument, and also struck (brdung ba) in the manner of a drum and cause and effect (rgyu rkyen) in the manner of a cymbal resonating: see Dorje and Ellingson, 鈥淓xplanation of the secret gcod da ma ru鈥�, 74. In the gSang rnying rgyan dang rol mo鈥檌 bstan bcos, on the other hand, the 岣峚尘补谤耻 is classified as a rung instrument distinct from other drums which are struck, op.cit., 131. See also Cantwell, 鈥淭he Action Phurpa鈥�, 71 on 鈥�khrol ba meaning rattling as well as ringing.

[14]:

For a discussion of the yogic significance of the 岣峚尘补谤耻 as the unification of complementary halves or properties鈥攊ncluding male and female, upper and lower body, etc.鈥攁nd its historical relation to tantric alchemy, see White, The Alchemical Body, 248 and 250-1. Dorje and Ellingson (ibid., p. 76) present an alternative interpretation of the drum鈥檚 sound and significance according to an undated rNying ma gcod text but concede that this is one among a 鈥渓arge number of possible meanings鈥� for Tibetan authors and practitioners. For another practitioner perspective on the ritual use of the 岣峚尘补谤耻 relative to religious education and the experience of skill, see Jeffrey W. Cupchik, 鈥淭he Tibetan gcod damaru -A reprise: Symbolism, function, and difference in a Tibetan adept鈥檚 interpretive community鈥�, Asian Music 44, no. 1 (2013), 113-139.

[15]:

Loseries-Leick, op.cit., 81-2. A gcod lay practitioner in Kathmandu also noted that snake skin on the thod rnga produces an excellent sound, May 2018. In the same monastery where the object in figs. 4.5.17 and 4.5.18 was documented, there was another, similar thod rnga with drumheads easily recognized as goat skin; the local community of caretakers explained that the drum with human skin was more valuable and therefore used more selectively; Ladakh, April 2018.

[16]:

Thanks to Megan Rosenbloom and Harvard University Library conservator Alan Puglia for their guidance on the diagnosis of human skin in cultural objects. See Megan Rosenbloom, 鈥淎 book by its cover: Identifying and scientifically testing the world鈥檚 books bound in human skin,鈥� Watermark: Newsletter of the Archivists and Librarians in the History of the Health Sciences 39, no. 3, (2016): 20-22. See also the Anthropodermic Book Project, https://anthropodermicbooks.org/ (accessed 2 August 2017).

[17]:

According to one of Loseries-Leick鈥檚 informants, the hide is treated with calcium hydroxide and buried (op.cit., p.82). Another text of unknown date from the gSang rnying rgyan dang rol mo鈥檌 bstan bcos recommends the removal of flesh and epidermis, as well as the use of pigeon dung and sheep or goat brains in the treatment of goat and other animal skins used in drumheads; c.f. 鈥渞Nga pags g.yogs thabs鈥�, in op.cit., 196.

[18]:

Tantric lay practitioner and translator, Sikkim, July 2018. I was however unable to organize any material analysis with museum objects that might allow me to verify this claim.

[19]:

Nebesky-Wojkowitz, op.cit., 399. Loseries-Leick, op.cit., 82.

[20]:

See also Helffer, op.cit., 244 for a compendium of related Tibetan sources and their various recommendations for material, size, proportions, etc. of 岣峚尘补谤耻, including the thod rnga.

[21]:

Loseries-Leick, op.cit., 81. In fig. 4.4.16, the thod rnga on the left has a single line of inscription on the interior; I was unable to access better documentation of this text. A version of this rattle may be evident in the Pitt Rivers Museum object from fig. 4.5.27, below. Cantwell notes a similar use of text and gender opposition in skulls used for the preparation of sman sgrub, though as vessels rather than a drum in idem., 鈥淭he medicinal accomplishment鈥�, 74.

[22]:

This object was explored in a 2015 blog post by V&A conservator Johanna Puisto in 鈥淭he curious case of the Tibetan skull drum鈥�, V&A Blog, https://www.vam.ac.uk/blog/caring-for-our-collections/the-curious- case-of-the-tibetan-skull-drum, (accessed 20 November 2019). This text explores the thod rnga鈥檚 cleaning, handling and preparation for loan to the Wellcome Collection for the exhibition 鈥淭ibet鈥檚 Secret Temple: Body, Mind and Meditation in Tantric Buddhism鈥�, 15 November 2015 - 28 February 2016.

[23]:

Dorje and Ellingson (op.cit., 67) reproduce another image on a 岣峚尘补谤耻 which they describe as part of the collection of the Field Museum in Chicago though it is not accessible online: The painting on the drum shows a siddha with 测辞驳补辫补峁�峁�补, 岣峚尘补谤耻 and rkang gling in a charnel landscape, further reinforcing the cultural historical associations between the use of human remains and the origins and specialization of Buddhist tantric methodologies.

[24]:

Of the objects examined here, at least two have been treated for pest damage in museum collections; see also Matthew Simkin, 鈥淭he conservation of a th枚d rnga (cranium drum),鈥� Journal of Museum Ethnography no. 10 (1998), 125-130.

[25]:

In my fieldwork, thod rnga were the least frequently encountered type of ritual object made from human remains; as one non-monastic tantric specialist in Kathmandu suggested, at present it requires a substantial investment to acquire one human skull, let alone two, May 2018.