Bid on and receive this ornately carved Yamataka Tibetan Wrathful Deity Conch Shell from Himalayan Traders. As donor and company owner Quentin Wood says, this is "a good piece for a sophisticated collector of Tibetan iconology...it is a wonderful piece of superb craftsmanship and I hope it will be received well at the auction. Also, its use is as a horn to dispel ignorance."

This sacred ritual implement is carved from a real conch shell with the wrathful deity Yamantaka and consort. They ride a fierce bull. Tibetan Buddhism has a wide array of wrathful deities, all represented in different ways and emphasizing different qualities. These deities are spiritually evolved protectors, not evil.

Francesca Freemantle has this to say about wrathful deities: "Wrathful deities generally have many heads, arms, and legs, all illustrating various qualities or aspects of the path. They wear flayed skins, are adorned with bones, skulls, and serpents, and carry weapons in their hands. They drink blood from skull bowls, and they delight in offerings such as severed limbs, entrails, and human hearts. These gruesome attributes are connected with the charnel ground, where corpses are burned or left to be devoured by wild animals and birds of prey. The charnel ground is the ultimate symbol of the transformative power of the tantras. Everything that disgusts us, everything we fear, hate, or despise, must be recognized as fundamentally pure, and its essence liberated."

Himalayan Traders is based on the principles of small being beautiful and right livelihood being essential. Himalayan Traders' sacred jewelry is created by individual artisans and craftspeople living in Nepal and managing their own small family businesses. In many cases, the jewelry-making has been a family tradition for generations.

Details:

Size: 7" l. x 3.5" w. at its widest point.