Damaru Ritual Drum, Tibet

This Damaru ritual tambourine, or "skull tambourine" (thod-dar), consists of two skull caps covered with skins. 
A remnant of blue polychromy remains on one of them. A red felt handle, decorated with shells, surrounds the instrument. 
20th century, Tibet. 


"Some important religious writings, the tantras, mention the damaru and give some recommendations as to the type of materials to be used in its manufacture: for the cases, the combination of the skulls of a sixteen-year-old young man and a twelve-year-old girl, as well as monkey skin; as for the balls that whip the skins to make them resonate, it is advisable to make them from the bone of an aquatic bird and cover them with cloth."
The damaru tambourine and the rkang-gling horn, by Sylviane Bonvin Pochstein.