The phurba is a ritual triangular knife common in vast territories of Asia, including India, Pakistan, Nepal, Tibet, Mongolia, China, Japan and others. There is no exact data on the duration of the use of phurba for ritual purposes, but according to references in the annals and finds from excavations it can be established that is has been used at least 3500 years.
There are multiple ways in which the phurba is used. In many traditions it is used during ritual actions for its protective qualities, keeping the space safe from distortion by dark spirits and protecting the souls of the participants from getting lost. For this reason, before going into deep trance, Nepalese orthodox Shamans (Jakri) stick the phurba into the ground on their left side to keep dark spirits at a distance.
Also the phurba can be used as an attribute for healing, using it to expel evil spirits and entities from the human body and as a tool for directing energy and giving blessings.
In the appearance of a phurba there’s a lot of symbolism to be seen. Lengthwise it symbolizes the axis of the world and the three levels of Middleworld, Upperworld and Underworld can be recognized. The three facets of the faces and the blade symbolize all kinds of trinities, like in time (past, present, future) or state (creation, preservation, destruction).
The handle shows the guardian of this phurba and its owner, the three faced Vajrakilaya (or Dorje Phurba), a wrathful form of the Buddha Vajrasattva. On top of this phurba also the horse-headed deity Hayagriva can be seen. This wrathful being fights against ignorance and foolishness, doing so with the fierceness and speed of the horse, but a heart full of compassion.The triangular blade is held by the watermonster Makara, symbolizing fierce activity.
This phurba is made from cast stone (gypsum). Therefore it is of course much more fragile than the more common metal or wooden phurba's. Phurba's made from cast stone are thereby mainly used for more static usage, such as keeping them on your home altar for their space holding (protective) properties and meditational purposes.
Please note: this phurba has had some little damages before, which are now quite neatly restored.
This phurba has a length of 34 centimeters and weighs 381 gram.
