Old bronze thogchag pendant Vajrakilaya

Old bronze pendant from Nepal showing the depiction of the winged Vajrakilaya (or, in Tibetan language, Dorje Phurba), a wrathful manifestation of Vajrasattva. Vajrakilaya is considered to be the main deity connected to all phurba activities. Vajrakilaya is said to hold in his open palms a phurba as vast as Mount Meru, the esoteric mountain in Hindu and Buddhist cosmology that is considered to be the centre of all universes.

'Vajrakila' can roughly be translated as 'dagger of indestructable reality'. Practices associated with Vajrakilaya are designed to cut through and remove all inner and outer obstacled on the path to enlightenment. His practices are considered to be the most powerful for removing obstacles, destroying forces hostile to compassion, and purifying  spiritual pollution.

This bronze pendant is made to resemble an ancient 'thogchag' (or 'thokcha'). Thogchags are small metal objects, worn as amulets. Their history can be dated back thousands of years and the real thogchags are said to be made of meteorite iron (or at least a metal alloy which also includes meteorite iron) and have fallen from the sky or magically produced when a thunderbolt strikes the earth. 

Thogchags can be made in several forms and often depict tantric deities, mythological or real animals or ancient symbols. Also ritual attributes such as phurba's or dorje's can often be found and even more daily, practical attributes such as arrowheads, fibulae and pieces of horse equipment. They often are very abstract in their depictions, which for really old pieces of course further increases by being worn out into smooth surfaces and gaining a distinct patina.

Real ancient thogchags are of course highly sought after and can be extremely expensive. So of course in more recent times also many 'new' thogchags are made, resembling the style and depictions of the old ones.

This pendant here in our shop is such a recently made thogchag, though the term 'recent' might not be completely adequate, because this pendant also has quite some years of age to it already. It might not be antique, but certainly of some respectable age already and has gained some nice patina over time.

This pendant is approximately 5 centimeters high (measured including the eyelet) and 2 centimeters wide. It weighs 14 grams.

Read more about the general and specific design and symbolism of the phurba in the general description of the webshop-collection "Ritual Attributes; Phurba's".