Masterfully handcrafted wooden phurba from Nepal, recently made. The pommel and handle of this phurba show an intricate carving of a skeleton figurine. In Himalayan regions, skeleton figures are often associated with the Citipati.
The legend of the Citipati speaks about two austere monks who were once meditating on a charnel ground. In their deep state of meditation, they didn’t notice a group of robbers approaching them. Looking for expensive items (which the monks of course did not have), the robbers killed them and left their bodies on the charnel grounds.
Because of their great spiritual development, the spirits from the monks were freed from the wheel of samsara. They decided to stay on the charnel grounds and eventually changed into the Citipati, the Lords of the Cemetery. They are seen as guardians and protectors of the graveyards, crematoriums and charnel grounds, ensuring the peace for the deceased and keeping the area’s hallowed places for spiritual and meditative practices.
The Citipati are an intricate part of the iconography of (especially) Vajrayana Buddhism. Often they are depicted as a pair of dancing skeletons (one male, one female), dancing wildly in a halo of flames which symbolizes the transformational power of fire and the constantly shifting character of reality. Their dance represents the dance of life and death, the dynamic interaction between creation and destruction and the everlasting flow of life. And the happiness that comes from the ultimate liberation of breaking free from the cycle of reincarnation.
The Citipati are thus looked upon in a two-fold (but connected) way; on the one hand they are invoked as wrathful deities, for their fierce protective qualities. On the other hand, the symbol of the Citipati serves as a reminder of the transience of existence, the value of distancing oneself from the physical world, and the potential for enlightenment. It teaches that absolute freedom is gained by accepting the impermanence of life, seeing the cyclic nature of it and overcoming the worries that keep us trapped in samsaric existence.
In between the Citipati figurine and the blade a dorje symbol can be seen. The blade is held by an abstract representation of the mythical watermonster Makara and shows a carving of intertwined naga's on the backside.
This phurba has a length of 31 centimeters and weighs 127 grams. Unique piece, only one available.
Read more about the design symbolism and usage of the phurba in the general description of the webshop-collection "Ritual Attributes; Phurba's".
