Pellet drums (damaru) are hourglass in shape with two opposite-facing drums and two striking pellets connected to the drum by a cord. The drums are often made from two human craniums connected at the point of the crown with a hole drilled to connect the two chambers of the drum, or from hemispherical wooden drums similarly joined together. The skulls are gathered from the charnel fields or reportedly bequeathed by the Buddhist monks themselves. They are never taken from living persons killed for the purpose of obtaining their skull.　The drumheads or drum skins are made of stretched and sometimes painted animal hide, usually from goats, cows, or calves. Pellet drums in　Tibet,　Mongolia, and　India are played by grasping it by its waist. When the hand is twisted back and forth, the pellets strike the drumheads to produce various rhythms. Tibetan pellet drums are often used in Tantric rituals and esoteric rites of exorcism. See Huntington and Bangdel, 2003, pp. 364-365, nos. 106A and 106B. This pellet drum is made of two joined human skulls with animal head drumheads. One skin is painted with a flaying knife or chopper (kartrika; see M.78.32, M.79.243.1, M.85.286.8, AC1992.302.1, and M.2021.242.1). The opposite drum skin is adorned with a blood-filled skull cup (kapala; see M.79.243.4a-b and M.82.201a-c). Both ritual implements are surrounded by a border of purifying cremation fire. A tasseled and embroidered silk banner and an embroidered handle are connected to the middle of the drum by a brocade band. See also M.85.298.2 and M.86.127.