- Title
- Ritual Axe
- Culture
- Eastern Derge or China
- Date Made
- 17th century or earlier
- Medium
- Gilt copper alloy and rock crystal
- Dimensions
- 8 7/8 x 6 3/8 x 1 1/4 in. (22.54 x 16.19 x 3.17 cm)
- Accession Number
- M.79.243.2
- Collecting Area
- South and Southeast Asian Art
- Curatorial Notes
This Ritual Axe (parashu), and its set mates of a Ritual Flaying Knife (kartrika; M.79.243.1) and Ritual Dagger (phurpa or kila; M.79.243.3), are from a set of initiation utensils likely used in ritual meditation on Vajrabhairava (Adamantine Anger). Vajrabhairava has thirty-two arms that carry many implements and attributes. The practitioner must visualize each ritual object and its specific Tantric symbolism. Usually, the officiating priest lifts such implements at the time they are invoked as a part of a ceremony to protect against negative forces. Full sets of ritual implements were often offered to teachers from wealthy patrons and disciples.
The Ritual Axe has a rock crystal blade, grip, and pommel with gilt copper fittings. The blade and handle are the terminals of a five-pronged crossed or double thunderbolt (vishva vajra), which is symbolic of the principle of the absolute stability of the mother earth element in the Mount Meru world-system of Buddhist cosmology. See also M.2021.242.2.
- Selected Bibliography
- Little, Stephen, Tushara Bindu Gude, Karina Romero Blanco, Silvia Seligson, Marco Antonio Karam. Las Huellas de Buda. Ciudad de México : Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, 2018.
- Little, Stephen, and Tushara Bindu Gude. Realms of the Dharma: Buddhist Art across Asia. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2025.
- Selected Exhibition History
- Ritual Offerings in Tibetan Art. Saturday, September 13, 2014 - Sunday, October 25, 2015
- Ritual Offerings in Tibetan Art. Saturday, September 13, 2014 - Sunday, October 25, 2015
