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Kapala, ritual cup
India, Ladakh 
Tibetan. 19th century 
Skullcap, silver
Acquired in Geneva in 1976 
MEG Inv. ETHAS 038693

Tibetan Buddhist objects in the Asian collections, Damien Kunik, curator and head of the Asian collections at MEG

Request for consent from the Shedrub Choekhor Ling Buddhist monastery and center on Mont Salève (Geneva), Damien Kunik, curator and head of the Asia collections at MEG

Geshe Lharampa, monk at the Shedrub Choekhor Ling Buddhist Monastery and Centre at Mont Salève (Geneva)

This cup, made from a skullcap, is a ritual bowl used in Hindu Tantrism and Tantric Buddhism. If the use of human bones may seem surprising, this atypical material serves to recall the impermanence of life and therefore is not subject to any taboo in the religious context. Consulted in 2023, Shedrub Choerkhor Ling monastery, situated on Mount Saleve, gave the MEG express permission to exhibit such objects.