Overview

Monastic Rituals

Folk Rituals

Folk Rituals and Dough Molds

Book Cover with Sam Par Interior, 17th - 19th century
Tibetan
Wood
20 9/16 x 3 1/2 x 1/4 inches (52.2 x 8.9 x 0.6 cm)
Stella Kramrisch Collection, 1994
1994-148-631
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Householders employ a wide range of folk rituals rarely used by monks. Many folk rituals are geared towards concerns of this world, rather than the ultimate Buddhist goal of enlightenment. For example, effigies of auspicious symbols (the Tibetan zodiac and the i-ching), humans (monks and householders), animals (wild and domestic), and demons (beneficent and malevolent) are made from wooden dough molds like the ones seen here.

Book Cover with Dough Mold (Sam Par) and Print Block (Par Shing) Interior, 17th - 19th century
Tibetan
Wood
20 3/4 x 3 1/2 x 1/4 inches (52.7 x 8.9 x 0.6 cm)
Stella Kramrisch Collection, 1994
1994-148-632
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Dough Mold (Sam-par) with Symbols of the Eight Planets, Eight Trigrams of the I Ching (Par-kha), and Twelve Animals of the Zodiac , 17th - 18th century
Tibetan
Wood, leather
2 1/2 x 15 x 1 3/4 inches (6.4 x 38.1 x 4.4 cm)
Stella Kramrisch Collection, 1994
1994-148-633
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Dough Mold (Sam-par) with Poisonous Insects and Snakes, Monk, Householders, and Spirits, 19th or 20th century
Mongolian
Wood
1 1/2 x 7 5/8 x 2 9/16 inches (3.8 x 19.4 x 6.5 cm)
Purchased with the Stella Kramrisch Fund, 2004
2004-170-1
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People offer dough and paper models of these subjects in ransom rituals to substitute for people or livestock. Alternately, effigies of poisonous creatures like snakes, frogs, and insects are used to neutralize their venom. Devotees believe that spirits accept the dough and paper effigies instead of taking the lives of the actual beings.