page_title: Damaru
section_title: Chöd damaru
hierarchical_section_title: Damaru / In Tibetan Buddhism / Chöd damaru
caption_attribution_description: Polski: Bęben Damaru - Zbiory Muzeum Azji i Pacyfiku w Warszawie
context_page_description: A damaru is a small two-headed drum, used in Hinduism and Tibetan Buddhism. In Hinduism, the damru is known as the instrument of the deity Shiva, and is said to be created by Shiva to produce spiritual sounds by which the whole universe has been created and regulated. In Tibetan Buddhism, the damaru is used as an instrument in tantric practices.
context_section_description: The Chöd damaru (or chöda) is a specialized form of damaru. It is generally larger in circumference and has a more round shape than its smaller counterpart. The Chöd damaru is used in the tantric practice of Chod.
  With no known antecedent, the chod is traditionally made of acacia wood (seng deng), though a variety of woods are acceptable, as long as the tree is not toxic and does not possess thorns or other negative attributes. Made as a one-piece, double-sided (two-headed) bell shape, size varies from 8 inches to 12 inches in diameter. Usually featuring only a thin veneer of varnish, so that the grain of the wood shows, they come the common red (marpo), black (nakpo) or rare yellow (serpo) type of acacia, and are very occasionally painted with skulls, the eight charnel grounds, or other symbols. The waist or belt is traditionally made of leather, though often brocades are used. A set of mantras are traditionally painted on the interior of the drum prior to its skinning.
  The pitch of the drum varies, and the tone may vary depending on conditions of dampness, temperature and so on. Played slowly, and methodically, the droning of the damaru accompanies the haunting melodies and chants of the chod ritual, as of which are accompaniments for the inner meditations and visualizations that are at the heart of this spiritual practice.
  The above applies to the ideal manufacture of the damaru, and as still described in the definitive modern work, the "Mindroling Handbook of Vajrayana Implements." Those manufactured in India and Nepal are made of indeterminate and cheap woods, with painted skins, often no interior mantras, and altogether deviating from the many other essentials, as prescribed in technical literature such as the Mindroling Handbook. Such copies are now widespread and in use by Eastern monastics and Western students.
caption: Drum Damaru - The Asia and Pacific Museum in Warsaw
exif: {"Image ImageWidth": "4912", "Image ImageLength": "7360", "Image BitsPerSample": "[8, 8, 8]", "Image PhotometricInterpretation": "2", "Image Make": "NIKON CORPORATION", "Image Model": "NIKON D800", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image SamplesPerPixel": "3", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS6 (Macintosh)", "Image DateTime": "2015:10:14 13:28:23", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "312", "GPS GPSVersionID": "[2, 3, 0, 0]", "Image GPSInfo": "1020", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1134", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "2794", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/125", "EXIF FNumber": "10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Manual", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2015:09:08 12:38:26", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2015:09:08 12:38:26", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "4", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "870723/125000", "EXIF ApertureValue": "415241/62500", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "-1/3", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "58", "EXIF SubSecTime": "70", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "70", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "70", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "4912", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "7360", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "988", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CVAPattern": "[0, 2, 0, 2, 0, 1, 1, 2]", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "58", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}