This chöd drum is handcrafted in Nepal from acacia wood and features a gold-plated band. The double-sided body is fitted with two taut skins stretched across each face.

"The large damaru used in the Tibetan 'cutting practice,' or chöd (Tib. gcod), proclaims the 'sound of impermanence' and summons all of the dākas and dākinīs to the 'dance' of ego-annihilation, and all spirits and ethereal beings to the 'great feast' of the practitioner's own body. The chöd rite … seeks to cut through the attachments of dualistic egotism and self-cherishing by means of the technique of visualizing one's own dismembered body being offered to the spirits and hungry ghosts in order to fulfill one's karmic debts. This potent practice for severing attachment is traditionally performed at night in a desolate or haunted place, such as a charnel ground."

— Robert Beer, The Encyclopedia of Tibetan Symbols and Motifs, p. 259

Details

• Diameter: 8.5 in (21.6 cm)
• Depth: 4 in (10.2 cm)
• Material: Acacia wood
• Handle: Gold-plated
• Origin: Nepal