Kapala

A kapala (Sanskrit for "skull") is a skull cup used as a ritual implement (bowl) in both Hindu Tantra and Buddhist Tantra (Vajrayana). Especially in Tibet, they are often carved or elaborately mounted with precious metals and jewels. 'Kapala' () is a loan word into Tibetan from Sanskrit kapāla (Devanagari: कपाल) referring to the skull or forehead, usually of a human. By association, it refers to the ritual skullcup fashioned out of a human cranium. The Sanskrit word, in turn, was derived from Proto Indo-Aryan *kapā́las, and descended from Proto-Indo-European *káp-ōl- (cup, bowl), from *kap- (to seize, to hold). Kapalas are used mainly for esoteric purposes such as rituals. Among the rituals using kapalas are higher tantric meditation to achieve a transcendental state of mind within the shortest possible time; libation to gods and deities to win their favor. Hindu deities that may be depicted with the kapala include Durga, Kālī and Shiva, especially in his Bhairava form. Even Ganesha, when adopted into Tibetan Buddhism as Maharakta Ganapati, is shown with a kapala filled with blood. Some of the Hindu deities pictured thus are: Kālī, pictured in the most common four-armed iconographic image, shows each hand carrying variously a sword, a trishula (trident), a severed head, and a bowl or skullcup (kapala) catching the blood of the severed head. The Chamunda, a form of Durga, seen in the Halebidu temple built by the Hoysala, is described as wearing a garland of severed heads or skulls (Mundamala). She is described as having four, eight, ten, or twelve arms, holding a damaru (drum), trishula (trident), sword, a snake (nāga), skull-mace (khatvanga), thunderbolt (vajra), a severed head and panapatra (drinking vessel, wine cup) or skullcup (kapala), filled with blood. Kapalika The Kāpālika tradition was a Tantric, non-Puranic form of Shaivism in India. The word is derived from kapāla, meaning "skull", and Kāpālika means the "skull-men".