An antique, 19th Century tsakli painting in mineral pigments and gold depicting a skull cup (Sanskrit: kepala) with a chopper (krrtikha) and a tantric staff (Sanskrit: khatvanga). The skull is fashioned from the oval upper section of a human cranium which serves as a libation vessel for many Vajrayana deities, particularly wrathful and protector deities, yidam, dakinis, siddhas. and tantric lineage holders. In the hands of these deities and their human emanations the symbolic meanings placed upon the skull-cup are both complex and multi-facetted. The white skull cup full of red blood is almost invariably held in the left hands of both male and female deities, often at the level of the deity's heart, symbolising the importance placed upon the left-handed performance of activities in the Mother Tantras.
The fertile blood of the mother give rise to the soft red organs of viscera, muscle tissue and blood, while the 'nectar medicine of male semen' (Sanskrit: kunda) creates the solid white organs of the body -bone brain, marrow and spinal cord. The vajra topped flaying knife or chopper is also known as the 'knife of the dakinis' - the enlighteed female counterparts to the wrathful Heruka deities. The three main hand-held attributes of the dakinis are the skull-cup, flayer and khatvanga. In vajrayana Buddhism, the khatvanga essentially represents the union of Heruka Chakrasamvara with his consort Vajravarahi - embodying the inseparable union of great bliss and emptiness, as 'ultimate boddhicitta'. Here the khatvanga is topped by a trisula, then descends through a skull and two corpseheads above abhumpa, then a half visvavajra above the shaft which is adorned with a silken ribbon. 8.1 x 9.6cm