Tingsha

Tingsha in Sikkim

Material: Brass

Tingshas are a pair of brass plates with a small central dome usually clanged by the Lamas during the puja rites and offerings of the tormas to the peaceful deities. Among the four orchestral sections of Tibetan ritual musical instrument, tingsha is under ‘ringing’. The other three are; ‘percussive’ (drums) ‘wind’ (horns and conches), and ‘plucked’ (stringed instruments) – String instruments are not used in ritual music, but their harmonic presence is acoustically imagined. Tingshas are usually not adorned but this one is decorated with vegetative and geometrical motifs in the outer part. This small boss is adorned with a stalk having only one flower and three are four such stalks. Two conjoined stalks with an elongated leaf are carved on the flare along with the swastika. The depiction of the swastika is bold and lacks perfection. The equilateral cross swastika has arms bent at right angles, all in the same rotary direction and clockwise.