(8) Journal of Indian and Buddhist Studies, Vol. 51, No. 2, March 2003

Priest's Hand- (Ghantas) in Asian Countries

Especially on the Design on Indonesian Bells

Naoko ITO

A priest's hand- (ghanta, abbreviated bell(s) below) is known as a ritual implement

used in Tantric Buddhist ceremonies. The bell consists of three figurative parts, i.

e., a finial, a handle, and a body. Looking over the various designs on the body

of the bells found in Asian countries, this paper focuses on Indonesian bells, which hitherto have not been exhaustively researched from the viewpoint of Tantric Bud-

dhism.

A Variety of Designs on the Bell-Body

As far as the designs on the body are concerned, the bells found in Asian countries

can be classified into the following five types:')

Type I A simple body without any embellishment.

Type ‡U A body with a band consisting of four or eight floral ornaments, such as garlands.

Type ‡V A body embellished with a sainaya design in which , Ratna, Padina, and

Visvavajra (a cross made of two ) are depicted clockwise.')

Type ‡W A body ornamented with relief sculptures of various groups of , e. g.,the

Five Vidyarajas ; the Four Maharajakayikas, a group comprised of Indra, ,

and the Four Maharajakavikas ; and so on.

Type V A body ornamented with seed-syllables (bija).3)

Type I is found widely in Asian countries, whereas the other types are from par- ticular regions : type ‡U in Indonesia and Tibet ; type ‡V in India (only one bell), In-

donesia, and Japan ; type ‡W in China, Korea, and Japan (just a few bells) ; type V

only in Japan.

This paper discusses type ‡V. This type had been only found in Orissa, India,

dating to around the 10th century A. D.4) This type ‡V in Japan is mainly dated from the 11th to 14th centuries A.D., and the same type seems to be common in Indonesia.

1025 Priest's Hand-bells (Ghantas) in Asian Countries (Naoko ITO) (9)

According to my research in Indonesia, 29 such bells can be dated from the 8th to

11th centuries in Central Java, and 6 of those are from 11th to 15th centuries in

Bali and Eastern Java. The two groups can be distinguished by the fact that the

prongs of the earlier bells generally turn inward, while those of the later bells usually

open outwards. 5)

Indonesian Bells with the Samaya Design

I have researched into 596 bells from Indonesia. Among these, 246 bells, belonging

to types I ,‡U , and ‡V mentioned above, are five-pronged vajra bells6), some of

which were supposedly used in Hindu ritual ceremonies as well. However, the samaya designs are identified on 37 of the 246 five-pronged vajra bells. These de-

signs should be a symbol of Tantric Buddhism.

The samava design in Japan is known as a group of four symbols, i. e., Four-

symbols samava. Interestingly enough, in Indonesia Eight-symbols samaya which

may be a variant of the Four-symbols samava, can be recognized on the bells. The

Indonesian bells with the samava design can be classified as follows :

1. Four-symbols Samaya Type (on 33 bells)

The design can be found either on the body (26 bells) or on the bottom of the finial (7 bells).

The four prongs in the fonner type always faceinwards on the top, whereas those in the latter

type face outwards on the top. Among the formertype, furthermore, some bells contain a vajra

chain motif near the samava symbols on the body. In the latter type, on the other hand, noem-

bellishment can be found on the body at all, just as type I mentioned above.

a) National Museum of Ethnology, Leiden, the Netherlands, No. 1403-2442 This bell belongs to the former type (design onthe bell's body). The four symbols of this samaya design are, clockwise, as follows : Vajra, Ratna, Padma, and Visvavajra. b) National Museum, Jakarta, Indonesia, No. 7843. This bell belongs to the latter type (design atthe bottom of the finial). The four symbols ofthis samava design are the same as those in a). As shown in the table above, however, these symbols are simplified because of the limited space.

1024 (10) Priest's Hand-bells (Ghantas) in Asian Countries (Naoko ITO)

2. Eight-symbols Sainava Type (on 4 bells) This sainava design is found on the body, just above the center line of the body. Eight symbols on these four bells are, clockwise, as follows :

c) Vajra, Dhanu & Sara, Arikusa,Cakra, Khadga,Danda (or Gada?), Pasa, Dhvaja. National Museumof Ethnology,Leiden, the Netherlands,No. 1403-2226.71 d) Va/ia, Trisula, ?, Ankusa, Pasa, Khatvanga?,Khadga, Dhanu & Sara?. National Museumfor Indian Art, Berlin, Germany, No.11 239. e) Vajra, ?, Ratna, ?, Padma, ?, Visvavajra,?. Linden-MuseumStuttgart, Germany,No. 35282. f) Vajra, ?, Ratna, ?, Padina, ?, Visvavajra,?. National Museumof Ethnology,Leiden, the Netherlands,No. 1403-1671. Although no prongs remain on bell d), the original prongs seem to have faced inwards, judging on the basis of the other bells, c), e), and f). Both c) and d) apparently represent weapons. This Eight-symbols samaya design reminds us of a mandala described in the Sr- aramadva-tantra8' belonging to the -class of Tan- tric Buddhism. Although these eight symbols do not always correspond to this evi- dence, we now have good grounds for the existence of this stage in Indonesia.

Conclusion

The first part of this paper classifies a variety of designs on the body of the bells in Asian countries into five types. This shows that some types are common in several Asian regions, while others represent regional peculiarities. The latter part

1023 Priest's Hand-bells (Ghantas) in Asian Countries (Naoko ITO) (11) of this paper deals with the samava design as the most interesting feature among the Indonesian bells. The samava design on the Indonesian bells is an embodiment of religious doctrines and faith of the people who used them.

1) Another sort of classification is found in : A Leaflet of Nara National Museum, Tokubetsu chinretsu butsuzo o arawashita kongorei (Special Exhibition of Priests Hand-bells (Ghanta) Representing Buddhist Images), Nara 1988. Especially on the Korean Bells, see Yi Sook-hi, "A n Iconographic Study on Buddhist Ritual Vajra Bells of the Koryo Period", in Kogo Misul (Art and Archeology) No. 186, 1990, pp. 2-5 1. 2) The objects depicted in the samava design, such as Vajra, Ratna, Padma, and Visvavajra, are regarded as symbolizations of various Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of Tantric Buddhism. 3) For instance, the five seed-syllables (bija)Vain, Hum, Trah, Hrih, and Ah, represent the Five Tathagatas respectively, all of whom play an important role in the Vajradhatu-mandala. The Garbha-mandala, in the same way, can be symbolized by the four letters A, A, Am and Ah. 4) D. Mitra, Bronzes from Achutrajpur, Orissa, Delhi, 1978, p. 138. 5) N. Ito, "Jawa no kongosho, kongorei ni tsuite" (A Study of Vajras (Priest's Sceptres) and Ghantas (Hand-bells) from Java), in Mikkyd zuzo, No. 20, 2001, pp. 74-98 Illustrations a) to f) are reproduced from this article. Concerning general information see J. E. van Lohuizen-de Leeuw, Indo-Javanese Metalwork, Bestandskatalog des Linden-Museum Stuttgart, Stuttgart, 1984 ; P. L. Scheurleer & M. J. Klokke, Divine Bronze, Ancient Indonesian Bronze from A.D. 600 to 1600, Leiden, 1988. 6) In the other types, there are 45 kinds of finials, e. g., , Simha, Cakra, Sastra, Trisula, Naga, Sahkha, an ascetic, etc. 7) N. Chutiwongs, "A Ritual Object from Java" in M. J. Klokke and R van Kooij (eds.), Fruits of Inspiration, Groningen, 2001, pp. 57-72. 8) Tib : Tibetan Tripitaka sDe dge ed. Ta, 214b7-215a5, Chin : Taisho Tripitaka Vol. 8, 806b7- c 12. See also K. Matsunaga, "Samdyoga- no Mandala ni kansuru ichikosatsu" (A Study of the Mandala of Samayogatantra), in Mikkvb zuzo, No. 17, 1998, pp. 60-79.

(Key Words Indonesia, Priest's hand-bells, (Postgraduate Student, Graduate University for Advanced Studies)

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