Kangling
Musical instrument
Kangling (Tibetan: རྐང་གླིང་།, Wylie: rkang-gling), literally translated as "leg" (kang) "flute" (ling), is the Tibetan name for a trumpet or horn made out of a human tibia or femur, used in Tibetan Buddhism for various chöd rituals as well as funerals performed by a chöpa. The leg bone of a deceased person is used. Alternatively, the leg bone of a respected teacher may be used. The kangling may also be made out of wood.
The kangling should only be used in chöd rituals performed outdoors with the chöd damaru and bell. In Tantric chöd practice, the practitioner, motivated by compassion, plays the kangling as a gesture of fearlessness, to summon hungry spirits and demons so that she or he may satisfy their hunger and thereby relieve their sufferings. It is also played as a way of "cutting off of the ego."
A minor figure from Katok Monastery, the First Chonyi Gyatso, Chopa Lugu (17th, mid-18th century), is remembered for his "nightly bellowing of bone-trumpet [kangling] and shouting of phet" on pilgrimage, much to the irritation of the business traveler who accompanied him. Chopa Lugu became renowned as "The Chod Yogi Who Split a Cliff in China (rgya nag brag bcad gcod pa)."
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Kangling”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Kangling example.jpg by Owlmonkey, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Alexandra David-Neels.jpg by Preus museum, CC BY 2.0
- Detail of two shin-bone trumpets from a Tibetan banner Wellcome L0030388.jpg by Unknown author, CC BY 4.0
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