The Himalayan sacred objects

The provenance of the human remains

It is important to note here that all three artifacts are made from human bones. The use of human bones is a reminder of the Buddhist principle of universal impermanence, according to which nothing is eternal and all living organisms experience death.  Skulls and other bony body parts are collected in the heavenly cemeteries. Bya gtor, which literally means "by the birds", is a funeral practice in which human corpses are placed on top of a mountain (usually a charnel house (durto) is provided for this purpose) to decompose in the open air or to be eaten by vultures. This practice is widespread in Tibet for religious and practical reasons. Vajrayāna Buddhism teaches the transmigration of spirits, the body is considered to be emptied of its spirit, so it can be disposed of in the most generous way possible, in this case by feeding the living species. The frozen and unforested soils of the Tibetan highlands make it difficult to bury the dead, and the absence of trees restricts the practice of cremation. Many sources state that after the flesh has been eaten or decomposed, the bones are also crushed and fed to animals. However, it is quite common that the bones are not decomposed and remain on the durto. Thus, in these open cemeteries, it is relatively easy to collect various bones for the purpose of making liturgical instruments. The practice of bya gtor is widespread and follows different rituals, which may explain why the sources contradict each other. Moreover, it is not possible to trace the original owners of the human bones. Nevertheless, in the religious manuscripts the use of specific bones for certain ritual objects is recommended. For the thod-rnga, also known as damaru, in order for its power to be effective, the skullcaps would have to come from a 16 year old boy and a 12 year old girl. The model kept at MEG has very small caps, so it may have been made according to these recommendations.

From Kalimpong to the MEG

A thod-rnga (ETHMU 022364) was donated by Dr Edouard Wyss-Dunant. He is also a renowned Swiss mountaineer who led two expeditions to the Himalayas in 1949 and 1952, during which many objects were collected and donated to the museum. It was during this first expedition that he acquired the drum, more precisely, in the historical register of the museum it is stated that the mountaineer bought the piece from a lama in the town of Kalimpong. This small town is part of Sikkim, a region in the Himalayas that became part of India in 1975, but which has retained its Tibetan culture. It is highly likely that the town was part of his Everest expedition because it was taken over by the canons of the Abbey of Saint-Maurice, who firmly established an evangelical mission in 1934. With the financial support of the Swiss Confederation and the SDC (Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation) from 1960 onwards, a church and several schools (14 schools in 1938) were built in the town of Kalimpong. The aim of the missionaries was to evangelise as many souls as possible and to advance further north to conquer the holy city of Lhasa. In a book, E. Wyss-Dunant relates this expedition to the Himalayas in the spring of 1949. He briefly mentions the presence of the canons of St. Maurice, but also the schools and the church built by the Scottish mission. In addition, he explains that he visited the Buddhist temple in Kalimpong, which lies between the buildings of the two European missions. Presumably, the lama who sold or bequeathed the drum to him lived in this temple and he was in a context of spiritual domination.

The kapala from Ladakh

Another object made of a skull cap, the kapala (ETHAS 038693), is also on display in the reference exhibition. The object serves as a container for various mixtures during Tibetan Buddhist rituals. For this purpose, the hollow of the cap is covered with a layer of metal, usually silver. In Tantrism, there is the idea that the spirit of the deceased is embodied in the presence of the bone and that the soul charges the artefact with supernatural power for the celebration of rituals.  Fausto Doro and Araxi Garabedian sold the object to the museum in 1976. They collected it a year earlier during a trip to Ladakh, a district belonging to India but which is of Tibetan culture. The region suffers from precariousness because of its economic dependence on India, but also because of poor agricultural yields caused by disastrous climatic conditions. In addition, since the 1960s the region has experienced an expansion of Islam and a gradual detachment from Tantric beliefs. In 1975, with the agreement of the Indian Union, Ladakh decided to open up to tourism to alleviate poverty. On the inventory card dating from 1976, nothing is transmitted concerning the precise place of collection or the initial owner. Nevertheless, in view of the economic, religious and cultural context that was shaking up the region at the time, it is apparent that the owner gave up the piece because of his fragile financial situation or because he was going through a period of change in his beliefs. On the same sheet, it is stated that the item is old and would have been made in the 19th century. This information is reported by both travellers and it is complicated to affirm its veracity, but it is important here to emphasise that it is probably because of its age, the use of a human skull for its manufacture and its sacred character, that the piece was purchased by the museum.

The rus rgyan and its acquisition from a colonial context

The third artefact on display at the MEG has a more problematic provenance than the other two pieces presented above. Indeed, in the archives of the museum's acquisition files, an exhibition catalogue of the Berkeley Galleries, from which the museum bought the object in 1956, is preserved. In the catalogue, dedicated to an exhibition and sale of "Mystical Art of Ancient Tibet", there is a photograph of a rgyan rus. After consulting the correspondence between the museum and Ernest Ohly, we know that this is the apron currently on display in the permanent room. More importantly, on the first page of this small booklet is written: "From collection of members of the Younghusband Expedition to Lhasa, 1903". This was an important means of proving the authenticity of the objects to be sold, as the expedition had been widely publicised and had been the subject of controversy among the British public. The note now identifies the historical context in which the object was acquired

The military expedition led by Lieutenant-Colonel Younghusband was characterised not only by the massacre of thousands of Tibetans who fought for their independence - the southern part of Tibet was the only region of the Himalayas not subject to the British Empire and it was on the main trade routes established by the Empire - but also by the heavy cultural upheaval due to the massive collection of all objects considered by the British occupiers as representative of Tibetan Buddhism. The senior expedition leaders L.A. Waddell and D. Macdonald were commissioned by museum institutions such as the British Museum and the Bodleian Library - which sought to supplement their deficient libraries of Buddhist literature - to collect manuscripts and books of the Buddhist religion. The so-called official collection was accompanied by an unofficial collection, both of which sacked monasteries and dzongs (forts that served as cultural, political, economic and religious centres). Military troops passed through, seizing abandoned cultural property from fleeing populations. During the capture of the fortress of Gyantsé, L.A. Waddell explains that he saw lamas happy to give up their heritage for a few coins, as they had never before obtained so much money. He adds that this exchange was beneficial to them. This collecting is fully in line with the imaginary of colonial superiority, which thought it had a protective role in "securing" this Tibetan heritage, but which was in fact motivated by geographical expansion and the desire to possess hegemonic knowledge. Thus, it is certain that the rus rgyan , like many other sacred tantric objects, was collected in an asymmetrical relationship of power within this colonial context.

Conclusion

Damien Kunik, Curator for the Asian collection

The provenance research work carried out here by Iris Terradura, a MA intern at the MEG from August 2022 to February 2023, has not only enabled us to draw up a precise biographical record of the Himalayan human remains held in the museum's collection, but also gave our institution the opportunity to make contact with the Shedrub Choekhor Ling monastery, located on Mont Salève a few kilometres from Geneva, and to talk to the Lama Tensin Gonpo and the administrator of the Sangha sur Salève association on 8 February 2023.

The monastery, founded in 2010, was inaugurated by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama on 12 August 2011. It is affiliated to the Drepung Gomang monastic university in Mundgod, Karnataka, India, which itself originated from the monastery of the same name founded in Lhasa, Tibet in 1416. The local network built with the Tibetan Buddhist community through this temple also provides a direct line to the highest authorities of this religious movement.

The aim of the interview was to determine, in accordance with the MEG's ethical guidelines on the exhibition and conservation of so-called sensitive objects, whether the Himalayan liturgical objects and musical instruments made from human bones and held by the MEG could be presented publicly or whether they should be removed from the exhibition spaces and made invisible on our digital channels. The entire provenance research work carried out by Iris Terradura was submitted to the monastery on this occasion to inform them of the data known by our museum.

Following this consultation, it was determined that the public display of the artefacts highlighted here, and their representation on the MEG's distribution channels, poses no problem for the Shedrub Choekhor Ling monastery insofar as the objects are presented in accordance with the cultural and religious tradition of Buddhism.

The decision to continue displaying these objects may be discussed again at any time, both with the Shedrub Choekhor Ling Temple and with any person, community or institution with a cultural link to the objects listed.

Bibliographie 

• CH AVG, MEG 350.B.1/31 - Acquisitions d'objets : correspondance avec M. Ernest Ohly (Berkeley Galleries, Londres).
• CARRNGTON, M. «Gentlemen and Thieves : The looting of monasteries during the 1903/4 Younghusband mission to Tibet », Modern Asian Studies, vol. 37, 2003, pp. 81-109.
• DOLLFUS, P. Chapitre 3 : Le bouddhisme tibétain au Ladakh In : Lieu de neige et de genévriers : Organisation sociale et religieuse des communautés bouddhistes du Ladakh, CNRS Éditions, Paris, 2005.
• HELFFER, M. « Chapitre Χ. Le tambour damaru/cang-te’u », In : Mchod-rol : Les instruments de la musique tibétaine [en ligne]. Paris : Éditions de la Maison des sciences de l’homme, 1994.
• LOGAN, P., «  Survival and evolution of sky burial practices », 2021, URL : Survival and Evolution of Sky Burial Practices in Tibetan Areas of China (pamela-logan.com).
• WATERFIELD, H., KING, J.C.H., Provenance twelve collectors of ethnographic art in England 1760-1990, Somogy éditions d’art, Paris, 2006.
• WADDELL, L.A., Lhasa and its mysteries, John Murray, Londres, 1905.
• WYSS-DUNANT, Ed., Forêts et cimes himalayennes, collection Alpine, Lausanne, 1949.