Superb Antique Shaman Tiger Phurba from Nepal

This is a superb example of an antique wooden Jhakri or Shaman’s Phurba (ritual dagger) used for transformation, healing and protection.

It features a praying figure, probably the shaman himself, riding a tiger, beneath which are the crowned three faces of a wrathful deity, symbolizing victory over the three poisons of ignorance, desire and hate.

The central part takes the form of a Tibetan Buddhist dorje or Vajra (thunderbolt) set between two endless knots, while each facet of the 3-sided blade features entwined snakes (nagas) and the sun, moon and bumpa (ritual vase).

Himalayan Shaman are required to make and use all their own ritual tools which cannot be passed on to the next generation on their death, and this accounts for them occasionally ending up in city antique shops.  Genuine antique phurba like this are now quite rare and the vast majority of those on the market today are fake modern reproductions made to look old.

This antique phurba is in excellent museum quality condition and has the patina of long use and antiquity.