peashooter85:The Practice of the Tibetan Kapala,Common in Hindu and Buddhist Tantric traditions, esp
peashooter85:The Practice of the Tibetan Kapala,Common in Hindu and Buddhist Tantric traditions, especially those practiced in Tibet, a Kapala is a ceremonial vessel made from a human skull. Sometimes, the skull could be heavily decorated with silver, bronze, turquoise, and various stones or gems, sometimes it could be a plain skull that has elaborate carvings. Usually the skulls were collected from sky burials, a practice in which a corpse is left on the side of a mountain so that birds can feed upon. This is based on the idea that nothing should go to waste. The purpose of the Kapala was as a container to hold offerings to various Hindu and Tibetan deities. -- source link