Ritual object (vajra)

Buddhist Bronzes  from Indonesia

“Many kings in the islands of the Southern Ocean admire and believe Buddhism. In the city I visited, Buddhist priests number more than 1,000, whose minds are bent on learning and good practices.”*

So reported a Chinese Buddhist monk when he stopped at the Indonesian island of Sumatra in the 680s on his way home from visiting India’s holy sites.

For the next five hundred years Buddhism, in its Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions, flourished in parts of Indonesia, particularly the island of Java. In fact, Java produced, particularly in the 800s, some of the most complex, ambitious, and beautiful Buddhist monuments of all time. Despite the fact that the majority of the Indonesian population is Muslim today, Borobudur remains a popular tourist destination and a marker of cultural pride.

*Adapted from J. Takakusu’s 1896 translation of A Record of the Buddhist Religion as Practised in India and the Malay Archipelago by the monk Yijing.

In Tantric Buddhism the thunderbolt (vajra) symbolizes the “skillful means” that can be helpful on the path to enlightenment, and the bell (ghanta) symbolizes transcendent wisdom. The union of skillful means and transcendent wisdom leads to the achievement of enlightenment. The practitioner, usually a trained monk, holds the vajra in the right hand and the bell in the left hand during rituals.

Other Buddhist ritual thunderbolts or bells can be seen nearby in this gallery; in Gallery 12, The Himalayas and the Tibetan Buddhist World; and in  Gallery 26, Japanese Buddhist Art. These implements are also represented in sculptures and paintings throughout the museum.