prayer-wheel BM-1925-0313.11.a

Period:Unknown Production date:19thC
Materials:silver, wood, brass, coral, turquoise, iron, leather,
Technique:inlaid, engraved,
Subjects:prayer
Dimensions:Length: 24.50 centimetres

Description:
A prayer-wheel in silver engraved with floral patterns and inlaid with coral, and turquoise. It has a brass and wood handle and an iron weight attached to the body by a leather strap. It contains a tightly rolled scroll with block printed invocations inside: 1925,0313,11.b.
IMG


Comments:Zwalf 1985The portable prayer wheel contains a tightly rolled scroll with block-printed invocations. The wheel is usually a metal cylinder or drum rotated with the help of a metal weight which sets up a centrifugal motion around a pin projecting from the handle. The rotation of the wheel is the equivalent of reading or reciting the invocations inside, and the effectiveness of the act derives from the late Buddhist belief in the power of sound and the formulas to which deities were subject.