BUTTER SCULPTURES

utter sculptures are offerings moulded from butter. These offerings are seen as being central to spiritual development in Tibetan Buddhism. The height of some of the butter sculptures can be as much as thirty feet, and depict everything from Offering Goddesses and butter mandalas, through to flowers, animals and auspicious symbols of Buddhism.

Each butter image is assembled to create a tableaux or 'torma'. The display of butter offerings are described as 'butter ornaments', 'butter flowers' or 'offering of flowers'.

The making of butter sculpture in Tibet differs in several ways from that achieved by artists and chefs in the West. The butter is modeled, not carved; and is dyed before use, not painted afterwards. In this respect, the methods used resemble closest the modeling of icing in cake decoration.

Many tools are used in modeling, including wooden needles, hollow bones for making long threads, moulds for leaves and the like and many types of spatulas.

Unlike other sacred arts, the butter sculpture is associated with both play and competition. Because of the competitive aspect, the techniques are carefully guarded, and a monk must show genuine interest and commitment before he can find a willing teacher.

Great pride is taken in making the offerings as attractive as possible. For example, before 1959, in Lhasa, Tibet, His Holiness the Dalai Lama would inspect the work of the great monasteries of the city and award a prize to the best tableaux.

Due to the destruction of the monasteries in Tibet, most of these traditions have been lost. In exile in India, the two Tantric Colleges of Gyuto and Gyume carefully preserve the rituals and ceremonies by constructing displays of offering and passing on their skills.

The monks of Gyuto, for example, will fulfill a traditional commitment at the end of each year by traveling to the Dalai Lama's own monastery in Dharamsala to begin creating the butter sculpture display required for the New Year Celebrations. Each year is an opportunity for the younger generation to ask questions and learn under the supervision of an elder.

[IN INDIA ...]