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HISTORICAL BACKGROUND Why is this film necessary and important? What makes it intriguing? Butter sculpture is a colorful, luminous, and complex art form that is unique to Tibetan Buddhist culture. It has many parallels with the sand mandala but so far, very little has been documented. Butter sculpture belongs to a class of offerings called “tormas” (gtor-mas), which are intimately connected with the ritual practices of Tibetan Buddhism. Gtor literally means to "scatter" or "throw" a small number of things or pieces.(1) The torma is traditionally tossed outside after being used in a ritual, both to symbolize impermanence and to develop the practice of generosity. Tormas originated in the Indian Tantric Buddhist scriptures but developed a distinctly Tibetan character after Buddhism was transmitted to Tibet. Originally adopting certain elements from the pre-Buddhist shamanic practices of the indigenous Tibetan culture, these sacred sculptures further evolved through the visionary experiences of such enlightened Buddhist masters as Padmasambhava and the Gyalwang Karmapa. As such, tormas are an integral part of Tibetan tantric culture and in their own way as important as thangkas and statues. In their most basic form, tormas are simple objects made out of roasted barley flour and butter. For more elaborate purposes they are molded into pleasing and artistic shapes and decorated with colorful butter ornaments in order to serve as offerings to a variety of deities and spirits. Butter sculptures are a specific type of torma that were used as centerpieces for large prayer gatherings, such as the Great Prayer Festival, started by Tsongkhapa in 1409. This unique and highly revered artistic tradition was featured annually in (1) The Mirror of Beryl, Diagrams of the Tsurphu Tradition of Tormas, page 1. (Also known as The Rumtek Torma Manual) |