Thai Buddhist Singing Bowl

This is a Thai Buddhist singing bowl. In Buddhist practice, singing bowls are used as a signal to begin and end meditation. This singing bowl has an image of the historical Buddha on the inside and a yin and yang image on the bottom.

A metallurgical analysis, done by the British Museum in London, reveals that antique instruments are made of a 12-metal alloy consisting of silver, nickel, copper, zinc, antimony, tin, lead, cobalt, bismuth, arsenic, cadmium and iron. Now a lost art, it appears that this quality of bell bowl cannot be reproduced today.

According to Tibetan oral tradition, the existence of singing bowls dates back to the time of the historical Buddha Shakyamuni (560 - 480 B.C.). The tradition was brought from India to Tibet, along with the teachings of the Buddha, by the great tantric master Padmasambhava in the 8th century A.D.

Buddhism is a religion in which people follow the teachings of the Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama) who lived and taught about 2500 years ago. Buddhists do not believe in a personal creator god. Buddhists believe in the Four Noble Truths, including that life is suffering because we are attached to our desires, but that suffering and attachment can be ended by living according to the Noble Eight-fold Path (ex. right thinking, right working, right speaking). The holy book is called the Tripitaka. It contains the teachings of the Buddha. Buddhists believe in rebirth after death (reincarnation). Their goal is to become Enlightened, to achieve Nirvana, and break the cycle of birth and death.
Source:
https://www.tenthousandvillages.com/blogs/mosaic/singing-bowls#:~:text=Singing bowls originated in Mesopotamia,dating back some 2,000 years.
https://bestsingingbowls.com/history-singing-bowls/