Severance

Severance is Buddhist practice which became well known in Tibet. It is a ritual of overcoming one's attachment to the self by giving away one's body symbolically to the evil forces and spirits. In Bhutan, the ritual manuals from the Karma Kagyu tradition and from the Nyingthig and Tersar Nyingthig tradition are popular. The people who engage in this practice hold a human thigh bone trumpet, a large handheld drum and bell.