Tibetan Tingsha

Tibetan Tingsha: Bells and Chimes for Meditation and Sound Healing

Tingsha are two small cymbals on a cord. Struck together, they give one clear, bright ring that tells a room the session has begun. You may know them as tingsha bells or Tibetan chimes. Ours are cast in bronze by hand in Nepal.

Before your pair leaves Kathmandu, Sunita Poudel, a certified sound healer, checks its sound from her experience in practice.

How to choose tingsha

How to play tingsha

1. Hold the cord, not the metal. Pinch the cord close to each cymbal, one in each hand.
2. Let them hang freely. Keep your fingers off the cymbals so they can ring.
3. Bring the edges together. Let the edge of one meet the edge of the other. A light touch is enough.
4. Let them ring. Hold still and listen until the sound fades.
5. Ring once, not many times. One clear ring marks a beginning or an end better than a string of them.
6. To stop the sound, touch the cymbals to your palm or to a cloth.

Where tingsha fit beside singing bowls

Each instrument has its own job in a session. Tingsha open and close it, and bring attention back if the mind has wandered. Singing bowls carry the body of the sound. The bell gives a steady, sustaining tone, and the gong is the deepest and widest sound, kept for the fullest point. Tingsha are the simplest piece to add to a bowl practice. If you are new, Sunita's free singing bowl healing course is a good place to begin.

What is in the tingsha collection

• Plain tingsha. A smooth face with no design, chosen for the sound alone. Bronze Tingsha Bell, 3 inch, Prime Quality Bronze Tingsha Bell, 3 inch, Black Bronze Tibetan Chimes, 3 inch, Full Moon Tingsha, 3 inch.
• Eight auspicious symbols. Embossed with the Ashtamangala, the eight auspicious symbols of the Buddhist tradition. On our listings this is spelled Austamangal. Austamangal Embossed Tingsha, 2.5 inch, Prime Quality Austamangal Chimes.
• Dragon tingsha. Embossed with a dragon, a traditional protective figure in Himalayan art. Dragon Embossed Tingsha, 2.5 inch, Prime Quality Dragon Embossed Chimes.
• Mantra tingsha. Embossed or engraved with a mantra. Om Namah Shivaya is a Hindu mantra to Shiva, so that pair suits a Hindu or yoga practice. Mantra Embossed Tingsha, 2.5 inch, Prime Quality Mantra Embossed Chimes, Om Namah Shivaya Tingsha, 2.5 inch.
• Zodiac tingsha. Embossed with the twelve animals of the Tibetan zodiac. Zodiac Animal Tingsha, 3 inch.

What Sunita checks when she chooses your tingsha

Tingsha are cast by hand, so no two pairs sound quite the same. A pair is not sent out in the order it sits on the shelf. When your order arrives, Sunita checks the sound of the pair chosen for it, from her experience in practice, and it is only packed once she is satisfied. This is the same per-order care she gives to singing bowls.

Tingsha: common questions

See all dharma tools, or go to gongs, bell and dorje and singing bowls.