Standing bell

A singing bowl, also known as a Himalayan bowl, cup gong or (in Japan) a rin gong, is a musical instrument used in Buddhist meditation, dating back many centuries. They are traditionally played in Tibet, Nepal, India, China, Japan, and Korea, mostly by Buddhist monks and in monasteries. Today they are enjoyed around the world by meditators, health professionals, and anyone who enjoys their beautiful sound.

The instrument is made of metal. New singing bowls are made from industrial quality metal - mainly copper but may also contain tin and zinc. They are exported widely from Nepal and India. Singing bowls are also made today in Japan and Korea but are not widely available from those countries.

A few specialized dealers sell genuine antiques. Singing bowls are used for meditation, yoga, healing, music, sound massage, sound therapy, and chakra balancing.

Many new singing bowls are made with an antique finish. Many bowls sold as 'antique' are not antique. Only a few dealers know how to accurately assess antiques. Many dealers call them 'old,' 'vintage,' or 'antique' without really knowing the true age. Genuine antique singing bowls are rare and are available from only a few suppliers.

Antique singing bowls were made of bronze, an alloy of copper and tin that often included precious metals such as silver and gold. Many other metals, including zinc, iron, and nickel may also be present.

Singing bowls are played by striking with a soft mallet. This produces a warm bell tone. They can also be played by slowly rubbing a wooden mallet around the rim of the bowl to produce a continuous 'singing' sound.

New bowls sound like bells while antique singing bowls produce a warm, complex and melodious tone. Antique singing bowls produce multiple harmonic overtones. Being made of several metals, they produce several harmonic frequencies at once.

Singing bowls can be found in a variety of shapes, sizes, designs and colors. New bowls are often decorated and made with various religious themes and symbols, like Tibetan mantra chant om mani padme hum, pictures of the Buddha, mandalas, the eight auspicious signs, etc. Antique singing bowls never feature such complex ornimentation but often have abstract decoration like lines, rings and circles etched into the surface. The making of traditional bowls is now considered a lost art. New bowls are sometimes made to look antique and many dealers unknowingly sell new bowls as antiques.

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