A mortar (with a pestle) is a device for making cereals from unpeeled grains of wheat, barley, millet, buckwheat.
The stupa intended for this purpose is hollowed out of wood and is pulled together in the center and below by two wide metal rings to support the original shape. Its height reaches 61 cm, depth-32 cm, diameter-26 cm. The wooden pestle is made of a solid wood with a length of 59 cm and a diameter of 11 cm. When pounded in a mortar, the grain is released from the shell and partially crushed.
In the old days, stupas were in every peasant house. They were used as needed, preparing cereals for one or two weeks.
The stupa was also widely used in folk medicine. So, the peasants believed that it was possible to grind a disease in a mortar or “grind” a sick animal into a healthy one; sometimes they tried to “starve” a fever under a mortar.
Leave a Reply