Central to the practices of the Tonla monks, this instrument, a handled hoop that carries two large metal gongs, varies in size from 4 to 6 feet in length and is held with both hands. The concept of harmonic frequencies and tones is central to the Tonla faith, and by striking someone or something, the two large metal plates crash together and then sing with the frequencies of the soul within, or so it is said. The monks say that when a soul is unfocused and conflicted, the gongbar will sing with many impure and discordant tones. As the monks temper their own hearts and minds into purity, they use the gongbar to measure themselves, striking one another in the chest with the wooden rim of the gongbar, and the more harmonious the plates sing, the further they have gone on their journey. No one has ever heard a gongbar sing with utmost purity...
A single, contiguous oval loop of roanwood is carefully carved out from the trunk in a special method that does not kill the unique tree. The loop is then soaked and treated, then bound with hide to form a large teardrop loop that closes into a long handle, which makes for an incredibly dense and sturdy implement. The dense, uninterrupted grain that runs through the handle and hoop make for remarkable properties of reverberation. It can take 1 to 3 years to craft a gongbar, and each is almost always created by just one monk.
Acquisition of a gongbar is very difficult for anyone not of the Tonla order. Most stay with the monasteries after a monk has left, by choice or mortality. Rarely, one is gifted to a special guest who earns the gratitude or admiration of a monastery.
Written around the outer edge of the gong plates are seven equidistant runes that read:
Gōn Kah Bay Crō Dūn Ses Fii