Bell

Skt., ghanta
Tib., dril bu

Foremost, the term refers to the bell in Tantric ritual that is symbolic of the feminine energies; contrasting with the male vajra/dorje. Images of Buddhas and other Vajrayana dignitaries often show them with one or both of these attributes in their hands.
Very often, the drilbu has a handle in the form of half a dorje and should therefore, technically speaking, be referred to as Dorje-Drilbu of Vajra-Ghanta. This is usually not the case but there are forms of the bell without such a handle, featuring a moon- or hornlike handle.

Often, the term ghanta is used as a secret code for the yoni.

In the Bardo Thödol, Ghanta is also the name of a serpent-headed green dakini, guardian deity of the northern gate.