noun
- Sacred wooden or stone objects used in Aboriginal Australian religious ceremonies and rituals, typically carved with symbolic designs.
Usage: plural of churinga; also spelled tjurunga; anthropology/ethnography term; from Australian Aboriginal languages
Examples
- The museum's collection includes several ancient churingas from central Australia.
- Churingas were kept secret and handled only by initiated members of the community.
- Anthropologists have studied churingas to understand Aboriginal spiritual practices.
- The designs carved into churingas held deep symbolic meaning for the people who created them.