Braided bracelet with a round medallion: Against a reddish-shimmering bronze background, the root syllable "Dhih" is rendered in fire-gilded gold, framed by a narrow silver border. The cord is hand-braided and adjustable in length via a sliding knot. Available in dark red or sandy brown.
"Dhih" is the seed syllable of the bodhisattva Manjushri, who in Tibetan Buddhism symbolizes wisdom and scholarship; the syllable is also used during recitation to practice retroflex sounds. Seed syllables are not ordinary words, but condensed symbols—they represent a figure and its meaning and appear in manuscripts, on buildings, on ritual implements, and on the body.
The medallion is cast in Khyenle bronze, an alloy of brass and copper with small amounts of gold, silver, tin, and zinc. The tradition dates back to the 19th century and the workshops associated with Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo in Dzongsar, in Dege County in Kham; the name links the Khyentse lineage with the craft of bronze casting. Each piece undergoes six stages of production—wax model, mold, melting out, casting, hand finishing, and polishing—with the hand finishing taking up the majority of the time.
CHARU connects designers with artisan cooperatives in the Tibetan cultural region and uses these connections to develop products that bring traditional techniques into everyday life.
Medallion, Ø 1.5 cm · 7–9 g · Adjustable cord · Li-Ma bronze, silver, fire-gilded · Cord in dark red or sandy brown · Handcrafted in Tibet
