A ghau is a small box worn on a cord, made to hold something sacred against the chest. In Tibet it travelled with the person wearing it — a written prayer, a printed image, a small relic folded inside. This collection gathers the ones we make: ghau boxes, thangka pendants, and the little containers that open.
What goes inside
A ghau is not jewelry shaped like something religious. It is a container, and what it holds is the point — a mantra written on paper, an image of a deity, a grain or a stone from a place that matters to the wearer. The box keeps it closed and out of sight.
That is also why so many of these are worn rather than displayed. The box faces the body, not the room.
The forms here
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Thangka pendants carry a hand-painted figure on the face rather than a compartment inside. Deity, tsa-tsa, and relief figures all appear this way, framed in wood or left open.
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Opening lockets have a door and a hollow, so you can put something in and shut it.
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Cylindrical boxes follow the older shape, and tend to sit lower on the chest.
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Small containers in chalcedony or titanium steel are the lightest versions, cut for daily wear.
Choosing one
Pick by what you intend to put in it. If there is something to carry, choose a form that opens. If the image itself is the point, a thangka pendant keeps it on the outside where you can see it.
Why the box is worn around the neck, and how it opens, is set out in more detail elsewhere.
