Jewelry
14K Gold Angular Cambodian Katah Prayer Bead ( chain not included )
- Item Number
- 123
- Estimated Value
- 140 USD
- Opening Bid
- 100 USD
Item Description
14K Gold Angular Cambodia Katah Pray Bead Pendant
For over a thousand years Cambodian women have carried their hopes and dreams rolled up in "katah", the beads inside of which they placed the prayers inscribed for them by Buddhist monks. The katah were then worn on strings or chains around the neck or the waist.
Today, a wealthy woman might wear a single gold katah on a chain around her neck. More commonly, though, a Cambodian woman of more modest means might wear several or many silver katah on a cord around her waist and hidden under her garments.
Each of those katah represents a trip to consult the monk who, after listening to the woman's special hopes or intentions, consults his book of "magic" and then inscribes the appropriate prayer or passage from Buddhist scripture onto a piece of paper or even directly onto a piece of soft metal which he then rolls up around a cord.
During the terrible days of Khmer Rouge regime, katah could be fashioned from clay which, after being inscribed with the appropriate prayers, would be compressed around a piece of string and worn, at great risk, under the garments of the believer. In more ancient times, the prayers were inscribed on palm leaf and then rolled and inserted into a small piece of hollowed out bamboo.
Each bead is approximately 1 in. long and weighs about 1.5 grams. T Please note that the angular katah require a chain with a small end link, as the bead opening is approx. 4 mm.
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