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mysterious "mekhapat" of Thailand ?
I hope this not off topic, but I feel there's more chance of someone in =
this group knowing what this is than elsewhere. By way of obeisance/defense may I say that I have recently done a website for a = real jeweler and gemologist and it was a pleasure I am a serious collector and student of the visual arts of S.E. Asia, = and for several years have been trying to identify a black substance used in making Buddhist amulets (usually small, usually Buddha = images, sometimes Sangkajai [fat, Buddha's disciple], sometimes amulets of Cambodian secondary Buddhist/animist themes = [oophakhoot]). A very frequent use of this material is for amulets called "Phra Pid-Da" in Thai (literally : "amulet of the closed eyes") = which is a very ancient icon of a person with hands covering the eyes that many people believe pre-dates Buddhism. When I ask my Thai friends about this they usually repeat the story that = it is a "secret" material made only by Monks, and the method of manufacture is passed from one Monk to another. Monks do make = amulets in the Theravadan Buddhist tradition from substances including clay, terra-cotta, mixtures of plant material and clays, etc., = as well as bronze, silver, brass, sometimes gold. So far no luck in tracking down a Monk who makes mekhapat, and I am reluctant to = travel in Cambodia for safety reasons. The substance, which I at first believed was a kind of black agate or = glassine rock, is black, glossy, smooth to the touch. Slightly reflective rather than dull. I remember in my childhood in Florida = finding black agate ... or was it volcanic glass ... that could be flaked into razor-sharp shards. I believed this to be some kind of molten material until one day I came = across a large Buddha amulet that was not only clearly Mekhapat, but also highly magnetic. I appreciate any ideas you have about what this substance may be. thanks, Bill Woodruff dotScience Chiang Mai, Thailand |
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