Tibetan dZi and other Himalayan Beads

This is an early imitation coral bead made from glass. They are known as 'Sherpa' Coral because they are a popular adornment with the Sherpa women of Nepal. The earliest beads may have been made towards the end of the 19th century and traded as an affordable alternative to genuine red coral. Many are much later creations. In the Tibetan language shar means East; pa is a suffix meaning 'people': hence the word sharpa or Sherpa. In recent years, many of the Sherpa people have migrated to India. Sherpas originally came from East Tibet and migrated to Nepal within the last 500 years.