tibetan shrines

I have collected them over many years. These sacred portable shrines are known as Ghau in Nepal, although many of them originally come from Tibet. 

A Ghau is a portable shrine in which an image of the owner's personal deity (Ishta Devata), is kept wrapped in silk cloth. Most Nepalese and Tibetans use a Ghau at at home and whilst travelling. At home they are kept on an altar, but when travelling they are fastened to a cross belt.

These prayer boxes use distinctive trefoil shapes with a window at the centre through which one can see the deity. Symbolic Buddhist motifs cover their ornate and tactile surfaces. They can also contain written prayers, miniature paintings, relics, special amulets and medicinal herbs that are designed to protect the individual from evil spirits.