Many visitors to Pushkar ask us about chakra stones. The chakra tradition pairs a stone with each of the seven chakras. This guide sets out those seven pairings, and three checks that help you tell a natural stone from glass or dye.
I.The map: seven centres, seven stones
The chakra tradition describes seven energy centres in the body, in a line from the base of the spine to the top of the head. Each centre has a colour and a theme. The tradition links several stones with each centre. The table gives one common choice for each.
| Chakra | Centre | Stone | What the tradition links it with |
|---|---|---|---|
| Muladhara | Root | Red jasper | Stability, feeling grounded |
| Svadhisthana | Sacral | Carnelian | Warmth, creativity, pleasure |
| Manipura | Solar plexus | Citrine | Confidence, will |
| Anahata | Heart | Rose quartz | Love, forgiveness |
| Vishuddha | Throat | Turquoise | Clear speech, honesty |
| Ajna | Third eye | Amethyst | Calm, insight |
| Sahasrara | Crown | Moonstone | Openness, quiet |
Some stones belong to more than one centre. The tradition links lapis lazuli with both the throat and the third eye, and labradorite with several centres.
II.How students choose their stones
In the bead and stone jewellery course, students pick their stones and beads from trays in the Robin Jewels stock. The trays hold natural stones such as lapis, turquoise, moonstone, labradorite and rose quartz. Some students choose by colour. Others choose by the meaning that a tradition gives a stone. Both ways are fine. The course teaches the craft, not chakra reading.
III.How to judge a natural stone
Whatever you think of the chakra tradition, it helps to know a natural stone when you see one. Look for three things.
- Colour that varies. Natural stones are rarely one even colour. Look for bands in jasper, veins of matrix in turquoise, and the moving sheen inside moonstone and labradorite. Perfectly even colour often means glass or dye.
- Cool to the touch. Natural stone feels cool and takes the heat of your hand slowly. Resin and glass warm up much faster.
- Weight for size. Most stones are dense. A stone that feels too light for its size may be resin or plastic.
You can make these checks on any stone you buy, in Pushkar or anywhere else. No single check is proof. Use all three together.
IV.Setting a stone in silver
In the chakra tradition, a stone is meant to be worn against the skin, not kept in a drawer. A silver setting is one way to wear it. A bezel is a thin wall of fine silver, shaped by hand to fit the edge of the stone and pressed over it. It holds a cabochon for many years without glue. Bezel setting is part of the silver smithing course. Govinda Atelier teaches two crafts, silver and stones, and this is where they meet in one piece.