Navaratna
Nine gem talisman with astrological and cultural significance across Asia.
Navaratna, from Sanskrit, means "nine gems." This style of jewelry is culturally significant across southern and southeastern Asia, representing wealth and status, and is thought to offer talismanic health benefits. The gem settings are believed to have mystical powers linked to Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist astrology and mythology.
Quick Facts
- Sanskrit term
- Navaratna (नवरत्न)
- Number of gems
- 9
- Central gem
- Ruby (representing the Sun)
- Associated celestial bodies
- Navagrahas (nine celestial gods/planets)
- Traditional metal for setting
- Gold or silver
Facts from the source article.
Across languages and cultures
Across southern and southeastern Asia, the Navaratna is a sacred arrangement of nine gems that carries consistent symbolic meaning. This tradition is observed in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia, transcending local religious and cultural boundaries. The name varies by language: Navaratnam in Sanskrit and Malayalam, Navaratna in Hindi, Marathi, Sinhalese, Kannada, and Indonesian, Nabaratna in Bengali and Odia, Navaratinam in Tamil, Navaratnalu in Telugu, Nawaratna in Malay and Nepali, Nawarat or Noppharat in Thai, and Nawarat in Burmese. In Thailand, the Navaratna holds official status as both a national and royal emblem. The king bestows the Noppharat Ratchawaraphon, or Ancient Auspicious Order of the Nine Gems, a single-class knighthood. Its insignia includes a pendant worn on a yellow sash with red, blue, and green trims, a star worn on the left chest, and a gold ring for men on the right ring finger. Women wear the pendant on a silk ribbon at the front left shoulder.
Gems and planets
Late Thai astrologer Horacharn Thep Sarikabutr gave the meaning of these nine gems in his Parichad-Jataka (chapter 2, verse 21, pages 35–36). According to this, a top quality and flawless ruby is the gem for the Sun, natural pearl for the Moon, red coral for Mars, emerald for Mercury, yellow sapphire for Jupiter, diamond for Venus, blue sapphire for Saturn, hessonite for Rahu (ascending lunar node), and cat's eye for Ketu (descending lunar node). This quote is attributed to Brihat Jataka and is mentioned in Mani-mala as well as Jataka Parijata.
Navaratna gem purity
In the sloka, the words sujatyam-amalam (sujati meaning high-born, and amala meaning completely pure or flawless) are significant. According to Asian belief systems, only clean, top-quality gems are considered auspicious. The Hindu Garuda Purana (chapter 68, verse 17) states that pure, flawless gems have auspicious powers which can protect one from demons, snakes, poisons, diseases, sinful reactions, and other dangers, while flawed stones have the opposite effect. A similar concept appears in the Agni Purana (chapter 246, slokas 7 and 8), which advises that a gem free from all impurities and radiating its characteristic internal luster should be looked upon as an escort of good luck, while a cracked, fissured, or lusterless gem should not be used at all.
Contemporary ideas on gem therapy by Yogananda in Autobiography of a Yogi
In Autobiography of a Yogi, Yogananda discusses that pure metals emit an astral light which is counteractive to negative pulls of the planets. He notes that subtle electrical and magnetic radiations are constantly circulating in the universe. The rishis found helpful not only a combination of metals and plants but most effective of all faultless jewels of not less than two carats. He states that the proper jewels, metals, or plant preparations are valueless unless the required weight is secured and unless these remedial agents are worn next to the skin.
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