Tibetan Handicrafts

Tibetan Handicrafts Around Town


There are a whole series of official Tibetan handicraft factories in and around McLeod Ganj that specifically give training and employment to Tibetan refugees. Everything is hand crafted using the same techniques that have been used for thousands of years.

The Tibetan Handicraft Society LTD., http://www.tibetan-handicrafts.com/, makes hand knotted woolen carpets & handicrafts. All the carpets are totally handmade – there are no modern tools or techniques. If you are looking for a traditional Tibetan carpet the prices make it worthwhile to pay for the shipping. You can shop online at the above URL.

Factory Floor






































































Where did he come from?

The Glass Bead factory which has been established by the Tibetan Unemployed Cooperative Society. http://www.tibbeads.com/ a non-profit organization that provides employment opportunities for Tibetan refugees. They sell bracelets with five glass beads on them here in McLeod Ganj. They export the same glass beads only with a silver liner to the West where they are commonly called Troll beads.
“Most of the Beads produced in the Bead-Work-Shop are exported to Denmark as loose beads and sold there.”

(http://www.officialtrollbeads.com/content/categoryDetail.cfm/sessionid/492051507075332867/site_id/5/category_id/132 or http://www.ivyridge.com/cgi-bin/catalog.cgi?cat1=Trollbeads&cat2=Troll%20Glass%20Beads). They use Italian glass that comes in meter length rods. I’ve spent many days there watching, visiting with the workers, and learning to make the bracelets sans beads. (And yes, Joli, it’s the same technique that Rinpoche has been trying to teach us. Guess I end up being the memory keeper for that!). They have a variety of stations set up and depending on the day they move around to different jobs e.g. glass blowing, inserting silver grommets in the holes, stringing beads, making bracelets, etc. It’s very well organized with sample books for the workers that contain a picture of the finished bead, samples of the glass tubing used for the design, and often the technique for producing it. They are truly phenomenal.


Factory Floor














































Beads cooling

Glass Rods







At Norbulingka, which I mentioned several blogs ago, is dedicated to the preservation of Tibetan culture in both it’s literary and artistic forms. “The skills preserved and passed on at Norbulingka include statue making, thangka painting, appliqué and tailoring, woodcarving, carpentry and metal craft.” http://www.norbulingka.org/

With all the Tibetan crafts there is a link to Buddhism as their culture is not separate from their religion. That being said Tibetan handicrafts are not for everyone – their use of color and design are often viewed as garish to Western sensibilities. The symbolism runs deep and the colors emanate a calming effect.









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