Thokcha

Historically, thokcha were prized for the metallurgical fabrication of weapons, musical instruments, and sacred tools, such as the phurba.

Thokcha are metal objects approximately 2–15 centimetres (0.79–5.91 in), originally made to function as horse harnesses, buckles, fibulae, and arrow heads.

Many years later after their creation they are reused by the Tibetan people as protective amulets and adornments for clothing, lighters and purses.

Some Thokcha may represent real or mythological animals, often being deities originating from Tibetan Bön or Buddhist religion.

Thogchags or Thokcha (Wylie: Thog lcags) are worn as amulets by Tibetans, specifically people of the Himalayan regions, for spiritual protection and healing.

A gesture of sympathetic magic portrays that if you cast vajras from the metal, it would return a piece of the original iron to the site where it was found.