Kavacha Designs, since 2017
Kavacha (kuh-VAH-chuh) is the Sanskrit word for armor. In Jayashri Triolo’s words: “Traditionally, a kavacha is an amulet carried for spiritual protection. It could contain sacred words written on bark, birch leaf, or another material and worn close to the body.”
Kavacha Designs are your “Sacred Armor®”: openable amulets that let you wear your prayer and most cherished sentiments close to your heart. Every Kavacha opens to a sacred space to hold anything special to you: a handwritten prayer, a lock of hair, sand from a special beach, dust from a holy place, even a loved one’s ashes. In her personal collection, Jayashri has held dust from Vrindaban, India, handwritten mantras, a lock of hair from her daughter’s first haircut and hair from her horse’s mane.
“When I place a prayer inside a Kavacha, I am taking something invisible and giving it a physical home. … I do not believe the metal itself is magic. The power is in what we place inside it, the consciousness with which we place it there, and the Divine presence we invite into that exchange.”
— Jayashri Triolo, “What It Means to Put On Sacred Armor”
How a Kavacha is made
Every design begins as Jayashri’s own pen-and-ink drawing, inspired by the amulets she has collected for more than 40 years and by nature, hardware and architectural features. Her longtime caster’s team builds the 3D model from the drawing, and she reviews it for scale and fidelity before casting. Each piece is cast from its own single 3D print, one print, one cast, rather than pulled from a reusable mold, then stone-set where it has stones, finished and hallmarked. The chamber closes with a gasket.
The designs range from dainty pendants to large amulets, in sterling silver (925) and in 14K and 18K yellow gold, each made to be handed down for generations.
Jayashri Triolo
Jayashri founded Kavacha Designs in 2017 after wearing amulets she collected for more than 40 years. She is an artist and designer who studied fine arts at Columbus College of Art and Design, where she found her connection on the path of Bhakti yoga. One of the first pieces of jewelry she made there, in the late 1980s, still hangs above the workbench in her studio: bent copper wire, a shark’s tooth and pipestone.
“Kavacha came from my art, but it also came from grief, devotion, love and this spiritual path. It came from my life.”
— Jayashri Triolo, “The Path That Carried Me Here”
What will you hold in your Kavacha?
See a piece you love, but want to make it even more personal? Jayashri will collaborate with you on a custom design. A custom design starts with a $100 design fee; the price is set once the design is agreed, and half of it is paid as a deposit before casting. Email jayashri@kavachadesigns.com to begin.
What will you hold in your Kavacha?