Another Shaligram verification today and sadly, the stone turned out to be a fake. Once again, I am seeing more fabricated Shaligrams being passed off as genuine by sellers hoping to capitalize on devotees who cannot travel to #Nepal. (A Thread)
This fake was pretty good though. More convincing than some I've seen.
But here were the obvious signs:
1. There's a seam/break that you can see between the outer nodule and the internal chakras which pries up fairly easily. This is a giveaway that someone took a few likely broken pieces of a real Shaligram (the ammonite imprints) and covered them with a nodule of industrial epoxy.
2. The "printed" look of the outer chakra spiral. This one actually takes a fair amount of experience to recognize though. In some cases, this might actually be convincing as a real, river-worn, ammonite mould but the raised edges are the red flag.
Because! Here, for example, is another fake Shaligram I have. I got this one years ago and use it as a teaching piece. It's entirely fabricated out of M-Seal epoxy and a kind of carved stamp has been used to make the chakra.
So, sadly, I have to return this particular little Shaligram under bad news. It's a fake and was likely made for a seller's market. It didn't even pass my pin test, which revealed the plastic-y exterior. A real Shaligram would powder-scratch.
Anyway, if you want to know more about uncovering fake Shaligrams, or just about Shaligrams in general, check out my discussion here!
"Getting a Fake Shaligram Intentionally"
peregrinationblog.com/2020/04/14/get…
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