You are paying in full for something that does not exist yet, made by a man you have probably never met, in a country you may never have been to. So here is exactly how a piece is made, and the five things you can check with your own eyes once it arrives.
How a piece is made
- You tell us what you are hoping for — in ordinary words — with your full name and date of birth. If you want to talk it through, we book a call or a visit.
- Ajarn Phairoj decides what goes in. From 30 cm up he works from your chart: which pattern, which verses, which colours, and whether a deva belongs at the centre.
- You pay in full, and the piece enters the queue. A date is set for the writing.
- He writes it in one sitting, and it is filmed. The writing day is a working day, not a visiting day.
- It is framed, numbered and sent — or you collect it. About 30 days from the day the design is agreed.
Five things you can check yourself
One — the two corners. Ajarn Phairoj’s signature sits in the lower left of the cloth. The words Maha Yant Ruay sit in the lower right. Both are written by hand, in ink, not printed.
Two — the hand itself. Look closely at the letters. A line written by hand changes weight as the brush moves and no two rings are identical. Printing does not do that; it repeats.
Three — the video. You receive a recording of your own piece being written, from the first line through to the signature. Not a sample, not somebody else’s work. If a seller cannot show you the making of the exact piece they are selling you, ask why.
Four — the certificate and the stamp. Every piece ships with a certificate carrying a serial number and the shop’s stamp. The same number appears on the back of the frame and in the video file, so the three can be matched against each other.
Five — ask us. Send us the number. We will tell you when that piece was written and for whom. If the number does not exist in our records, it did not come from us.
Why we go to this trouble
Because we ask for the whole amount before any work starts, and we are not willing to ask for that on trust alone. The video and the number are not marketing. They are what makes the payment reasonable.
A piece you already own
If you have a yantra you believe Ajarn Phairoj wrote, but it came to you without papers, we can certify it after the fact — on three conditions.
- Ajarn Phairoj examines it himself and recognises his own hand.
- It is brought to the shop. We do not certify from photographs.
- It receives a separate number series, so that it is never confused with a piece we documented as it was written.
We will say no if he does not recognise the work. That is the only reason the certificate is worth anything.