I have been reading about Tibet, how and why is coral important to Tibetans? where do they get it from?by Charlie, New DelhiWhat is coral? Coral is an important precious stone for Tibetans. They love to wear it for New year, dancing and Buddhist religious events in Tibet. Actually what is coral? Coral is in fact an organic substance. It is a kind of mined stone or mineral and natural in every aspect. It is considered as one of the most important and precious organic gemstone also. It is origin is really interesting. It is the skeleton which is formed by the individual polyps. This is a plant like animal and they will be finding as a colony under the seawater in deep sea. It is formed by the continuous skeleton matter secreted by many families of marine and gradually they will be come so hard. It will also look like a colorful underwater plant and biologically it will be growing and growing. It really is an amazing precious gift by the ocean. Mostly they are found in two main colors called red and pink. In rare cases, white and black corals also found. Among variety of corals, usually red Italian corals are considered as one of the best and finest quality. They are having more demand especially in Tibetan jewel industry and are found in almost all the oceanic parts of the world. The main importance of coral is there is a belief that it is used for curingblood related diseases. It is in addition more helpful for making the wearer courageous. As an important thing, it is mainly related with planet Mars and astrologically it is considered as fortune stone for mars. As astrological belief, it is used to reduce the troubles caused due to wrong or harmful positions of Mars. It is also considered as lucky gem for people who are having their birth dates 9, 18, 27 on any month and year. Tibetans are considered as one of the most important platonic gem and among their five most precious stones, this is considered as very sacred as Indians and even Americans consider it. It is often used as a decorative gem in all types of golden and silver ornaments. For Tibetans, it is one of the pre-historic gems and it has so many religious facts and meanings. Especially in Buddha scriptures, it has very good spiritual value. Coral is also considered as a powerful gemstone to challenge against all kinds of evil thoughts, bleeding and hurricanes. It is also called as the garden of the sea. There is no proper shape for this variety of gem and we can give a particular shape as we need. Commonly it represents the business of gold, steel, agriculture, weapons and property and it is closely connected with fire and its positive aspects also. Patricia from Tibetan LifeThis is a very interesting answer, thanks Charlie... but it doesn't completely answer the question. Can anyone else contribute more to this answer?