Rajaratna Ruby

At 2,475 carats (495 g), the Rajaratna Ruby is the world's largest ruby. The Rajaratna Ruby is also the world's largest star ruby with its 6 point asterism. In Sanskrit, "Rajaratna" literally means King's Jewel (Raja (King) + Ratna (Jewel)). The ruby belongs to a Mr. G. Vidyaraj and is reported to be in Bangalore, India. It is believed to have been given in a box along with 4 other gems centuries back to the ancestors of the Vidyaraj family and asked to never open the box during the ransack of the Vijayanagar Empire. It was safely protected in the box by the Vidyaraj family members for hundreds of years, until one day Vidyaraj opened it and found the 4 gems in the box. They were adorned in the crown of Emperor Srikrishnadevarayalu. The gems achieved overnight craze when they were first exhibited in Europe.