If you have ever tried to compare a “10 tola” gold coin from Delhi with a “5 pavan” chain bought in Kochi, you already know the problem: the same word for “gold weight” means a completely different number of grams depending on which part of India you are standing in. Jewellers, gold loan officers, and even families passing down heirloom pieces across states still use tola, pavan, bhori, vori and masha interchangeably with grams — and that is exactly where buyers and borrowers lose track of real value.
This guide gives you the exact gram conversion for every major Indian gold-weight unit, three fully worked examples, and the formula to turn any weight into a real rupee value once you know the purity (karat). Use it before you buy, sell, or pledge gold, not after.
Gold Weight Conversion Chart: All Indian Units to Grams
| Unit | Grams (exact/standard) | Mainly Used In |
|---|---|---|
| Tola | 11.6638 g | North India, Nepal, Pakistan — the standard bullion-trade unit |
| Pavan (= 1 Sovereign) | 8 g | Kerala, Tamil Nadu |
| Bhori / Bhari / Vori | 11.6638 g (same as tola) | West Bengal, Odisha, Bangladesh |
| Masha | 0.972 g (1/12 of a tola) | Older North Indian trade, small jewellery items |
| Ratti | ≈0.1215 g (1/96 of a tola) | Traditional small-weight sub-unit, mostly historical |
| Kasu | ≈0.4 g (approximate, not standardised) | Tamil Nadu — temple jewellery and old coin-weight references |
The tola figure is not a rounded estimate — 1 tola is formally defined as 11.6638038 grams under India’s historical weights-and-measures standard, and every other North Indian/eastern unit on this list is built from it. Pavan, on the other hand, comes from the British-era “sovereign” gold coin (which weighed 8 grams), which is why it has no mathematical relationship to the tola at all. This is the single biggest reason the units cannot be guessed at or approximated interchangeably.
Why the Same Word Can Mean a Different Weight
Three things cause real confusion, and all three are worth checking before you rely on a number someone quotes you:
- Rounding by convenience. Some jewellers informally treat 1 tola as “10 grams” to simplify mental math at the counter. The real figure is 11.6638 g — on a single ring the gap is tiny, but on a 10-tola transaction it is a 16.6-gram difference, which at current rates is worth several thousand rupees.
- Pavan is not a fixed legal standard. Most jewellers in Kerala and Tamil Nadu use 8 g, but you will occasionally see 7.5 g quoted in older records or specific local conventions. Always confirm which figure a jeweller or lender is using before comparing quotes.
- Bhori/vori is a spelling variant, not a different weight. Bhori, bhari, and vori are regional spellings of the same Eastern Indian unit, and all three equal one tola (11.6638 g). The confusion is linguistic, not mathematical.
Where Tola and Pavan Actually Come From
The tola is not an arbitrary round number — it traces back to the weight of a silver rupee coin used across Mughal and later British India, which is why the figure (11.6638 g) looks oddly specific rather than a clean 10 or 12 grams. It became the standard trade unit for precious metals across North India, Nepal, and Pakistan, and bhori/vori in the east is simply the same coin-derived standard under a different regional name.
Pavan has a completely separate origin: it is tied to the British-era gold “sovereign” coin, which weighed 8 grams. “Pavan” and “sovereign” are still used interchangeably in Kerala and Tamil Nadu bills for exactly this reason — a jeweller writing “1 sovereign” and one writing “1 pavan” are describing the same 8-gram unit. Because tola and pavan come from two unrelated coin systems, there is no neat whole-number relationship between them, which is exactly why Worked Example 1 above produces an untidy 14.58 rather than a round figure.
How the Conversion Actually Works
Every conversion in this guide follows the same two-step logic:
- Convert the starting unit to grams using the factors in the chart above (multiply the quantity by the unit’s gram value).
- Convert grams to the target unit by dividing by that unit’s gram value.
Grams is the “common currency” that lets you move between tola, pavan, bhori and masha without needing a separate formula for every possible pair.
Worked Example 1: Converting 10 Tola to Grams and Pavan
A family heirloom is recorded in an old document as “10 tola of gold.” A buyer in Kerala wants to know what that is in pavan.
Step 1 — Tola to grams:
10 tola × 11.6638 g = 116.64 grams
Step 2 — Grams to pavan:
116.64 g ÷ 8 g = 14.58 pavan
So “10 tola” and “roughly 14 pavan and a bit more” describe the same physical amount of gold — a buyer unaware of this conversion could easily underestimate or overestimate the piece’s worth by comparing the numbers “10” and “14” directly instead of converting both to grams first.
Worked Example 2: Calculating the Value of 5 Pavan Gold
A Kerala-based buyer has a 5-pavan gold chain and wants to know its approximate market value, assuming it is 22-karat gold (the most common purity for Indian jewellery).
Step 1 — Pavan to grams:
5 pavan × 8 g = 40 grams
Step 2 — Apply the current 22K rate. Using an indicative 22K rate of ₹13,675 per gram (early October 2026 reference rate — gold rates move daily, so always check today’s rate before transacting):
40 g × ₹13,675 = ₹5,47,000
This is the value of the gold content alone. Actual billing will usually add making charges and GST, and a jeweller’s buy-back or a gold loan lender’s valuation will typically apply their own deductions on top of this base figure.
Worked Example 3: Converting Mixed Notation (Tola + Masha) for a Gold Loan
Older jewellery is sometimes recorded using combined notation like “2 tola 4 masha.” A borrower applying for a gold loan needs this converted to grams, and then valued at both 18K and 22K to understand the range.
Step 1 — Convert each part to grams:
2 tola × 11.6638 g = 23.3276 g
4 masha × 0.972 g = 3.888 g
Total = 27.22 grams
Step 2 — Value at 18-karat (indicative rate ₹11,189/gram):
27.22 g × ₹11,189 = ≈ ₹3,04,515
Step 3 — Value at 22-karat (indicative rate ₹13,675/gram), for comparison:
27.22 g × ₹13,675 = ≈ ₹3,72,173
Notice the roughly ₹67,000 gap between the two purity levels on the exact same physical weight — this is why a lender or buyer always asks for the karat/hallmark before quoting a final number, not just the weight.
How to Calculate Gold Value by Karat Purity
Once you have the weight in grams, the formula for value is straightforward:
Value = Weight in grams × (Karat ÷ 24) × 24K rate per gram
This works because karat measures purity as a fraction of 24 (pure gold). A few reference points, using the same indicative rates used in the examples above (24K = ₹14,918/gram):
| Purity | Fraction of 24K | Rate per gram (indicative) |
|---|---|---|
| 24 Karat (99.9% pure) | 24/24 | ₹14,918 |
| 22 Karat (91.6% pure) | 22/24 | ₹13,675 |
| 18 Karat (75% pure) | 18/24 | ₹11,189 |
These rates move every single trading day — treat them only as a worked-example reference, and always pull the day’s actual rate from your bank, jeweller, or a live gold-rate tracker before making a real transaction.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Treating 1 tola as exactly 10 grams. It is 11.6638 g — fine for a quick mental estimate on small items, but it compounds into a real rupee difference on anything above 2–3 tola.
- Assuming pavan is universal across South India. It is mainly a Kerala/Tamil Nadu unit, and even there the exact gram figure a jeweller uses (8 g vs occasionally 7.5 g) should be confirmed, not assumed.
- Quoting weight without purity. As Worked Example 3 shows, the same 27.22 grams is worth a dramatically different amount depending on whether it’s 18K or 22K — weight alone never tells you the value.
- Confusing gold weight units with gemstone ratti. Ratti is also used as a small gemstone-weight unit with a slightly different convention in the jewellery trade — this guide’s ratti figure (≈0.1215 g) is the gold/metal-trade version, not the gemstone one.
Checklist: Before You Buy, Sell, or Pledge Gold
- Get the weight in grams on the bill or valuation slip, even if the conversation happened in tola or pavan. Grams is the figure you can independently verify on any digital scale.
- Confirm the exact gram factor being used for tola (11.6638 g, not a rounded 10 g) and for pavan (8 g is standard, but ask if the jeweller uses a different local convention).
- Ask for the karat/hallmark separately from the weight. A hallmark (like BIS’s HUID-based hallmarking) confirms purity; weight alone, as shown in Worked Example 3, can swing the value by tens of thousands of rupees depending on karat.
- Check the day’s actual gold rate rather than relying on the indicative rates used in this guide’s examples — 24K, 22K, and 18K rates move daily and can shift meaningfully over just a few trading sessions.
- For a gold loan specifically, ask how the lender treats non-gold components (stones, enamel, other metals in an alloy) — these typically reduce the eligible weight used for valuation, separately from the purity discount.
Converting Gold Weight on CheckMatter’s Unit Converter
CheckMatter’s Unit Converter tool handles standard metric and imperial weight units (grams, kilograms, pounds, ounces, stone) instantly. It does not currently include tola, pavan, bhori or masha as selectable units, since these are India-specific traditional measures rather than international standard units — which is exactly why this guide exists as a manual reference. Use the chart above to convert to grams first, then use the Unit Converter for any further metric-to-imperial conversion you need (for example, grams to ounces for an international valuation).
If you are weighing up a gold loan specifically, our Gold Loan vs Personal Loan guide walks through how lenders value pledged gold and compare total borrowing cost once you know the exact weight and purity.
For other traditional Indian units outside of gold — like land measured in bigha, katha or guntha — see our Land Area Converter guide, which follows the same state-by-state conversion approach.
FAQ
Is 1 tola exactly 10 grams or 11.66 grams?
It is 11.6638 grams. Some jewellers round it to 10 grams for quick mental math, but that is an informal shortcut, not the standard definition. Always use 11.6638 g for any calculation involving more than a gram or two of difference.
How many tola is 1 pavan?
1 pavan (8 g) ÷ 11.6638 g per tola ≈ 0.686 tola. The two units come from entirely different historical origins (the Mughal-era tola vs the British-era sovereign coin), so this ratio is not a clean round number.
What’s the difference between bhori and vori?
Nothing in terms of weight — they are regional spelling variants of the same Eastern Indian/Bangladeshi unit, and both equal 1 tola (11.6638 g).
Can I use this chart for silver as well?
The unit definitions (tola, pavan, masha, etc.) are weight units, not gold-specific, so the gram conversions apply the same way to silver, platinum, or any other metal measured in these traditional units. Only the rate-per-gram step in the value formula changes based on which metal and purity you’re pricing.
How do I calculate gold value from weight and purity?
Multiply the weight in grams by (karat ÷ 24), then multiply that by the current 24-karat rate per gram. See the “How to Calculate Gold Value by Karat Purity” section above for the full formula and worked rates.
Why don’t jewellers all use grams directly?
Tola, pavan, and bhori predate the metric system in India and remain deeply embedded in regional trade, family records, and older jewellery bills. Many jewellers now quote both the traditional unit and its gram equivalent on a bill specifically to avoid this kind of confusion.