Origin Ancient, and shared across the Indian traditions
A string of beads, classically one hundred and eight plus a larger head bead, used to count repetitions of a mantra or a name of God. The counting hand does not cross the head bead; on reaching it the practitioner reverses direction. Materials carry associations, rudraksha seeds with Shiva, tulsi wood with Vishnu, bodhi seed with the Buddha, and a mala given by a teacher is treated differently from one bought.
Malas have become a common retail item detached from any practice, which practitioners regard variously as harmless, as a nuisance, or as the specific problem of wearing an implement of somebody else's discipline as a necklace. There is no single position within the traditions on that, and it is worth not pretending there is.
Facts
Origins
Origin PeriodAncient, and shared across the Indian traditions 2 Origin PeriodThe counting string has no single datable origin 2 Use
Who May Handle ItAdherents of the tradition 2 ConsecrationBlessed before use, without a rite of consecration 2 Attributions
TraditionHinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism 1 Learn More
The Oldest of the Bead-Counters, and a Retail Problem
The mala is the Indian string of prayer beads, and it is very probably the ancestor of every bead-counting device that later appears across Eurasia.
One hundred and eight
A mala classically carries one hundred and eight beads plus a larger head bead, used to count repetitions of a mantra or a name of God; on reaching the head bead the practitioner reverses direction rather than crossing it. Materials carry associations, rudraksha seeds with Shiva, tulsi wood with Vishnu, bodhi seed with the Buddha, and a mala given by a teacher is treated differently from one bought. The Indian mala is the oldest of these devices, and the transmission of bead-counting westward through Islamic and then Christian practice is generally accepted, though the exact route is not documented.
The necklace question
The mala has become a common retail item detached from any practice, worn as a necklace. Practitioners regard this variously, as harmless, as a nuisance, or as the specific problem of wearing an implement of a discipline that is not the wearer's own as an ornament. There is no single position within the traditions on the point, and it is worth not pretending there is: the object sits exactly on the line between devotion and decoration that a great many sacred implements now straddle.
What the Beads Are Cut from, and What Happens When the String Breaks
A mala traditionally carries a hundred and eight beads plus one larger guru bead marking the start and end of the count, and each bead is knotted individually along the cord rather than strung loose, both to stop them clacking together and so a single break does not scatter the whole strand.
Material, real and counterfeit
Rudraksha seeds, from the Elaeocarpus tree, are the standard material for Shaiva practice and a long running source of fraud, since genuine multi faced seeds are rare and expensive and the market is full of carved or dyed substitutes sold as the real thing. Bodhi seed is preferred in Buddhist practice for its association with the tree of the Buddha's awakening, sandalwood is common across all three traditions for its scent, and rock crystal or bone, traditionally yak bone in Tibetan sourcing, appear in more specialized tantric practice.
Who strings them, and what happens to a broken one
Lay artisans and monastic workshops both produce malas, and in Tibetan Buddhist practice a completed mala is often brought to a lama to be blessed or empowered before regular use, a step that matters more to the practitioner than the raw material does. A broken mala is restrung rather than thrown away, since the beads themselves, not the cord, are considered to carry the accumulated use, and a mala worn out beyond repair is more often kept or given away than discarded.
Cross-Tradition Connections
Belongs to Tradition
Buddhist practice uses the same count, and the bead material is chosen for the practice rather than for display.
The japamala of one hundred and eight beads is used for counted recitation of a mantra or a divine name.
Jain use follows the same counted form.
Element Of
Sixteen rounds of the beads a day is the standing vow taken at initiation, which makes the counted recitation the movement's defining discipline.
Beads for counting recitation, used by lay devotees and by monastics, and not required of either.
Beads of one hundred and eight for counting recitation, with the counters attached for keeping longer totals.
Related To
Shiva, Deities Mala beads of rudraksha seed carry an association with Shiva.
Mala beads of tulsi wood carry an association with Vishnu.
Sources
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