Tag: japa-mala
Bracelet Sizing, Mala Length and Pendant Fit: Get It Right First Time
How to measure your wrist properly, how bead size changes the fit, what mala lengths actually mean, and how to pick a pendant chain that sits where you want it.
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How to Care for Your Mala: Storage, Cleaning and When to Restring
A mala in daily use takes friction at 108 knots. Material-by-material care, the signs a thread is about to fail, and what to do if it breaks mid-practice.
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Siddha Mala, Rudra Mala and Indra Mala: What the Names Mean
The three classical Rudraksha mala configurations, what each contains, what they cost, and how to tell a genuine Siddha mala from a marketing label.
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Karungali Mala: The South Indian Tradition of Protection
Karungali is ebony heartwood, worn for protection in Tamil practice. Its tradition, its use, and the water test that separates real ebony from dyed wood.
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Sphatik Mala: The Cooling Crystal Mala for Sadhana
Sphatik is clear quartz, and its mala is the one recommended when the practice - or the practitioner - runs hot. Also the easiest mala to fake with glass.
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How to Clean and Oil Your Rudraksha So It Lasts a Lifetime
Rudraksha is organic and it dries out. A ten-minute routine every few months is the difference between a bead that lasts decades and one that cracks in two years.
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Tulsi Mala: Significance, Rules and Who Traditionally Wears It
Tulsi is the mala of Vaishnava practice. What Shyama and Rama tulsi are, why it should not be combined with Rudraksha, and how to identify genuine wood.
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How to Do Japa With a Mala: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners
Which fingers to use, which mantra to start with, how long it takes, and the small mistakes that make a new practice harder than it needs to be.
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Why a Japa Mala Has 108 Beads: The Meaning Behind the Number
108 appears in astronomy, in the body and in the ritual calendar. Here are the explanations that have been given for it, and what the guru bead is for.
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