Vintage shaligram mala, crafting project

The specific kind of beaded necklaces known as mala’s are quite familiair nowadays. Often they are simply worn as jewelry-with-a-spiritual touch, but they have a very ancient and rich history.

The earliest known examples of beads used in a spiritual context can be found in India, where Hindu monks moved loose shells, stones, grains or beads from one side to another to support in keeping focus and concentration and keep count of the number of repetitions of mantra’s or prayers during their spiritual practice. Another variation was to tie knots in a piece of cord or rope for that purpose. Around the 8^th century BCE, In India and Nepal, these two variations were combined to stringing the beads on a cord, and thus the mala was born.

From early Hinduism the mala also found its way into Buddhism and eventually its usage spread further into the world in lots of different religions and spiritual traditions. For example; in western Christianity the string of prayer beads is called ‘rosary’ or ‘pater noster cord’ and in the Islam it’s known as ‘mishaba’ or ‘tasbi’.

In different traditions there are of course many variations in the appearance of the prayer beads; for example in how many beads are strung on the cord or from which material the beads are made. Mala’s with a buddhist origin often are made with 108 beads, in many eastern traditions a sacred number with different symbolic meanings. It refers to, for example, the 108 names of Shiva, the 108 different kinds of desire that obscure our human minds or  the 108 Upanishads, sacred Sanskrit texts sharing wisdom in the last part of the Veda’s.

This mala is made with 108 beads from a special type of black stone known as shaligram. This stone actually consists of fossilized ammonite shell and dates back millions of years to the Devonian and Cretaceous period. Shaligram stone can only be found in the Kali Gandaki river in Nepal. It is considered sacred in multiple spiritual traditions, especially in Hinduism where the stones are considered to be a part of Lord Vishnu himself and worn for a multitude of reasons, such as; protection against negative energy and evil forces, mental clarity and peace of mind, a harmonious family life and healthy relationships. 

Please note; this mala is unfortunately not longer in wearable condition and needs to be restrung. The beads are 9 millimeters in diameter and have a 0,8 millimeter hole. Total weight is 146 grams.

A nice crafting project. Only one available.