Rudraksha beads are the seeds of the Rudraksha tree that Hindus wear around the neck, hands, and trunk. These are brown in color. Their size varies from small to large. Smaller beads are used in Japmala for counting. In general, there are 108 beads in a mala. “Rudra” means Shiva, and “aksha” means eye. Therefore, Rudraksha means “the eye of Lord Shiva”. According to a legend, the rudraksha tree grew out of Lord Shiva’s tear, which fell on the Earth when he opened his eyes after deep meditation.

Rudraksha trees are mainly found in Nepal, Indonesia, New Guinea, Australia, Guam, and Hawaii.

Rudraksha seeds are believed to possess divine and medicinal properties. They are classified according to the number of lines on them. In this way, there are about 1-108 types of them. The one-lined seed is called single-faced rudraksha, while the two-line seed is called two-faced rudraksha and so on. The single-faced rudraksha is considered very powerful and is very rare. Its price ranges from a few thousand rupees to lakhs.

Ascetic Hindus mainly use these beads. They are sacred to Hindus, and there are specific rules for wearing them. They possess many medicinal properties and hence are widely used in Ayurveda.

When they are in the raw form, the clefts can be made on them artificially, creating fake single- or multi-faced Rudrakshas, but these beads do not possess any divine properties. No test is available to differentiate between a fake and an original one. Hence, you are advised to buy it from a genuine source.