This Tibetan mala prayer necklace has 108 beads and is made in Nepal. It is valued in India and Nepal as much as semi-precious stones.

It is said that these malas made form rudraksha provide a protective energy for the person wearing them. This one also has a quartz bead.

The rudraksha seeds are found at high altitude, and the best quality grow in the Himalayas.

Rudra in the Hindu religion is one form of Shiva, and Aksha means teardrops. A tear trickled from Shivas eye and where it fell a rudraksha tree started to grow

These particular mala beads look as though they have faces on them with different potencies and meanings.

Himalayan Handmades puts these Rudraksha malas together for mantras or prayer.

108 is considered sacred and a suitable number of times to recite a short Buddhist or Hindu mantra. The extra bead, helps mark the beginning and end of a cycle of 108, as well as having symbolic value as a 'principle' bead. As a sacred material, rudraksha beads can hold onto to energy of the mantra and help the wearer in his or her concentration and spiritual development.

The Rudraksha bead's surface is really hard with multiple grooves, as found in most of the Nepalese Rudrakshas.