Mala

(“garland”) This word denotes any sort
of necklace. Garlands made of flowers
are ubiquitous throughout India, both
as offerings to a deity—around whose
neck they are placed as adornment—or
411
Mala
given in the same way to any honored
guest as a sign of welcome and respect.
Garlands or necklaces made from more
permanent materials are important
pieces of religious paraphernalia, and in
some cases carry clear sectarian associations. Many Shaivas wear malas made
from rudraksha beads, an aniconic
form of their patron deity, Shiva. In the
same way, many Vaishnavas will wear a
mala made from the wood of the Tulsi
plant, since this plant is said to be a form
of the goddess Lakshmi, the spouse of
their patron deity Vishnu. Although
these materials serve as sectarian markers, malas used for ritual purposes can
be made from virtually any material.
Most favored are substances such as
amber, rock crystal, coral, semiprecious
stones, and gemstones—materials
which are durable, valuable, and not
formed by human hands.
For ritual purposes, malas are used
to keep count during mantra recitation
(japa), by moving one bead through the
finger and thumb with each recitation.
Such malas are usually strung with 108
pieces. Each mala has one bead set apart
from the others; mantra recitation
always begins with this bead. This bead
symbolizes Mount Meru, the mythical
mountain that is the cosmic pivot supporting the entire created order. According to
established practice, when one has
reached the end of the mala and has
come back to the Meru bead, one should
reverse directions. By virtue of never
passing over the Meru bead, one is thus
symbolically circling Mount Meru as the
center of the universe.
This connection with daily religious
practice makes malas powerful religious
objects, believed to be charged by their
owners’ spiritual energy. For this reason,
malas are almost never exchanged—
except for a mala given by a guru to a
disciple. Most malas are touched only by
the owner. People doing recitation will
often keep the hand and mala concealed
in a cloth bag (known as a gomukh or
“cow’s mouth”), as a barrier to potentially corrupting outside forces. The
conviction that a mala absorbs its
owner’s spiritual energy also lies behind
the taboo on repairing and reusing a
broken mala. According to popular
belief, a mala breaks because it gradually draws off its owner’s negative spiritual
forces. Once broken, a mala should
therefore be discarded, to prevent the
owner from coming back into contact
with this potentially damaging energy.