Large mala made of red sandalwood with a hand-forged guru bead and tassel

An elegant mala made of red sandalwood in a deep, warm wine red—each bead slightly different in grain and hue, ranging from light reddish-brown to nearly black, with the silky luster that this wood develops when worn. The mala is topped with a large, hand-chiseled silver guru bead featuring a floral relief design, crafted by a Tibetan silversmith in Nepal, with a tassel below it.

In Tibetan Buddhist practice, malas are used to count recitations; the guru bead traditionally marks the beginning and end of a round and is not crossed when counting. The mala is designed without a clasp and is available with either a pink or dark red tassel. We ship it in an elegant silk brocade pouch, which we select individually to match the color.

Bead diameter 10 mm · Circumference 90 cm · Red sandalwood · Silver guru bead · Tassel in yellow or dark red · Made at Atelier Tibet in Zurich