Sandalwood Mala Prayer Beads, 12 mm Beads, 41" SWM09 Start Price USD 59.00 Current Price USD 59.00 Time Left 10 hours 3 minutes Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Sunday, November 09, 2008 End Time Thursday, January 08, 2009 Location Tempe, AZ See more about 'Sandalwood Mala Prayer Beads, 12 mm Beads, 41" SWM09' Description These finely polished, highest quality, genuine sandalwood prayer beads were made in India. The 108 12 mm beads form a mala of about 41 inches in length. Let your fingers run over the smooth, yet solid texture of the beads, partake of the exquisite sandalwood oil fragrance and you will understand why the spiritual qualities of sandalwood have been prized throughout the millennia.Please note that you are buying a GENUINE SANDALWOOD product from the jungles of Karnataka. The trees that grow in the Mysore region of Karnataka have long been considered as the source of the best sandalwood in the world. They were the preferred choice for religious ritual, artistic and architectural needs of both Hinduism and Buddhism. Real sandalwood is extremely rare and in South India, good quality, older wood, retails for approximately $200 per kg. All other types of sandalwood such as GREEN and BLACK are basically marketing ploys that sell products from a different and much less expensive type of wood. These trees do not belong to the sandalwood family. RED sandalwood also comes from an all together different tree. It has a long history of application for religious ceremonies, ayurvedic medicine, marquetry and carving. Some retailers believe that red sandalwood comes from a rosewood tree. That is not correct. The rosewood being much darker and denser, is mainly used for furniture and carving. It is rarely used for malas. A note on the sizing of pure sandalwood malas: In India and Karnataka, which has been as still is the center of world sandalwood industry, in particular it is an accepted norm to overstate the size of sandal beads. This problem has developed over time due to the increase in the price of raw material. In general the actual size is about 1mm smaller than the stated size, so a 5mm mala is generally close to 4mm. Some manufacturers produce beads which are a bit flattened, so an 8mm bead might measure 8mm horizontally but only 6 or 7mm vertically. The difference between the actual and the stated size can be greater on large malas, those over 10mm. This norm is so prevalent that even the government emporiums take it for granted. Since this sizing has become so standardized we use it on our site as well. These beads have been hand-made and hand-polished by artisans in Karnataka, India for generations. All of our products are hand-made, and as in most human endeavors imperfections occur. They are the gesture and the signature of the artisan, please treat them as such. SWM09   Place a Bid!