Prayer Beads

32-47-16

From: Tibet

Curatorial Section: Asian

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Object Number 32-47-16
Current Location Collections Storage
Culture Tibetan
Provenience Tibet
Period 19th Century
Date Made 1800 - 1932
Section Asian
Materials Wood | Brass | Cowry Shell | Glass | Leather
Description

Prayer beads (mala). Wooden balls with two pendants of small brass beads strung on leather thong. One cowry shell and three glass beads. Some Buddhists hold a string of 108 beads, called a mala, while they meditate. The beads help keep track of the 108 times they repeat a mantra-a syllable, word, or phrase used during meditation.

Length 40 cm
Credit Line Academy of Natural Science / University Museum Expedition to Southwest China and Tibet; Gordon T. Bowles, 1932
Other Number 14 - Other Number

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