Many of our malas use the holy Rudraksha seed. It is a highly textured seed that is covered by a blue fleshy berry. If you look closely at the seed, you can see deep ingrained lines - these are called 'mukhi' in Hindi or 'faces' in English. The most common number of these mukhi is 5 but one can get from 1 mukhi up to 21! Rudraksha seeds are named after the tears of the Indian God Shiva - who represents ultimate consciousness. The seeds are said to have many metaphysical benefits such as calming the mind and balancing the body.