tulsi wood which is in the basil family is the most sacred of all woods in the hindu tradition. It is worshipped in indian temples as a living goddess. One hindu legend relates that vishnu spawned tulsi from the turbulent seas in order to help all of mankind. According to popular indian belief wherever tulsi is planted the place becomes sanctified as a place of pilgrimage and the sepoys (soldiers) of lord death dare not enter that place. In india tulsi is regarded as the most sacred plant. It is a much-branched erect bushy plant of about 4 feet in height. Its leaves are aromatic and they have minute glands. The flowers are purple in small clusters and the seeds are yellow or red.a tulsi mala is prepared from the stems of the tulsi (holy basil) plant. it is also a medicinal plant which helps to balance vata and kapha. Tulsi helps to improve devotion and love in the heart. the string of beads is mainly used to count repeated mantras. So actually it serves the same purpose as a rosary. Beads made of semi-precious stones pearls bodhi seeds or wood may serve all kinds of goals like counting any kind of mantras or other forms of prayer bows walk-rounds and such. The cord is the same for every mala and should be made of nine threads symbolising buddha vajradhara and the eight bodhisattvas. The larger bead at the end stands for wisdom realising emptiness and the cylindrical bead on top of the large bead symbolises the void itself. Together they symbolise the triumph over all adversities. mala a mala originally is a hinduistic and buddhist tool for prayer and meditation. It is used to count mantras during meditation. a mantra is a collection of words often from sanskrit which is repeated several - traditionally 108 - times. While repeating you focus on the meaning and vibration of the words possibly combined with the accompanying visualisation. By training in a meditation practice like this your thoughts come to rest and your body relaxes. Nowadays a mala is also worn as a fashion accessory. why 108?malas have 108 beads because this number has great scientific significance in the hindu and buddhist traditions. the circumference of the sun times 108 is the distance between the sun and the earth and the same is true for the moon and earth. also there are 108 nadis or energy channels in the body. there are 54 sanskrit letters- both masculine and feminine totaling 108. there are 108 puranas and 108 upanishads. the list goes on and on!! so that same sacred number is used in malas.
