Rudraksha is one of the sacred tree in the Hindu religion. The word is derived from the Sanskrit language which means eyes of Rudra (Shiv, one of the trinity of Hinduism) as it is believed that it originated from the tears of Lord Shiva.
Rudraksha tree is found mostly in the Himalayan region and that from the Nepal is very famous. India, Indonesia and New Guinea are also producing Rudraksha. As the seed of the Rudraksha is covered by blue color shell when fully ripe, it is often called Blue berry beads. There are several variety Elaeocarpus however the most common variety is the Elaecarpus ganitrus.
Rudraksha beads (as seen in the picture above) are used for preparing rosary(garland) to be used for counting the mantra/religious chanting. Not only Hindus but also Sikhs and Buddhist are using Rudraksha for rosary. The fruit are blue and changed to black color. The central hard uniseed has 1 to 108 faces. 1 faced is called eekmukhe (one mouthed) and very rare and hence valuable. This one mukhe rudraskhya is kept in the Pashupatinath temple Nepal. Most common seed has 2 to 21 faces and 22 to 108 faces are also rare. It is common that rare things are valuable.
There is one recent report from Nepal through Nagariknews dot com that businessman from Bhojpur bought a 27 mouthed Rudrakhsa in 1.85 million Nepali rupees from German Rai who has Rudraksha garden. Rai said that it was his first big sale in his whole life. This may the single largest amount to be paid for single Rudraska bead in recent times. With the increased Hindu population and the interest of international community in Hinduism, Nepal can tap more resources by expanding its cultivation in the Himalayan region and exporting in the international markets. Our development lies in exploiting our resources in the most conducive ways.
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