There is a bead worn around the necks of Himalayan yogis, Chennai businessmen, Mumbai students, and Varanasi priests. It rests against the skin of grandmothers in Gujarat and athletes in Bengaluru. It is strung in the prayer rooms of Hindu households from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, and increasingly, in the homes of seekers far beyond India's borders. This bead is Rudraksha — and for over five thousand years, it has been considered the most powerful and accessible spiritual tool
