Guest guest Posted December 8, 2004 Report Share Posted December 8, 2004 I've just received several "Rudraksha" beads ranging from 1-mukhi to 21-mukhis. I understand that beads from 8-mukhis up are quite rare and therefore subject to fakery because of the price they can fetch. It seems more difficult to decide if there are extra furrows/channels/mukhis cut into a round bead, but those beads which are 13-mukhi upwards seem to be elongated rather than round. There seems to be some chance they could be formed from two round beads glued together. Is it OK to boil such elongated beads for at least two hours? And will glued beads separate in such tests? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 8, 2004 Report Share Posted December 8, 2004 Boiling should work... glued beads will become "unstuck." Beads above 8 mukhi are fiarly readily available. I would say that fakes usually start at about 14 mukhi. The best way to avod fakes is, of course, only buy from a very repuatble dealer. Thanks! Kari , valampuriowner <no_reply> wrote: > > > I've just received several "Rudraksha" beads ranging from 1-mukhi to > 21-mukhis. > > I understand that beads from 8-mukhis up are quite rare and > therefore subject to fakery because of the price they can fetch. > > It seems more difficult to decide if there are extra > furrows/channels/mukhis cut into a round bead, but those beads which > are 13-mukhi upwards seem to be elongated rather than round. There > seems to be some chance they could be formed from two round beads > glued together. > > Is it OK to boil such elongated beads for at least two hours? And > will glued beads separate in such tests? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 8, 2004 Report Share Posted December 8, 2004 Namaste Valampuriowner, May i complement Kariji's good advice to yourself as follows: Yes, she is right, boiling the beads works well. In some cases, you can boil up to 6 hours - genuine rudraksha do not come apart during this process. In India and Nepal, anything 8 mukhis and above, ****May Be**** likely to be fakes due to market demand and impoverished families desparately wishing to obtain a Lord Ganesh 8 mukhi rudraksha. These are the people with no access to the internet and live in villages with little standard comforts unlike the fast growing middleclasses of India in modern times. Another factor to consider is the location of which state, town or village the potential buyers and sellers are in. It is widely known to those with experience and expertise in detecting fakes, that outside temples/mandirs, ashrams and other holy locations and peethams, etc., stall-holders or shop-keepers are themselves hoodwinked by their suppliers. The shop-keepers and stalls are ****Innocent ****, and have no idea whether they were stocking genuine or fake rudraksha. They can only go by what their suppliers tell them. It is unscrupulous suppliers and dealers who really are the ones to watch out for, and avoid. Some of these unethical suppliers mix together genuine and fake beads in one lot to sell to innocent buyers who don't know the difference. The shonky dealers laugh all the way to the bank while the innocent buyer goes home thinking he/she got a good deal with discount and what-not, that they finally have the Holy Tears of Lord Shiva to worship or wear at last.... One example was a person who proudly showed me a Siddha Mala that he thought he bought at a good price from a source in Nepal while gallivanting around Nepal with one of those package-tours. I asked if he received a Certificate of Guarantee with his purchase and he said "No". It is not my business to criticize anyone's mala or holy item: ---------------------------- But this was an exceptional case; ````````````````````````````````` The guy's Siddha Mala was poorly strung with red thread and inferior fittings. Upon close examination and touching/feeling the beads, his 12 mukhi was clearly cut/altered/tampered by an artisan to make give the bead 12 facets. The 13 mukhi was altered from a large 10 mukhi to make it 13. The Gauri Shankar composed of two Panchmukhi glued together. The 14 mukhi was tampered from another large 10 mukhi bead. Of course the rest of the rudrakshas that were of low mukhis, were genuine. He paid USD$650 for his "Siddha Mala". It will of course cost him more to fly back to Nepal to see if he can find the person who sold him the mixture of fakes. Now this guy who was cheated in Nepal has since become one of our club members here. He wishes to remain anonymous. We must respect his wishes and not cause him any embarrassment. Rudra Centre India, America and Simone in Australia provide free authentification services for rudraksha. Those who desire their beads to be examined, are requested to send them over and also cover the postage or courier costs for us to return the beads to you. We do not charge for our examination or testing time, Btw, fake rudrakshas can also come in carved betelnuts. Those who say they have a rudraksha with Shiva Lingam, Om symbol or other holy symbol on it, I am saddened to say these are all fakes. They are usually inferior badraksha or indraksha of large sizes that are skilfully cut and carved or sculpted by unscrupulous artisans to create the Shiva Lingam or other symbols. Then they are sold as "One Mukhi Rudraksha with Shiva Lingam" or whatever marketing lingo the seller wishes to use for attracting the unsuspecting buyer. Personally in Australia, I have seen two such products that were shown to me by a lady, the wife of a classically initiated Archarya of Brahmin lineage originally from Varanasi. The lady bought those 2 fakes while visiting Rishikesh and Haridwar when they went home to India to visit relatives several years ago. They now live in the state of Victoria in Australia. To ease the anguish of the lady finally realizing that her 2 "rudrakshas" are fakes with no electromagnetic properties nor of religious sanctification, I gifted the couple and their child with some genuine rudrakshas. For the first time in their lives (they are not young either), they now own genuine rudraksha. Such is the irony of Lord Shiva or Lord Rudra.... It is said in the scriptures (I can't remember which one right now; probably the Shiv Purana or Srimad Devi Bhagavatam or another Purana or maybe Rudrashajapalopanishad): Rough transliteration/translation from the Sanskrit: ------------------ "One who manages to get/own genuine rudraksha is a blessing from/of Lord Shiva from preceeding births." To Valampuriowner: ````````````````` Your mention of the 13 mukhi as you described it, can be interpreted in different ways. Elongated can mean two things or more. Depends on your personal definition of "elongated". In determining whether your 13 mukhi is genuine rudraksha, inferior badraksha or indraksha, the best way is to upload a pic of it to our Photos Section on this club so we can examine it for you. Alternatively, you are welcome to email the pic to me at syzenith Another option is for you to send the bead to Mrs. Neeta, CEO of Rudra Centre in Mumbai, India. You can contact her by visiting www.rudraksha-ratna.com Hope the above helps. Om Namah Shivaya Simone Yin Little Rudraksha Sadhaka and Researcher www.rudraksha-ratna.com syzenith , "karisprowl" <karisprowl@e...> wrote: > > Boiling should work... glued beads will become "unstuck." Beads above > 8 mukhi are fiarly readily available. I would say that fakes usually > start at about 14 mukhi. > > The best way to avod fakes is, of course, only buy from a very > repuatble dealer. > > Thanks! Kari > > > , valampuriowner > <no_reply> wrote: > > > > > > I've just received several "Rudraksha" beads ranging from 1- mukhi > to > > 21-mukhis. > > > > I understand that beads from 8-mukhis up are quite rare and > > therefore subject to fakery because of the price they can fetch. > > > > It seems more difficult to decide if there are extra > > furrows/channels/mukhis cut into a round bead, but those beads > which > > are 13-mukhi upwards seem to be elongated rather than round. There > > seems to be some chance they could be formed from two round beads > > glued together. > > > > Is it OK to boil such elongated beads for at least two hours? And > > will glued beads separate in such tests? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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