Kanakdhara Jaap Combo

Free energising

Energising: Rs. 499, free with this combo. The yantra and the mala both go through a traditional puja with Vedic mantra recitation before dispatch. The sankalp is taken in your name and your gotra, entered at checkout. Select Unknown if you don't know your gotra and our pandit uses the standard sankalp.

Free energising. Personalised sankalp. Energised before dispatch. Free delivery on online payments.

The story behind the Kanakdhara

Adi Shankaracharya, still a boy, went to a house asking for alms. The woman there had nothing to give him except one dried amla. She gave it anyway. He composed the Kanakdhara Stotram on the spot, and the story says a rain of golden amlas fell in her courtyard.

That story is why the Kanakdhara belongs to people in a tight stretch. It carries associations with relief, and with giving when you have little yourself.

The yantra carries the Kanakdhara bij mantra inside the standard square frame with its four gateways. It sits in front of you while you chant, at eye level when you're seated.

The stotram has been recited in Indian homes for over a thousand years. That history is the honest case for it, and it's the only claim we'll make.

About the kamalgatta mala

The lotus is Lakshmi's own flower. She's seated on one and shown holding one. Kamalgatta beads are the dried seeds of that plant, which is why her mantras have been counted on them for as long as anyone has records of.

Every deity has a mala that goes with the practice. Rudraksha pairs with Shiva, tulsi with Vishnu and Krishna naam jaap, kamalgatta with Lakshmi. That pairing is why this one is in the box.

Each bead is a natural seed, so yours will vary in grain and in shade from grey brown through to near black. They're light in the hand, which starts to matter once you're doing a full round of 108 every morning.

How to do the jaap

When. Friday morning is the usual day to start, since Friday belongs to Lakshmi. A festival night works too, and so does any morning you decide to begin. Once you've begun, what carries the practice is sitting at the same time each day.

Setting up. Lay a red or yellow cloth. Set the yantra in front of you, facing east or north, raised on a chowki so it sits at eye level when you're seated.

Before you begin. Rinse the yantra and wipe it dry. Apply a kumkum tilak. Light a ghee diya. Hold the mala in your right hand, draped over the middle finger, and move each bead with your thumb. Keep your index finger off the beads.

The count. Begin on the bead sitting next to the guru bead and move around the loop. Arriving back at the guru bead means you've done your 108. For a second round, reverse direction from there. The guru bead stays uncrossed.

What to chant. The Kanakdhara bij mantra is on the card in your box. The full Kanakdhara Stotram is the other option. It runs about eight minutes and you can recite it with your hands free.

Keeping it up. Eleven days is the usual first commitment, and forty one is the longer one. Aim for a round you'll finish every morning. Consistency is what this practice runs on.

Want the yantra to stand up?

The Kanakdhara Yantra also comes with a stand, which makes this combo Rs. 951 (Rs. 1,200 bought separately), or at 7 x 7 inch in an Italian frame for a wall, which makes it Rs. 2,401 (Rs. 2,650 bought separately).

Choose your version in the selector above the price.

Care

The mala. Keep it dry. Lotus seed swells when it gets wet, and a swollen bead puts strain on the thread. Wipe it with a dry cloth and keep it in its pouch between rounds. Don't lend it out, since tradition treats a jaap mala as personal to whoever started it.

The yantra. Dust it weekly with something soft and dry. Two or three times a year it can go under plain water. Detergent strips gold plating, so nothing stronger than that.

Both. Keep them together in one spot. A practice does better with a fixed place to sit.

Delivery and returns

Energising takes two to three days, then dispatch. Delivery usually runs seven to ten days. Door to door that's nine to thirteen days, so order with that much time in hand if you're buying for a particular day.

Delivery is free on online payments.

Write to us within three days of delivery if the mala arrives with a broken thread or the plate is damaged, with the original item sent back for an exchange. Return shipping is paid by you.

Cancellation is open until dispatch. We don't refund a change of mind, since every combo is energised in your name before it leaves us.