Tibetan Malas with Old Large Inlaid Beads

Tibetan malas with large old beads inlaid with coral, turquoise and brass; black, white or tan.

These chunky old prayer beads are finely inlaid with small pieces of coral, turquoise and twisted brass wire. The beads are traditionally yak or camel bone or resin. There are three colour ways with 108 black, white or light brown beads. 

We buy these in Leh, Ladakh from a Tibetan lady in the Refugee Market. She was originally from the Kailash region of Tibet but now lives in Nepal. 

Her family spend the winter in Nepal assembling the beads into malas which they bring to Ladakh for the summer season. We first met her in September 2022, the end of the season, and we found her packing up on her last day before she went home. This year, 2026, she was recovering from an appendix operation and daughter in law was running the stall.

Length approx 60cm