Tibetan Buddhist Prayer Wheel with Bamboo Handle. Classic design with copper, brass accents, and a bit of shell above the bamboo handle. 

Size: 10 x 3 x 3 in. 

A prayer wheel, or mani wheel, is a cylindrical wheel for Buddhist recitation. The wheel is installed on a spindle made from metal, wood, stone, leather, or coarse cotton. Prayer wheels are most common in Tibet and areas where Tibetan culture is predominant. Traditionally, a mantra is written in Ranjana script or Tibetan script, on the outside of the wheel, with “Om mani padme hum” the most commonly used. Prayer wheels sometimes depict dakinis and the eight auspicious symbols (ashtamangala). At the core of the cylinder, as the axle of the wheel, is a “life tree” made of wood or metal with mantras written on or wrapped around it. According to the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, simply spinning the wheel will have comparably the same meritorious effect as orally reciting the prayers. The first prayer wheels, which were anchored and spun by wind, appeared in Tibet and China in the 4th Century AD. Handheld wheels likely appeared within the next two centuries as Buddhist practices continued to evolve, although it is difficult to pinpoint their precise origin.

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