Jaap counter
A mala of 108 beads you can carry anywhere. Choose a naam, tap through the round, and the bell will tell you when the mala is complete. Your count stays on your device.
Tap anywhere to count
- Today
- 0
- Malas
- 0
- Lifetime
- 0
- Streak
- 0d
Counting a mala
Tap anywhere on the ring — or press the space bar — and one bead fills. The count runs from the sumeru at the top and returns to it; when the last bead is counted a temple bell sounds, the mala is recorded, and the next round begins at zero. Undo steps back a bead if you lose your place, and Reset clears the round in progress while leaving today’s total intact.
Focus hides everything but the mala, for when the screen should not compete with the practice. Pace counts for you at a steady rhythm, so you can chant with the phone set down. Both keep the screen from sleeping while you count.
Setting a sankalp
Open Settings to name the number of malas you intend to complete each day. The bar beneath the mala then shows how much of the day’s resolve remains, and the thirty-day record marks your sankalp as a dashed line so you can see at a glance which days met it. For a longer undertaking, set an anushthan — a total number of naam, counted down over as many days as it takes.
Which naam to chant
The counter carries 31 mantras, each with its Devanagari text, a Roman reading and a line on what it means — the panchakshari of Shiva, the maha-mantra, the Gayatri, the Mahamrityunjaya, the Navarna mantra of the Devi, and shorter naam such as राम, राधे राधे and सीताराम that suit a long round. If you were given a mantra by a teacher, enter it under Custom naam; the counter keeps a lifetime total for it like any other.
Traditionally the naam is chanted aloud at the start and then drawn quieter until it is repeated inwardly. The counter does not mind which way you practise — it only keeps the count, so that you need not.
Questions
Why does a mala have 108 beads?
The number recurs throughout Indian tradition — 108 upanishads in the common reckoning, 12 zodiac signs times the 9 planets, the 54 letters of Sanskrit counted in their masculine and feminine aspects. In practice it is also simply a length that holds attention without becoming a burden. The counter also offers 27 and 54, the quarter and half mala, and 1008 for extended anushthan.
What is the sumeru bead, and why is it not counted?
The sumeru — the larger head bead at the top of the mala — marks where a round begins and ends. It is traditionally not crossed: on reaching it you turn the mala and count back the other way rather than passing over it. On this counter it sits at the top of the ring as the marker your round returns to.
Is my count saved?
Yes, on your own device. Your naam, your count, your malas and your streak are stored in your browser and are never sent anywhere. Clearing your browser data clears them too, so the Settings panel offers a backup you can copy and keep.
What is a sankalp, and what is an anushthan?
A sankalp is a resolve — here, the number of malas you undertake to complete each day. An anushthan is a larger pledge of a fixed total, often 125,000 naam, carried out over as many days as it takes. The counter tracks both, and marks the day your pledge is fulfilled.
Can I chant a mantra that is not listed?
Yes. Open the naam list and use Custom naam at the bottom — you can enter any text, in any script, and the counter will keep its own lifetime total for it alongside the presets.