Choose the mantra you are counting above, set how many recitations you mean to do and press Start counting. Then tap the large button once after each recitation. The counter shows how many you have done, how many rounds of the mala that makes and how far you are from your target. Every 108 taps is one round of a 108-bead mala, the phone gives a short buzz at the end of each round where it can, and the count stops when the target is reached. The count and your totals for the day are kept in this browser only.
How it works
A round is once around the mala. The counter takes a mala of 108 beads unless you change it, because that is the mala our pages describe for the Gayatri mantra, the Mahamrityunjaya mantra and Om Namah Shivaya. If your mala has a different number of beads, type it in the beads box and each round is counted on that number.
The target can be 108, 1,008 or any whole number up to 100,000. Our Mahamrityunjaya page names 108 and 1,008 as common counts, and our mantras index gives 108 a day as the simple practice for the beej mantra of each planet.
The list of mantras has three parts. The first is the three mantras whose pages describe counting them on a mala. The second is the nine beej mantras of the planets, in the one form used across this site, each shown in Devanagari with the planet’s day as the mantras index gives it. The third is “Another mantra”, where you type a name of your own. The name is only a label for your count; the counter does not check what you recite.
Each tap is saved at once in this browser’s storage, so closing the page or losing the signal does not lose the count. Reopen the page and the count you left open is there, with its mantra, target and mala set in the form. Pressing Start counting again with those settings carries on from where you were. Choosing another mantra, target or mala starts a new count, and while a count is still running the counter asks you first. On a keyboard, Space or Enter counts one.
Reading the result
The large number is the recitations counted so far. The line under it gives the target and the rounds, for example “of 1,008, 4 rounds of 108 and 68 beads”. The bar fills as you go. When the target is reached the button is replaced by a “Target reached” line and a longer buzz.
Below that, “Kept on this device” gives today’s count for this mantra, the count for this mantra on all days with its rounds, and today’s count for every mantra together. Once you have counted more than one mantra, a small table lists each one with its count today and on all days. Today means the calendar date on your phone or computer.
Undo one takes back the last tap, from the count and from the total of the day it was counted on. Start again from zero clears the running count but keeps what you have already done in your totals.
Where traditions differ
There is no single rule for how many times a mantra is recited. Our Gayatri page notes that some people recite it three times, some twenty-eight and some one hundred and eight. Our Om Namah Shivaya page says a very common practice is one round of 108, and that some do five rounds to match its five syllables. For the Navagraha Stotra, some read the nine verses once and some repeat the verse for one planet on a mala.
The numbers 108 and 28 are old ones. In the planet rite of the Yajnavalkya Smriti (Acharadhyaya 1.303, as numbered in the Sanskrit Wikisource text), the offerings into the fire for each planet are 108 or 28. That verse is about fire offerings, not beads, so it is a sign of how long these numbers have been used rather than a rule for japa. Customs differ by region, family and teacher, so follow what you were taught.
What it does not do
It does not listen to you or check your pronunciation, and it does not keep time. It does not share the count between your phone and your computer: each browser keeps its own. Clearing the browser’s data, or a private window, loses the count. It makes no promise about what a number of recitations brings. For a mantra to count, see the mantra finder, and for a plan built from your chart, the Navagraha shanti planner.
Frequently asked questions
↳ How many times should a mantra be chanted?
There is no single rule. One round of a 108-bead mala is the most common count on our mantra pages, 1,008 is a common larger count, and some people recite a mantra three or twenty-eight times. Follow your family or teacher, and a count you can keep every day.
↳ What is one round of a mala?
Once around the mala, one recitation for each bead. On a 108-bead mala that is 108 recitations. If your mala has another number of beads, type it in the beads box and the counter counts rounds on that number.
↳ Is my count saved if I close the page?
Yes. Each tap is saved in this browser at once, and the count you left open comes back when you reopen the page. It is kept in this browser only, so it is lost if you clear the browser's data, and it does not move to another phone or computer.
↳ Can I use it with a mala of 54 or 27 beads?
Yes. Type the number of beads on your mala, from 1 to 1,008, in the beads box before you start. The rounds and the buzz at the end of each round then follow your mala.
↳ Which beej mantra goes with which planet?
The list gives the nine beej mantras in the one form used across this site, each with its planet and day, for example Om Praam Preem Praum Sah Shanaischaraya Namah for Saturn, on Saturday. The full table is on our mantras index.
↳ Is the mantra I type sent to you?
No. The name you type and the count stay in your browser. The first use asks you to confirm your email once, as on our other tools; after that, counting needs no connection at all.
↳ Does a higher count work better?
This counter makes no such claim. Our Gayatri page puts it simply: consistency and attention matter more than a large count. Customs differ, so follow your family or teacher.