1) Species: Rudrakshas from Nepal & Indonesia both belong to the “Elaeocarpus Granitrus Roxb.” Family as they both share the same internal structure though there might be slight differences on the external surface.
2) Variety: Both Nepal & Indonesia produce Rudrakshas right from 2 mukhi to 21 mukhi, Gaurishanker, Ganesha, savar & trijudi Rudraksha. Rudrakshas like 1 mukhi & 22 mukhi to 38 mukhi are rarely produced. Whereas Rudraksha from India range from 1 mukhi to 7 mukhi. To check out the different varieties of Rudrakshas visit Multifaceted Rudrakshas.
3) Mukhis / Facets: The mukhis / facets of Nepalese & Indian Rudrakshas are very well formed, defined & have deep groove cavities on the outer surface, whereas the facets of Indonesian Rudrakshas are just like thread lines slightly etched in the outer surface, hardly a few beads would have deep grooves.
4) Shape: Rudrakshas from both Nepal & Indonesia share a common shape, 2 & 3 mukhi Rudrakshas from both the origins are elliptically round in shape whereas 5,6,7,8 are mostly round, 9 to 21 & above are oval with a concave top & bottom.
5) Center hole: Rudrakshas from all the origins have a natural center hole; the center hole may not be very well defined from 3 mukhi to 7 mukhi in either origins. The center hole is absent in Indian Rudrakshas, they have to be drilled by hand. Usually the center hole is covered with the pulp (outer coating), which at times just requires to be hand cleaned before stringing.
6) Body surface: The Nepalese & Indian Rudrakshas have obvious body protrusions where as Indonesian Rudrakshas are comparatively way smoother.
7) Size: The Nepalese Rudrakshas are way bigger than the Indonesian Rudrakshas, the size range of Nepalese beads would be12 mm – 42mm approx & the average size of this origin would be 18mm approx., whereas the Indonesian beads are pretty smaller with the size range of 4mm to 30mm & with an average size of 12mm.
8) Availability: Original Nepalese & Indonesian Rudrakshas are rare to find since lot of faking is going on, lower valued Rudrakshas are being converted into high value beads with the help of skilled artisans. Whereas the Indian Rudrakshas are commonly available. Faking of 1 mukhi half moon shaped from India has increased tremendously & a few well informed Indian 2 mukhis are sold as Nepalese origin at a higher price.
9) Demand: The demand of higher faceted Nepalese Rudrakshas is more than its supply, whereas the demand & supply of Indonesian Rudrakshas are equal to each other. In terms of Indian Rudrakshas the supply is excess than its demand.
10) Quality: Rudraksha from Nepal are considered to be the best in terms of its formation & appearance followed by Indonesian Rudrakshas. Indian Rudrakshas are slightly lower in quality.
11) Effects: as we always mentioned, the effects of a Rudraksha berry do not depend on its shape, size, colour & origin. The one & only constraint is that the mukhis / facets of a Rudraksha should be well formed & genuine without any human manipulation. Since Rudrakshas from both the origins have a similar internal & facet structure, both of them can be equally effective, further one still hasn’t come up with an instrument that could measure the percentage of effects of a Rudraksha bead of different origins. We have solely been the pioneer company in promoting Indonesian Rudrakshas, the most known vendors & websites use to claim that Indonesian Rudrakshas are of no use, today they themselves are selling Indonesian Rudrakshas.
12) Price: Due to more demand & less supply plus with a great appearance & clear formation & due to lot of promotion Nepalese Rudrakshas by far are the most expensive, Indonesian Rudrakshas are still very cheap & would be the right time to buy them as with time Nepalese Rudrakshas would go out of the reach of common man & all the pressure shall come on Indonesian Rudrakshas which might hike the price of the same. To know how known vendors have increased the prices of Rudrakshas