Tibetan Prayer Wheel

Tibetan Prayer Wheels: Hand-Held, Table-Top and Wall-Hanging Mani Wheels

A Tibetan prayer wheel, or mani wheel, is turned by hand as a form of prayer. Ours are handmade in Nepal in copper, brass and wood. There are three kinds: hand-held, table-top and wall-hanging. This page helps you choose the kind, then takes you to it.

Choose your type of prayer wheel

Hand-held prayer wheels

A wheel on a handle, turned with a small movement of the wrist. A stand is optional on each listing.

Best for: walking and personal practice

See the hand-held prayer wheels

Table-top and wall-hanging prayer wheels

A wheel on a base or in a frame, for a shrine, a desk or a wall. Includes sets of three, five and ten wheels.

Best for: a fixed place at home

See the table-top and wall-hanging prayer wheels

How to choose a prayer wheel

How to use a prayer wheel

1. Turn it clockwise. Seen from above, the wheel turns to the right. This is the traditional direction.
2. Turn it gently and steadily. With a hand-held wheel, a small circling of the wrist lets the weight carry the wheel round.
3. Say the mantra if you wish. Many people recite Om Mani Padme Hum as they turn.
4. Let it slow by itself. There is no need to stop the wheel by hand.
5. Keep it in a clean place. By custom a prayer wheel is kept off the floor, on a shelf, a shrine or its stand.

What a prayer wheel means

In Tibetan Buddhist belief, turning a prayer wheel is counted as reciting the mantras it carries, so each turn is an act of prayer. The mantra most often used is Om Mani Padme Hum, the mantra of Chenrezig, the bodhisattva of compassion. This is a matter of faith and tradition, and it is the reason a prayer wheel is treated as a devotional object and not as an ornament.

What is in the prayer wheel collection

• Hand-held prayer wheels. A wheel on a wooden, bamboo or cane handle, from 8 to 15 inches, such as the 8 inch mantra wheel and the 15 inch brass engraved wheel. See all hand-held prayer wheels.
• Table-top prayer wheels. A wheel on its own base or in a frame, from 5 to 14 inches, such as the 6 inch Om Mani wheel and the 14 inch eight symbols wheel.
• Wall-hanging prayer wheels. A wheel in a bracket or wooden frame that fixes to a wall, such as the 5 inch mantra wheel and the 9 inch eight symbols wheel.
• Multi-wheel sets. Three, five or ten wheels in one frame, made to stand on a table or hang on a wall, such as the 3 in 1, the 5 in 1 and the 10 in 1. See all table-top and wall-hanging prayer wheels.
• Stone inlay wheels. Wheels decorated with inlaid stones, such as the artistic stone inlay wheel and the 9 inch brass and stone inlay wheel.
• Special pieces. The pagoda-style wheel with incense burner, the prayer wheel pen holder and prayer wheel key rings.

Tibetan prayer wheels: common questions

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