Rudraksha are available from 2 Mukhi till 29 Mukhis.

Rudraksha are available from 2 Mukhi till 29 Mukhis. The five faced Rudraksha are found easily and abundantly. One faced Rudraksha round variety has never been found till date and is thus a myth. A variety of Rudraksha called 1 mukhi half moon is thus sold in its place which is genuine and belongs to a family tree of Rudraksha. This bead is found easily and price is also not high. However there are suppliers who sell this half moon variety also at exorbitant prices taking advantage of the rarity of round 1 Mukhi Rudraksha. Round 1 Mukhi Rudraksha however is the most highly sold bead and is faked in many forms by unscrupulous suppliers. Many of these beads are made from berries and betel nuts and Areca nuts. Some have a stem implanted in them artificially to give a real look. Also some suppliers sell fake 1 Mukhis which have Serpent, Trishul, Lingam etc carved on them. A real Rudraksha does not have these markings. Rudraksha having 2,3,4,6 and 7 faces are found abundantly and hence their prices are not high. Fake Rudraksha are made by carving extra lines in these lower Mukhi beads to obtain the rare and higher priced higher Mukhi beads.
🕉 Also some scrupulous people fake Gauri Shankar Rudraksha by gluing together two Rudraksha beads. But these can be again detected by little experience and awareness. It is not very difficult to recognise a real Rudraksha. ‪ On account of its increasing importance and price, it is made artificially. the Nepal suppliers of today are making these by carving out extra lines in a lower Mukhi bead to get a higher Mukhi bead, or hiding extra lines to obtain a rare lower Mukhi bead and even by gluing together parts of Rudraksha beads to obtain another Rudraksha. Thus these fake Rudraksha look externally like real Rudraksha and thus have to be examined more carefully.
🕉 Fake beads can also be made from wood, cork, gum or from a type of clay. As well as from the inner wood of the plant species Aquillaria agallocha and from the wood of Chestnut (Akrod) plant. The Rudraksha should be brought from a genuine supplier who is accountable to the people. Authentic Rudraksha will both float and sink depending on how much moisture is trapped in the Bead so there can be no valid test for Authenticity based on sinking or floating. If the authentic Bead is a couple of years old and really dry from being in a collection box it will float because it is totally dry. But still it is an authentic Bead. Another thing to be noted is that Rudraksha being a natural product, it is available in many qualities from low, medium, high to collector. A buyer should avoid low quality beads which are light weight, have broken surfaces and are unshapely and have extremely dry surface. These beads rarely provide any effect. One should go for Rudraksha which are heavy, bright, lustrous, shapely and emit a positive vibration.!
Om Namah Shivaya!!