Koonammavu is a small village on the NH 17 a few kilometers to the north of Kochi. This village, however, is on the global business map, thanks to a cottage industry – rosary-making.

Although more commonly associated with the Catholic Rosary, numerous Christian sects have enlisted the aid of tactile instruments in prayer throughout history. A more recent addition to the ...

A couple of years ago, one of the women at the Indian Head church saw the beads at a diocesan convention. I1n April, the church started its own prayer bead group, parishioner B.J. Creelman said.

“I call it an act of prayer,” said Stephney “Skip” Welch, 75, one of the rosary makers. “God is using my energy to put a pair of beads in somebody’s hands.

A $60,000 (about Dh220,386) string of exquisite prayer beads made of black gold is making heads turn in Abu Dhabi. The beads are among 400 rare and expensive prayer beads dating back to the ...