Ek Mukhi Rudraksha bead is considered as the most auspicious bead.  The diety  of this bead is 'Lord Shiva'.  Astrologically, this  bead is under the control of Sun.  As the name indicates, the bead has only one cleft, facet or mukh.  There are total four different types of Ek Mukhi rudraksha.  The extremely rare and priceless 'Round Ek Mukhi', the oval 'Haridwar Ek Mukhi', the flat 'Shiva Pindi Ek Mukhi' and the famous and  commonly used, the crescent shaped, 'Cashew-nut shaped Ek Mukhi'.  Botanically, 'Cashew-nut Ek mukhi' and 'Shiva Pindi Ek mukhi' are produced under the same species, Elaeocarpus tuberculatus.  The round ek mukhi bead  under the species E. angustifolius is extremely rare in its occurrence.    Generally, this type of rudraksha is seen in the possession of  famous old temples and ashrams, saints and yogis. Very few lucky people own this bead as a God's Gift and is preserved by them as family relic.

The second type of Ek Mukhi rudraksha is known as 'Haridwar Ek Mukhi Rudraksha'.  This type of bead is oval in its shape.  These type of beads are available under the species Elaeocarpus serratus.   Botanically, it is a morphological variation of oval three mukhi rudraksha.  Approximately, 99.99% of beads under the species Elaeocarpus serratus are three mukhi, however, once in a blue moon,  it produces one mukhi beads.  Large no. of these type of beads available in the market are tampered from the oval three mukhi type.  Artisan beads in this type are  produced  by sealing off  two clefts with the plant resin or by pasting small pieces of other rudraksha in a cleft region.  Artisan beads are also produced by skillfully removing two clefts.  It is important to note that anatomically, the three mukhi and one mukhi of this type show similar  internal structure.  Due to large no. of artisan beads of this type floating in the market, all Ek mukhi of this type are wrongly stamped  as fake beads by people who are not conversant with morphological studies of rudraksha beads.  The famous 100 year old Haridwar based rudraksha firm 'Aslomal Kanhiyalal' recognizes this type of bead in their famous book written in Hindi, 'Rudraksha Aur Ratna Rahasya' page no. 67 and 86.   Original botanical description of the species Elaeocarpus serratus mentions that ovary in this species is from one to three celled.

The third type of rudraksha is popularly known as 'Shiva-Pindi Ek Mukhi' due to its similarity in its shape with 'Shiva-Pindi'.  This type of bead is flat in its shape like a kite.  The beads  of this type are produced under the species Elaeocarpus tuberculatus    The famous 'Cashew-nut Ek Mukhi'  is also produced under the  same species. Most of the stones or beads  under the species Elaeocarpus tuberculatus are with two clefts, the commonly available  flat 'Haridwar two mukhi'  and very rarely with a single cleft.  Stones having three and four clefts  are also rarely reported..  Flat type of beads under the above species are wrongly mentioned as 'Bhadrakshas' in the North India, however, it is not correct. 'Bhadraksha' is a totally different species under the plant genus Scaevola as Scaevola fruitescens (Family: Goodeniaceae).   It is interesting to note that the commonly available two mukhi flat bead costs only Rs. 50/-, however, 'Shiva-Pindi Ek Mukhi' costs Rs. 5000/- and the 'Cashew-nut shaped Ek Mukhi' costs Rs. 2500/-.  In fact, all these types are morphological variants under the same species Elaeocarpus tuberculatus.

The fourth and the most commonly available type is popularly known as 'Cashew-nut Ek Mukhi'.  As the name indicates, the stones are crescent shaped. This type of stones are  available under the species Elaeocarpus tuberculatus. 

We have confirmed the species identification of all the above  types  from the Royal Botanical Garden, Kew, Surrey, London, England.  The material is also deposited in the herbarium (fruit/seed collection) of Royal Botanic Garden, Kew, England.