Om Namah Shivaya · ॐ नमः शिवाय

Om Namah Shivaya means "Om, salutation to Shiva", Shiva being "the auspicious one". Without the Om, its five syllables na-mah-shi-va-ya make up the Panchakshari (five-syllable) mantra, which is why it is also called the Panchakshara. The words namah shivaya occur in the Shri Rudram of the Yajurveda, and the mantra is the most widely chanted prayer in Shaiva traditions. Various texts link the five syllables to the five elements or to aspects of Shiva; the Shiva Panchakshara Stotram, for example, gives one verse to each syllable. Such symbolic readings vary between traditions.

It is chanted aloud, softly or silently, often 108 times on a rudraksha mala, especially on Mondays, during Shravan and on Mahashivratri, and while offering water or bilva leaves to a Shiva linga. Customs vary.