Puja Submission by Arun on Friday, September 21, 2001
My way of puja!(carried out every tuesdays and fridays)
1. I would fast or I'll be vegetarian on these days.
2. In the morning I will clean up the prayer room (after taking bath).
3. The house will be thoroughly cleaned/mopped.
4. My mom will clean/polish the brass and copper puja plates,camphor
stands and she will bathe metal deities (Kali,Parvathi,Ganesha..).
5. I'll then garland all the deities in the prayer room and also the
ones at my house entrance.
6. Fruits and sweets will be offered during the prayers.
7. I'll start the puja in the evening 6pm.
8. About 5.30pm I'll take bath in the water mixed with lemon
juice, sandal powder, yellow powder, rose water and jasmine flower.
9. I'll play the melodious religious songs.
10. First I will turn on all the lightings at home.
11. I'll light up the main Kamakshi lamp.
The Kamakshi is an oil lamp with a small statue of Kamakshi Goddess on it.
Some people use oil in the lamp, some use ghee (clarified butter).
Mostly South Indians use this lamp.
12. Light up the joss sticks. Joss sticks are incence sticks. Use either jasmine
or sandlewood.
13. Cut 2 pieces of lemon(into halves),rubbed with kumkum and place
1 set at the house entrance and the other set at the prayer room
entrance.
14. Bathe the Shiva and Nandhi with scented icy cool water.
15. Put the sambrani onto the prepared burning charcoal and gong the
bell. Sambrani is a tamil word.Istead of using burning charcoal and sambrani.
You can use instant sambrani which is easily available and is convienient.The
fumes from sambrani would create pooja atmosphere.
16. The sambrani fumes will be showed the dieties in the puja room,then
the deities at main entrance (Durga and Ganesha) then I will proceed
to my study room then to the rice storage pot, then the whole house.
17. Next I will lit the camphor and circulate 3 times clockwise facing the
deities both in the prayer room and at the main entrance.
18. Then I'll offer it to my parents and to my family members.
19. Then I'll start to pray. (Chanting hyms in praise of gods.)
This the rough guide of perfoming simple puja. Puja may vary. I did not
learn it from books but I just follow from my parents.The main thing one
should bear in mind is that One must be clean both inside and outside.
The mind must be free from bad thoughts. If you start simple puja
with true love and devotion, you will slowly start to know god and
slowly he will instruct you and will instill good thoughts in your're mind.
It took several years for me to realise god.
Arun has submitted the following articles to my site:
How to do a Puja October 2001
Thaipusam Festival in Singapore March 2002
Panguni Uthiram Festival in Singapore May 2003
Hindu way of life: 20 Keys to Physical and Spiritual Development - Adapted from an article by Swami Sivananda January 2004
See Arun's profile at yahoo- more photos can be found there.
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