How To Make a Hindu Shrine At Home
- December 20, 2007
- 11,498 Views
Contributor
sarashereen
For Hindus, the spiritual center of the home is the shrine, where family members meditate and take part in puja, a daily worship ceremony.
You Will Need
- A room or area of your home
- Murti, or images and icons of a deity or deities
- Colorful clothing for the murti
- A deep tray
- Metal trays
- Worship tools, like lamps and bells
- A standing oil lamp
- A music player or the ability to sing
- a compass
Step 1: Pick a space
Pick a space in the home for the shrine. To protect the sanctity of this location do not use it for any other function.
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The direction you place your shrine is also very important. North and East are considered auspicious (as is northeast), since North is where Shiva & Parvati reside (important if you are a Shaiva or Shakta), and East is where the sun rises. If you are a devotee of Kali Ma, South (the place of death) is what you want.
Your mandir should not be located next to a toilet, nor above nor below one, as that would defile the sacred space.
The size of the shrine doesn’t matter; it could be an entire room or just an alcove.
Step 2: Keep altar close to floor
Keep the altar fairly close to the floor, as puja is mostly performed while seated.
Step 3: Decide which deities to enshrine
Decide with the rest of the household which deity or deities to enshrine.
Step 4: Acquire murti
Acquire the murti, or images and icons. Murti include metal and stone statues and framed pictures of deities.
Step 5: Place murti in center of altar
Place the murti in the center of the altar.
As children reach adolescence, they may choose different deities that inspire them, and the family shrine will take on additional murti.
Step 6: Set aside colorful clothing
Set aside colorful clothing to dress the murti in after they have been bathed during a puja.
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You can buy tailored clothing for statues at Indian specialty stores, or cut strips of cloth with a hole in the middle (which is what most people do). This is then placed poncho like on the idol.
If the design of the idol is such that a poncho would be difficult (for example, if it has a big halo behind it, with no space between the halo and the head), simply fold the strip of cloth lengthwise, then drape it around the neck so that each end comes out on either side of the statue.
Otherwise, a red piece of string draped over the left shoulder of the image then tied around the right waist will do. This can also be done with framed pictures.
Step 7: Place tray under murti
Place a tray under the murti so the sacred water or milk used to bathe it during a puja will drain into the tray.
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If you have a framed picture of your chosen deity, or a big and heavy statue, an alternative is to get a smaller statue of the same kept near the main one. This smaller representation then, is the one bathed in lieu of the bigger statue or framed picture.
An alternative to getting a smaller statue is to get a smooth stone and paint a symbol of the chosen deity on it: three horizontal white stripes for Shiva, a double white trident with a red dot in the joint for Vishnu, three red dots for Kali, etc., and bathe that.
In some places, life sized statues are “bathed” by placing a mirror at the foot of them, such that their images are reflected in it. Water is then poured over the mirror.
Step 8: Keep worship tools on metal trays
Keep the worship tools – like the lamps and bells – on metal trays. Keep them clean and do not use them for anything else.
Step 9: Light the standing lamp
Light the standing lamp and leave it lit all day.
Step 10: Play music inside shrine
If you’d like music, place the music player inside the shrine. You can also sing with no accompaniment.
Step 11: You’re ready!
You’re ready for your first home puja!
There are thousands, if not millions, of deities in Hinduism, but all are manifestations of one god.
If you perform puja regularly, you’ll eventually come up with a system, whether a traditional one prescribed by scriptures, or one you make up yourself and are more comfortable with. Once you create a puja mandir in your home, you must must maintain it on a regular basis, and preferably at set times.
Should you find yourself unable to do this, perhaps because you have to go away on a business trip, you can still perform your puja and perform a form of meditation at the same time.
Simply close your eyes, remember every article you have on your mandir (altar) and go through the steps of your regular puja in your mind.
As you do, visualize with all your senses till you actually feel the weight and texture of each article you use, the floor or carpet beneath you, the smell of the incense you burn, etc.
This is called manassa puja, and is recommended by scriptures as a more “advanced” and “purer” form of puja, since it is done in the mind.
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