No Krishna Temple where i live

[Indra]

I would like to visit a Lord Krishna Temple but there is no nearby in my area. I live in West-Central Europe and the next Krishna Temple is some 300 km away from me. Those Krishna Temple is from ISKCON and it is a Hare Krishna Temple but i cannot visit it since it is too far away. What can i do? Do i need a temple or can i be a hindu alone for myself? I dont know any indians in my area, i was once in a indian restaurant but i dont know if they were reall indians or pakistanis.... Sometimes there are indian travellers who trade things but they are just visitors.

[ScottMalaysia]

Are there any other Hindu temples nearby your house?

If there aren't any, then you should set up a shrine at home. Do you have an ishta deivata (chosen god)? If you do, then set up a shrine with a picture of your ishta deivata and other gods that you want to worship. You can get them from the Internet (try Google Image Search (http://images.google.com)). Get an oil lamp, the traditional ones are made from brass or clay, but if there isn't an Indian grocer or Hindu supply shop nearby, you can improvise by using a vigil lamp from an Orthodox Christian supplier, which you should be able to find in Central Europe. Place the lamp in your home shrine and light it each night at 6:30 pm. However, make sure that the lamp isn't facing south. Home altars should face east. You can also offer an incense stick when you light the lamp
If you're interested in performing some simple puja rituals, then let me know and I will give you a short explanation. However, puja equipment may be a bit hard to come by in Central Europe, so again you will probably have to improvise.

[Indra]

Are there any other Hindu temples nearby your house?

No, there are no hindu temples near my house, in my country is only one hindu temple i think 300km away from me, it is a ISKCON temple.



If there aren't any, then you should set up a shrine at home. Do you have an ishta deivata (chosen god)? If you do, then set up a shrine with a picture of your ishta deivata and other gods that you want to worship. You can get them from the Internet (try Google Image Search (http://images.google.com)). Get an oil lamp, the traditional ones are made from brass or clay, but if there isn't an Indian grocer or Hindu supply shop nearby, you can improvise by using a vigil lamp from an Orthodox Christian supplier, which you should be able to find in Central Europe. Place the lamp in your home shrine and light it each night at 6:30 pm. However, make sure that the lamp isn't facing south. Home altars should face east. You can also offer an incense stick when you light the lamp
If you're interested in performing some simple puja rituals, then let me know and I will give you a short explanation. However, puja equipment may be a bit hard to come by in Central Europe, so again you will probably have to improvise.

Thanks. What are puja rituals? I would be glad if you give me the short explanation. My choosen god "ishta deivata" is Krishna.

[ScottMalaysia]

The only thing necessary for Puja is a pure heart. There are no strict rules for home puja, although there are books which will help you. The puja that I do is modelled on that performed by my girlfriend's grandfather.

You need:
A small handheld bell
A small container for water with a spoon
Incense sticks and an incense holder
Flowers and a plate for them (optional)
An oil lamp
A camphor lamp
http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l269/michaelorapronobis/lamps.jpg
(the last two items may be hard to come by for you: you can either order them online or improvise from other items that you can find)

To start with: Prepare everything: place several pieces of camphor in the camphor lamp, fill up the oil lamps and make sure you have enough wick for the handheld one (wicks can be made by twisting cotton wool).
Light the standing oil lamp that I told you about in the first post (the one I recommended to use an Orthodox vigil lamp for). While you light it, you can say the Prayers for Lighting the Lamp. (http://www.iloveindia.com/spirituality/sloka/sloka-while-lighting-lamp.html)

For the first time, purify the water in the container. Do this by chanting:
Om Gangyai Namaha
Om Yamunayai Namaha
Om Godavariyai Namaha
Om Sarawatyai Namaha
Om Narmatayai Namaha
Om Sintaveh Namaha
Om Kaaveriya Namaha
To purify the water, offer flowers (I dip them in the water) and chant your Ishta Deivata's mantra 9 times. Then dip the flowers in the water and sprinkle your shrine with the water. This need not be done every day - once a week is enough, or when you run out.

Take a spoonful of water from the pot with your left hand, and place it in your right hand. Wash your hands with the water. Then take another spoonful, place it in your right hand and sip it, saying:
Om Sumukhaya Svaha
Om Ekadantaya Svaha
Om Gajakarnakaya Svaha

Then salute Lord Ganesha (who is prayed to at the beginning of any activity to remove obstacles) by holding your hand in prayer position (palms pressed together). Then knock on the temples of your head with closed fists while saying:
Om shuklambaradam vishnum
shasivarnam chaturbhujam
prasanna vadanam dhyâyet
sarva-vighno-pashântaye (return your hands to prayer position as you say this line)

Now light the incense and use the flame on the incense stick to light the oil lamp. Place the incense in the incense holder. Ring the bell three times in your right hand (keeping it above waist level). (Let me know if you get a proper Puja bell, with a figure of Lord Nandi the bull on the handle.)

Transfer the bell to your left hand, then ring it while offering the incense to the Deities by moving it in clockwise circles around the picture. Always offer everything first to Lord Ganesha before offering it to any other Deity. If you have flowers, then offer them next in the same manner. Then light the small oil lamp and offer that in the same manner. To light the camphor lamp, take a piece of camphor and light it from the oil lamp, then drop it into the lamp where you should have already place a couple of pieces of camphor. Take the camphor lamp and offer it in the same manner as the oil lamp, but slower. After offering the camphor lamp, offer it to other people if anyone else is there to touch the flame, then you touch the flame three times and touch your forehead. The Puja is then ended.

I'm sorry if this is a bit complicated - feel free to do what you can. The devotion is the key ingredient - if there is no devotion then the rituals are useless. Concentrate on offering each item. You may pray silently in your mind to the god or goddess you are offering the item to. Don't worry about making mistakes - God and the gods will still accept your offering.

I hope this helps you.
Aum Namah Sivaya

[ScottMalaysia]

Here is a link to a website with Ganesha Puja explained. http://www.hinduismtoday.com/archives/2006/4-6/37-52_puja.shtml
I have done this Puja once, and I found that I was concentrating on the rules and the mantras more than the actual devotion, and I haven't done it since. This is closer to the Puja done in the temples, however, and if you want to try it, I'd recommend you practice the mantras a few times and become very familiar with the instructions first.

[ScottMalaysia]

Oh, and if you're interested in performing puja the Gaudiya Vaishnava way (what they call 'arati') then visit www.deityworship.com , enter the site and click on "Home Worship". This will give you extremely detailed instructions on how to worship Lord Krishna in your home the Gaudiya way. However, the puja that I gave instructions for is easier and in my opinion better - ISKCON rejects worship of Lord Ganesha, Lord Shiva and anyone else except for Lord Krishna, His avatars (which for them include Lord Chaitanya) and Srila Prabhupada. They don't even pray to Lord Ganesha to remove obstacles before any act of worship performed. Come to think of it, that may be why there are so many problems with ISKCON...

Hope I have been of help.
Aum Namah Sivaya