first home shrine

[jaya_narayana]

Namaste Everyone :)

i am new to Sanatana Dharma and am setting up my first home shrine. I was wondering, are there certain mantras needed to install the deity at home or can i start worshiping as is? i consider myself vaishnava and have a statue of Narayana and a picture of Krishna if that helps. also any other tips are greatly appreciated.

thanks so much for your insights and help :)

Jai Sri Krishna!!!

[Hemant]

Namaste jaya_narayana,

My understanding is that you can take your Murtis to a temple and have the Pandit at the temple "give life" to your Images. This service will cost you a nominal fee.

I have spent a long time wondering whether I need to do this myself. My Murtis haven't been through any ritual other than regular worship. I keep reading that they must go through these rituals otherwise the statue or picture is just an object and my prayers are in vain. :-(

I have two opinions about giving life to Murtis. The first being that any Murti is only there to help you focus on a particular aspect of God or aspect of assistance that God can give you. The second being that maybe the "requirement" of these rituals to be performed by a trained Pandit is a tactic used by a temple to encourage you to attend the temple whilst supporting the temples financial needs. (I am coming from the angle that they need money to stay open, rather than the they are out for your money angle.)

Om Namah Shivaya

Hemant

[jaya_narayana]

Namaste!

Thank you Hemant for the information. if i don't live near a temple to have the ceremony done, can i still perform pujas with the murtis?

another question to everyone. i purchased a basic puja set that contains many of the instruments needed. one thing puzzled me though, the kit included a roll of red thread and it said that it was to tie around the wrist. my question is which wrist does it go around, and is it worn during the puja or put on after?

thanks again :)

Jai Sri Krishna!

[sm78]

Worship to a vana linga or a shaligrama shila does not need prana prathista as they are swambhu...you may try to get hold of a narmadeswar vana linga for shiva and do your puja. Also puja to any other deity (except narayana) can be done on a vana linga.

Ofcourse I may be wrong and my point of view comes from the fact that the paddhatis (manuals, more than 1) I have seen for vanalinga nitya (daily) puja does not include a customary prana pratistha ritual as in case of parthiva (earth) or prastar (stone) or other lingas.

Finally, a simple ritual of pouring water or milk on lingam and subsequent meditation in ones spine is quite peaceful.

Getting further into details needs some guidance and upadesa.

[aumprakash]

i feel at most peace at "Kanchi Kamakshi temple" located in Kanchi,TamilNadu,India, the "murti" was installed by Adi Sankaracharya, If you ask me about prana prathista , to pay "pujari" a nominal fee is alrite, but a hefty sum is NO NO, the devotion matters , nothing else..not even the rituals....

[dhruva023]

Hi, jay narayana,
I found one hindu magazine in english, it has nice article about home shrine.
its nice, I will scan it and upload it when I get home.
The magazine name is " Marg "

[jaya_narayana]

Namaste Dhruva :)

that will really help me a lot. thank you so much for sharing the article.

Jai Sri Krishna!

[ScottMalaysia]

Namaste,

Any picture of Lord Krishna is considered non-different from Krishna.

Instructions on performing Arati (ceremonial worship with lamps, incense etc) are provided here. (http://www.deityworship.com/home_worship/index.php?page=home_arati.htm)

Haribol!

[dhruva023]

Hi, Jay

This is the front page of magazine.

http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=x4j0ccn8n5p&thumb=4

First page of article:
http://www.mediafire.com/?nrauhtucicf

Second page:
http://www.mediafire.com/?a8vmult61xp

Third page:
http://www.mediafire.com/?m5ub6vuqerq

Fourth page:
http://www.mediafire.com/?y1dwhjnziiy



I recommend that you download the pictures and zoom in to read it.
If you have any trouble reading them, let me know, I can scan them with higher resolutions.

[jaya_narayana]

Namaste Dhruva and Scot,

thank you Scot for the link, the information was very useful.

Dhruva, thank you as well for your kindness in uploading those pages. the information was exactly what i'm looking for.

based on what i've read online and from both of you is it safe to assume that the actual ritual of puja varies from house hold to house hold?

thank you again, you both have cleared up a lot of my confusion.

Jai Sri Krishna!!!