Prayers while circumambulating

[Jainarayan]

When it comes time for devotees to circumambulate the murthi of the deity, I read that you stop at each side for a prayer. What prayer would one say to the deity? Let's say it is a murthi of Durga Maa. Would you chant "OM Sri Durgayai namaha" as many times as desired, or is there another way? Are there specific prayers to each deity?

[Eastern Mind]

When it comes time for devotees to circumambulate the murthi of the deity, I read that you stop at each side for a prayer. What prayer would one say to the deity? Let's say it is a murthi of Durga Maa. Would you chant "OM Sri Durgayai namaha" as many times as desired, or is there another way? Are there specific prayers to each deity?


Vannakkam Minotaur: Not all people stop. Some people will just keep going around. If you watched 100 people circumambulate, you would see 99 different ways, and that's because you saw the same guy do it twice. So you've succumbed to the 'one opinion applies to all' syndrome we all deal with from time to time when it comes to understanding customs.

Often moolastanams have side shrines, or little niches. Ours has a Dakshinamurthy, a dancing Ganesha, a MahaVishnu on the back, then on the far side, Brahma, Durga, Lakshmi, and Saraswati. Various devotees stop at one or two, none at all, all of them, etc. So the people who stop, stop at those shrines, or niches and pray to those deities enshrined in them.

Another custom is to touch the back of the shrine at the spot where you would be physically closest to the deity, often with your forehead, so you see spots of vibhuthi or kumkum there.

Some Sanatan style temples don't even have the design that would enable circumambulation. At ours there is the main shrine, but also you can circumabulate the two side shrines, for the establishing deity, another Ganesha, localy referred to as small Ganesha, and the Murugan shrine. Some of the bigger more complicated ones have many shrines you could go around.

Hope this straightens out all of the various possibilities. The shortcut method is just to do a 360 on the same spot. :)


Aum Namasivaya

[Jainarayan]

Namaste EM.

EM to the rescue again. Thanks.


If you watched 100 people circumambulate, you would see 99 different ways, and that's because you saw the same guy do it twice.

For some reason that struck me as especially funny. :D


So you've succumbed to the 'one opinion applies to all' syndrome we all deal with from time to time when it comes to understanding customs.

Of course. Again, when in mandir, do as the mandir-goers do. I must get there.


Another custom is to touch the back of the shrine at the spot where you would be physically closest to the deity, often with your forehead, so you see spots of vibhuthi or kumkum there.

That's a nice custom.


The shortcut method is just to do a 360 on the same spot. :)


Oh, like we did as kids until we got dizzy and fell down? Of course then you could look like you're in a religious ecstasy. Or like Sufi whirling dervishes. I'm sure I don't know how they don't get dizzy.

Disclaimer: no disrespect meant. I'm just bored at work and very punchy. :o

[zenvicky]

The shortcut method is just to do a 360 on the same spot. :)

Oh..Now I understand why many people do rotations at same spot...:)

Thanx EMji

[Eastern Mind]

Vannakkam Minotaur et al: I was discussing these differences with Boss. There is one constant she could think of, and that's clockwise ... always. That ones so important I've seen the priest or other devotees stop people entering from going wrong way.

The exception to that one is at funerals. Lots of thinks such as going around the corpse in the opposite direction, aarti in reverse etc are done then ... at least in Sri Lankan Tamil culture ... it is also a totally separate priesthood. You're undoing things at that time ... disconnecting as it were.

There was an funny scene in an old Tamil movie my wife was telling me about. Appaently the villagers had discovered that a certain tree was a fertility tree, and women or men wishing to become with child would circumabulate it together with apparent good results. But when hearing of its power, one villager comes running along and runs like mad the wrong wary around it. He gets odd stares from the surrounding crowd ... until he points to his family ... a brood of 12 or so.

Aum Namasivaya

[Sahasranama]

What prayer would one say to the deity?Generally, this pauranik mantra is chanted.

yani kani ca papani janmantara kritani ca.
tani sarvani vinasyanti pradaksina pade pade.

(All sins performed throughout different lives are all destroyed taking steps around the deity)

When puja is done with a sukta like the purusha or shri sukta, generally the 16th mantra of the sukta is used for pradakshina.

There are also specific pauranik mantras for various deities, but you'll have to look them up in the respective puja vidhans. If you want to keep it simple, use the above shloka.

Many Hindus also do pradakshina for Tulasi plants.

[Ganeshprasad]

Pranam all

There is a small difference when doing pradiksana of Lord Shiva, one starts as usual clockwise but when we reach the Gomukh the place where the abhisek liquids streams through, we would not cross that but turn back after honoring the charnamrit and come to the same spot from the other side, stop take a bit of charnamrit if not already taken then return back to have darsan.

Jai Shree Krishna

[Jainarayan]

Generally, this pauranik mantra is chanted.

yani kani ca papani janmantara kritani ca.
tani sarvani vinasyanti pradaksina pade pade.

(All sins performed throughout different lives are all destroyed taking steps around the deity)

When puja is done with a sukta like the purusha or shri sukta, generally the 16th mantra of the sukta is used for pradakshina.

There are also specific pauranik mantras for various deities, but you'll have to look them up in the respective puja vidhans. If you want to keep it simple, use the above shloka.

Many Hindus also do pradakshina for Tulasi plants.

I like that, thanks. I had to look a few things up, but I got it. ;) That will go into my little "prayer book". It's really just a series of laminated printed cards. I'm collecting prayers and mantras as I go along.

[internationalhindu]

While circumambulating at temples , there is something like an unwritten rule which says it is most beneficial if one performs it in the pace that a 6months pregnant women would have if she was carrying a pot full of water...i guess the example explains itself...(Found it from the blog in my signature...)

With regard to the slokas to chant, it would depend on the deity...if it is lord Ganesha, you could chant 'jai Ganesh' or 'om gum ganapathaye namah'...if it is lord Shiva you could chant ' om namah shivaya'...if it is lord vishnu, 'narayana'...and so on...