Post images of your shrine!

[Believer]

Namaste,

That is a beautiful shrine TBTL.

Pranam.

[Jainarayan]

Namaste,

That is a beautiful shrine TBTL.

Pranam.

Thanks. I hope the deities like it. You should see the rest of the house. There's barely a wall (except in the bathroom) that doesn't have a framed picture of a deity or a prayer. I think it brings positive energies.

[McKitty]

Hello,

Well, this is not as beautiful as yours, but there's my little corner:



I don't really have money for murtis or puja accessories so I just use regular candles and plastic spoons used for bakery x3 But oh well, that's the spirit that count.
I have two big frames with Lord Shiva (I am ever grateful to him for showing me the path) and Maa Saraswati Devi (I'm a student.) I have Sri Ganesha in the middle, and a murti in the right. On the left of Lord Shiva there is a little picture of Ardhanarishwara (to remind me that God is non dual and beyond differences) and on Maa Saraswati right there is Maa Durga.


Aum~

[Jainarayan]

Namaste McKitty.

Thanks for your compliment, but please don't think yours is not beautiful... it is! It is beautiful because you put love into it, and I know the deities love it too.

Before I got my brass puja set, I used some ceramic plates and cups, and glass candle cups. Anything is fine to use as long as it's used only for your altar. If you have a color printer, Windows picture printing function, and good quality paper, you can print just about any deity image from the internet. That's what mine are.

Here's a little story about what puja really is. The grammar is a little off, because it must have been translated.

As an example, there is a story in Mahabharatha. Arjuna was performing regularly pooja for Athma lingam, but his brothers were not doing the same. He felt very proud of his devotional worship to God. As Sri Krishna wanted to control Arjuna's ego, He took him to Mount Kailash, the abode of Shiva. There, Arjuna saw large number of baskets of flowers being carried by the Boothaganas. When Arjuna asked Sri Krishna about it, He asked Arjuna to check himself with those carrying the flowers.

He stopped one of them asked about it. He got the reply that one of the Pancha Pandavas named Bheema who has been offering these flowers in a pure heart to the Lord which they are carrying. Arjuna asked Sri Krishna that if the pure heart flowers of Bheema who does not ever sit down to worship is this much, how much will it be for his own Athmalinga pooja which is performed every day.

Sri Krishna asked the Bhoothagana to show Arjuna his portion of the flowers offered. They showed a small mound of flowers lying in one corner. Arjuna asked Sri Krishna to explain this disparity. Sri Krishna explained that, Bheema is thinking of God at all times and whenever he sees a flower garden, he mentally offers all the flowers to Siva as his offering and so it reaches Siva the very next moment. Thus, Sri Krishna explains the Inner self pooja called antharyagam.

I think the boothaganas are spirits who were carrying all the flowers Bhima was offering to Lord Shiva, because there were so many. But Arjuna's flowers were a small pile compared the baskets and baskets offered mentally by Bhima to Lord Shiva.

[4Shakti]

Namaste,
They are all so beautiful

[IcyCosmic]

Here is my very very very very simple shrine, I hope to make it better some day. This is in the top right corner of my study room, its barely visible but my builder was very nice to engrave aum into the black plaque on the mini mandir.
Alot of things are hidden and misplaced because I was earlier removing a mantra booklet from the back of the photos and messed everything up xD

[JayaRadhe]

Namaste!
Everyone's shrines are so beautiful! Mine's a little... er... cluttered!
But, anyways, this is what it looked like in May:

From left to right:
Narayan, Mary (with a little Ganesh close by), Shivaji, Nitai, Krishnaji, Radhika, Nimai, Lakshmi Devi.
Then on the wall behind them:
Nava Durgika/Lakshmi (it's a holograph ), Mary, Lord Gopala, Christ (with a bunch of little funeral cards from my family), and Hanumanji.

And, then here's Radhika and Krishnaji a little closer:

[ShivaFan]

Namaste JayaRadhe

Thank you for sharing.

But I had to respond in regards to your poster of Gopala Krishna in the background.

Of course the true value of that work of art is in the spiritual power of it and in the beauty of the very Image which is presented so authentically.

But I also wanted to mention something about that poster.

I am sorry that I cannot remember the exact artist's name, I *think* it is Sharma. But if you look very carefully at the bottom of the print, it should be on the white border, it will note the publishing company and the artist (unless this is a later-day high gloss reproduction).

Where did you obtain this Poster (I put it in capitals, because perhaps you are aware, or perhaps not, this very print is of historical significance, and actually is a very powerful and considered by some in the same standard as a Murthi itself)?

This Poster, if original, is of notable value. It has value because not only is it extremely desired by very large numbers of humans, it is one of the classics of all time by the printing company as the issuer of this work.

Actually, I have an original which I obtained probably in 1972 (the Poster however, when printed was prior to the 1970's). Today, this set of print (the original releases) are very difficult to obtain and are worth very high value. Also I want to point out that this very poster, during the so-called "Renaissance of Hinduism in America" when Hinduism started to make direct Guru to Americans inroads in the late 1960's and early 1970's post-the early 1900's when a particular Vaishnava "Krishnavite" first arrived in about the time of WWI, than the later inroads by Saints in the 1940's and 50's, then when four international Gurus arrived in the 1960's upon which time this very poster was on the walls and in the little "temples" (from small apartments from New York City to San Francisco CA) - well, this poster has tremendous power and was sort of a "land mark" of the times.

I keep my original very carefully, there is now a small rip on one of the lower white borders. The originals have sort of a wax over the paper, the paper is thick. The poster is large.

If this is what I think it is, you possess something very special. Even if in terms of "American trivia", but this Image of Lord Krishna and this very Paper it is on, has tremendous power.

You have no idea how many Americans looked into it, for it cannot be fully explained.

May I ask you a personal question? Are you from the West, or from India? In India, there is no doubt that this poster is available. But there are cheap copies - of which are also Beautiful, but, there is something very, very special about the originals. In America, that very poster as original is beloved, and desired by so many. All those from the times then, they have all come back even if they wandered away from the path. And now, as they reach their last days, and even last hours, they are coming like the days of so long ago never were gone.

You cannot imagine what that Poster means to so many.

I am a Saiva. But that does not matter. You hold something very special if it is what I think it is.

In Goloka Vrindavan, there is a door. That poster is the other side of that door.

Om Namah Sivaya

[JayaRadhe]

Namaste JayaRadhe

Thank you for sharing.

But I had to respond in regards to your poster of Gopala Krishna in the background.

Of course the true value of that work of art is in the spiritual power of it and in the beauty of the very Image which is presented so authentically.

But I also wanted to mention something about that poster.

I am sorry that I cannot remember the exact artist's name, I *think* it is Sharma. But if you look very carefully at the bottom of the print, it should be on the white border, it will note the publishing company and the artist (unless this is a later-day high gloss reproduction).

Where did you obtain this Poster (I put it in capitals, because perhaps you are aware, or perhaps not, this very print is of historical significance, and actually is a very powerful and considered by some in the same standard as a Murthi itself)?

This Poster, if original, is of notable value. It has value because not only is it extremely desired by very large numbers of humans, it is one of the classics of all time by the printing company as the issuer of this work.

Actually, I have an original which I obtained probably in 1972 (the Poster however, when printed was prior to the 1970's). Today, this set of print (the original releases) are very difficult to obtain and are worth very high value. Also I want to point out that this very poster, during the so-called "Renaissance of Hinduism in America" when Hinduism started to make direct Guru to Americans inroads in the late 1960's and early 1970's post-the early 1900's when a particular Vaishnava "Krishnavite" first arrived in about the time of WWI, than the later inroads by Saints in the 1940's and 50's, then when four international Gurus arrived in the 1960's upon which time this very poster was on the walls and in the little "temples" (from small apartments from New York City to San Francisco CA) - well, this poster has tremendous power and was sort of a "land mark" of the times.

I keep my original very carefully, there is now a small rip on one of the lower white borders. The originals have sort of a wax over the paper, the paper is thick. The poster is large.

If this is what I think it is, you possess something very special. Even if in terms of "American trivia", but this Image of Lord Krishna and this very Paper it is on, has tremendous power.

You have no idea how many Americans looked into it, for it cannot be fully explained.

May I ask you a personal question? Are you from the West, or from India? In India, there is no doubt that this poster is available. But there are cheap copies - of which are also Beautiful, but, there is something very, very special about the originals. In America, that very poster as original is beloved, and desired by so many. All those from the times then, they have all come back even if they wandered away from the path. And now, as they reach their last days, and even last hours, they are coming like the days of so long ago never were gone.

You cannot imagine what that Poster means to so many.

I am a Saiva. But that does not matter. You hold something very special if it is what I think it is.

In Goloka Vrindavan, there is a door. That poster is the other side of that door.

Om Namah Sivaya

Namaste ShivaFan!
Well, first off, I'm one of the most westernised Hindus you'll meet! I've never even been to India!
In regards to the poster, I actually received it from an older Gujarati lady who comes into my work sometimes. She saw a Radha-Krishna pendant on my neck and asked if I was a Vaishnava, and then proceeded to give me pictures of Radhika, Krishna, Balaram, a Bala-Krishna pendant, and incense. Very nice lady, obviously!
I'm not sure when it is from, but it does say Bhaktivedanta Book Trust in the corner, which would lead me to believe it is a reproduction, though it is very thick and does have waxy-coating over it. I cannot locate a name on it, but I also didn't want to move Radhika and Krishnaji too much in order to locate the name. The next time I clean my altar (which will probably be in a few days, as Raksha Bandhan is coming up), I'll let you know if I can locate a name on it!
Om Namah Shivaya! Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya!

[ShivaFan]

Namaste JayaRadhe

This is a reproduction, but that it is from the BBT it is authorized. And the beauty of it, I am sure you must greatly admire.

Though it is not from thoses very significant times does not diminish What looks out to you from it.

If by chance you ever come upon an Edition of this printed in India, which looks old, a bit yellow in tone, the greens will be a pale touch against the black, hold onto that. One day you may also met some one from another decade, that very poster would have likely hung on the wall of one of the many little makeshift temples which held a lot of love, and could have been in a home in Boston, a small apartment in the Bronx, a Victorian house in the Haight Ashbury District of San Francisco, and many other little Temples of just ordinary people who would come together, 10 or 20 here and there. That poster would be there.

God lives in that very work of art, and if you love Krishna have no doubt about it, Gopala is very much looking at you. That smile is a smile that holds a lot of things.

You have a very graceful temple. Thanks again for sharing!

Om Namah Sivaya