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 PUJA PRELIMINARIES

Photo: Ganapati, from Pinterest

©2010-2019. Kavitha Chinnaiyan. All Rights Reserved

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Preparing for Pūjā:

1. Shower/bathe, put on fresh clothes, tie your hair up.

2. Gather all the p ūjā articles.

3. Fill both the pañcapātras with fresh water.

4. Put fresh food offerings into a clean offering plate/bowl.

5. Gather fresh flowers, if using. No worries if you can't get flowers.

Akshata (colored rice) is a good substitute.

6. Light the lamp.

7. Make sure you have everything you need within your reach. Ideally,

once you sit down, it's best not to get up.

Sitting:

Sit in the position that is most comfortable for you, which will enable

concentration and not make you want to change positions. If you're

comfortable on the floor, sit in the easy, cross-legged position. If you're

flexible and familiar with ardha-siddhasana (half perfected pose) or

siddhasana (perfected pose), favor these poses.

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Preliminaries of Pūjā

Gaṇapati invocation (even if the main pūjā is for Gaṇapati, this is a

1.

necessary step):

Make a closed fist and lightly strike the sides of your head a few times

while chanting:

śuklāmbaradharam viṣṇum
śaśi varṇaṁ chaturbhujam
prasanna vadanam dhyāyēt
sarva vighnōpaśāntayē

2. Achanamanam:
With your left hand, take three spoonfuls of water with the uddari ṇi (or
spoon) from the copper or second/smaller pañcap ātra. Pour one
spoonful at a time into your right palm. Chant one line of the following

with each spoonful.

Swallow the water after each spoonful:

Om Keśavāya Svāha
Om Nārāyaṇāya Svāha
Om Madhavāya Svāha

Pour another spoonful into the right hand chanting:

Om Govindāya Namah

Don't swallow this last spoonful of water. Cleanse your hands with it.

Pour it into a cup that holds water offered during the whole p ūjā.
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3. Pranayama:
āvitri Gāyatrī with alternate nostril breathing:
In this, we will use the S

Om bhur bhuvah suvah tat savitur vareṇyaṃ

Bhargo dēvasya dhīmahi dhiyoyonah pracodayāt

Close your left nostril with the right ring finger. Inhale very slowly through

the right nostril, chanting the mantra once.

Hold your breath, chanting the mantra once.

Close your right nostril with the right thumb. Exhale very slowly, chanting

the mantra once.

Hold your breath, chanting the mantra once.

This is one round.

Continue the next round, inhaling through the left nostril.

Continue the next round, inhaling through the right nostril.

4. Guru mantra:
If you have received the Guru P āduka mantra, chant it here. Otherwise,
chant the following:

Gum gurubhyo namah

Gurur brahmā gurur viṣnuḥ gururdevo maheśvaraḥguruḥ sākṣāt
parabrahma tasmai śrī gurave namaḥ

 
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5. Asana puja

Offer two grains of akshata in front of your seat, acknowledging the

ability to sit, for gravity, for the support of the Earth.

Bhūmā Devyai Namah

6. Bell puja

Ring the bell with the following mantra that dispels internal and external

negativities, and ushers in auspiciousness.

Jagadhvani mantra mātah hum phat svāha!

7. Lamp puja
ī
Offer respects to the lamp with palms together in Añjal mudra:

Dīpa devyai namah Dīpa lakśmyai namah

8. Kalaśa Pūjā

Place the first pañcap ātra on your left palm. Let the uddarini rest in the
vessel. Place the right palm over the vessel with the stalk of the uddarini

in the V formed by your index and middle fingers on one side and right

and little fingers on the other side.

Kalaśa devatābhyonamah

Now with the ring finger of the right hand, go clockwise on the rim of the

pañcap ātra uttering the Sanskrit vowels: am ām im īm um ūm rm ṝm

lm ḹm em aim om aum am aham
Take half a spoonful of water from the vessel into your right hand and

gently sprinkle over all the puja articles and yourself.