Pooja Room Setup

What we believe is – GOD is the manifestation of endless strength and power that motivate us and the FAITH in god is not only to help us overcome difficulties but also instills fear that keeps us from doing evil. So the place where we worship becomes pious and sacred; utmost importance, rules and guidelines are followed in Hindu tradition to keep this place of worship at home – the pooja room – pure, clean and well maintained.

For young couples who are away from home or for folks who are setting up their new home, this blog will provide some of the basic things to setup a Pooja mandir/room at home; and things to keep in a Pooja mandir/room. I will touch on the below sections in this blog

1. How to setup a pooja room/mandir at home
2. Things to have in a pooja room/mandir – Bronze and Silver items
3. About God idols and portraits
4. How to clean/maintain pooja items

How to setup a pooja room/mandir at home

• North-East corner of the home, is the best place for Pooja room. If not north-east, then at least the east or west side of your home, can be the best place for your Pooja room.
• Avoid keeping your pooja room in south side of your home.
• Always keep unbroken and uncracked idols
• If you are building your own house, you would have shelves to place idols and all necessary pooja items. If you are renting and have small space, you can either make or buy a pooja stand like the one below, to keep idols, diya lamps, etc.

Things to have in your Pooja Mandir

Bronze items

• Mahalakshmi kai vilaku (lakshmi diya lamp) / mann vilaku (diya lamp made of sand) / agal vilaku (flat diya lamp made of sand) – (1)
• Kuthu vilaku (long diya lamp with usual 5 diya positions) – (2)
• Vilaku keezh tambalam (brass or bronze plate to keep the mahalakshmi vilaku)
• Tambalam (medium – (1), small – (1))
  • To keep kunkumam, manjal, sandhanam, vibuthi
  • To keep poo, pazham, etc. for Pooja
• Sambrani/dhoop stick holder
• Agarbathi/incense stick holder
• Soodam/camphor holder
• Sombhu (to keep water for Pooja / mandatory on varalakshmi viradham)
• Mani / bell
• Panchapathram ( to keep water for neivaidhyam)

Silver Items – for occasions / by custom

• Mahalakshmi kai vilaku
• Kuthu vilaku (2)
• Vilaku keezh tambalam (plate to keep the mahalakshmi vilaku)
• Tambalam (medium (1), small (1))
  • To keep kunkumam, manjal, sandhanam, vibuthi
  • To keep poo,pazham etc for Pooja
• Sombhu (to keep water for Pooja / mandatory on varalakshmi viradham)
• Mani / bell
• Panchapathram ( to keep water for neivaidhyam)
• Kunkuma chimizh (3) — (1 for kunkumam, 1 for manjal, 1 for vibuthi)
• Sandhana pezha
• Paneer stand / rose water holder for Pooja
• Bowls (to keep neivaidhyam)
• Tumblers ( to keep neivaidhyam/water)

About GOD Idols/Portraits

Do’s & Dont’s in Pooja room

What we learnt from our elders that we should not keep idols or portraits of

• “Lord Krishna with radha and Rukmini”
• “Lord Murugan/Subramani/Karthikeyan with two wives valli and devasena/deivanai”
• “Lord Ganesh with riddhi and siddhi” (this is Lord ganesh with two wives – observed in north India)

It is believed that keeping these idols/portraits would create disharmony /discord in martial life.

Here is an another important thing about ordering/arranging our idols/portraits in our Pooja room:

• The divine trinity of Lords “Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu, Lord Shiva” are considered supreme; hence all other idols/portraits must be kept beneath
• Inside a temple there is no limitations for keeping idols/portraits but in our home there are certain limitations for keeping them (take your elder’s advice)
• We should not keep the standing idols of Lord Ganesh and Goddess Saraswathi at home. These idols should always be in sitting position.
• As per vedic Pooja rituals, we should keep an idol less an 2 inch and do abhisheskam on regular basis,If it more than 2inch get elder’s/expert advice.

How to clean our Pooja things

This is one of the most wanted topic in recent days, as all our pooja items are sacred and as well costly. Cleaning and maintaining them are important part of the pooja cycle in a home. I am sharing what I have experienced and learned about from my mom.

Bronze Items

To clean our bronze Pooja items, you will need the following things:

• Tamarind / Lemon
• Salt (brick salt for best result / if not, powder salt is good enough)
• Pitambari powder
• Washing liquid / washing soap (keep separate for Pooja things)
• Scrubber (keep separate for Pooja things)
• Toothbrush (keep a new separate one for Pooja things)

Procedure

• Step 1 : Separate your Pooja things with and without oil items (eg: vilaku / Lamp and tamboolam / plate)
• Step 2 : Drain out the oil from the lamps / vilaku
• Step 3: Clean the lamp/vilaku with the tissue/newspaper (which is affordable); this will help you to clean the items with ease
• Step 4: Clean the agarbathi/incense stand, sambrani stand, camphor stand with the tissue/newspaper; this will help you to clean the things with ease
• Step 5: First wash all your non-oiled items with the following steps

1. Scrub each and every item with tamarind/lemon with salt
2. Brush (using the Pooja toothbrush) the 1^st cleaned items with Pitambari powder
3. Finally scrub it with your washing liquid/soap
4. Wash it thoroughly
5. Let it dry for some time or pat it dry with a clean towel
6. You will get a clean and bright Pooja items

Silver Items

To clean our silver Pooja things the following things you need to have

LemonSalt(brick salt for best result/if not -powder salt is good enough)Colgate tooth powder/paste(Im using tooth powder)Washing liquid /washing soap (keep separate for Pooja things)Scrubber(keep separate for Pooja things)Toothbrush (keep separate for Pooja things)

Procedure

Step 1 : separate your Pooja things with and without oil items(ex: vilaku /Lamp and tamboolam/Plate)

Step 2 : drain out the oil from the lamps/vilaku

Step 3: clean the lamp/vilaku with the tissue/newspaper ((which is affordable)this will help you to clean the things with ease)

Step 4: clean the agarbathi/incense stand,sambrani stand ,camphor stand with the tissue/newspaper ((which is affordable)this will help you to clean the things with ease)

Step 5: first wash all your non-oiled items with the following steps

1. Scrub each and every item with lemon with salt
2. Brush (using the Pooja toothbrush) the 1^st cleaned items with Colgate tooth powder
3. Finally scrub it with your washing liquid/soap
4. Wash it thoroughly
5. Let it dry for some time or pat it dry with a clean towel
6. You will get a clean and bright Pooja items

•          NOTE
• I have seen some cleaning tips for silver items ,most of them are highly recommended the BAKING SODA product to clean your silver items
• My personal experience for sure im not recommending the BAKING SODA for cleaning the silver items .i have tired too but later the silver items which was cleaned from Baking soda will have some crack/pokes here and there.
• Since the Pooja items are very close to my heart I don’t wanna spoil my things and my MOM suggest me to use the OLD FASHIONED cleaning method (ie clean your silver items with the help of toothpowder, lemon and salt)