In most Hindu homes the day does not begin with the kitchen or the phone. It begins with a lamp. Someone, often a grandmother or a mother, bathes, lights a small wick in a corner of the house, rings a bell, and spends a few minutes before the family's deities. The children may be half asleep and the rice may already be on the stove, but for those few minutes the house has a centre.
That corner, and what happens in it, is the subject of this guide. Puja (from a Sanskrit root meaning to honour or to worship) is the everyday Hindu way of receiving God as a guest. You do not need a priest, a large shrine or expensive articles. You need a little space, a few simple things, and the willingness to show up each day.
Setting up a small altar
Choose a clean, quiet spot that will not be disturbed by foot traffic. A shelf, a small cupboard, the corner of a table or a purpose-made wooden mandir all work. Vastu tradition favours the north-east corner, facing east or north, and many families follow this; if your flat does not allow it, do not worry. Cleanliness and regularity matter far more than compass direction.
Place on it the image or images (murti) your family worships: a brass Ganesha, a framed picture of Krishna, a Shiva lingam or a photograph of a guru. Hindu homes commonly keep more than one deity; there is no rule that you must choose only one.
What you will need:
- A lamp (diya or deepam) of brass or clay, with a cotton wick and ghee or sesame oil. Ghee is traditional; oil is fine.
- Incense (agarbatti or dhoop) and a holder for it.
- A small vessel of water with a spoon. In the South this pair is called the panchapatra and uddharani.
- Fresh flowers, or even a few leaves such as tulsi or bilva. A single marigold is enough.
- A bell (ghanta).
- Kumkum, turmeric and sandalwood paste for marking the image and your own forehead.
- Something to offer as food (naivedya): a piece of fruit, a few sugar crystals, a spoon of milk.
Keep these items only for puja. A separate drawer or box helps.
The sequence of a daily puja
The order below is common across many families, though names and small details vary by region and lineage. Bathe first, or at least wash your hands, feet and face, and wear clean clothes.
- Achamana. Take a spoonful of water from the vessel into your right palm and sip it, three times. Many families say a name of Vishnu with each sip. This is a small act of purification before approaching the deity.
- Lighting the lamp and sankalpa. Light the diya and the incense. Then, with folded hands, state silently why you are doing this puja: for the welfare of the family, for a particular prayer, or simply as your daily offering. This stated intention is the sankalpa.
- Dhyana. Close your eyes for a moment and picture the deity. Dhyana means meditation; here it simply means bringing the mind to rest on the one you are about to worship.
- Avahana (invocation). Invite the deity to be present. Many people ring the bell at this point and say a short mantra such as Om Gam Ganapataye namah for Ganesha, who is traditionally honoured first.
- Offering (upachara). Offer water, then flowers, sandal paste and kumkum, then incense, then the light of the lamp, then the naivedya. Say the deity's name or a mantra with each offering. If you know a stotra (hymn of praise) or a few verses, recite them now.
- Aarti. Lift the lamp, or a separate camphor lamp, and move it in slow clockwise circles before the image while singing the aarti your family uses. Ring the bell with the other hand if you can manage both.
- Pranama and prayer. Bow, touching the ground with your forehead if you are able, and offer any personal prayer in your own words.
- Prasad. Take the naivedya down from the altar. It is now prasad, food that has been offered and blessed. Eat a little and share the rest with the household.
The whole sequence, done without hurry, takes ten to fifteen minutes.
The sixteen upacharas
The traditional full form of puja offers the deity sixteen courtesies, the shodasha upachara, modelled on how an honoured guest was received in an ancient household. The list varies slightly between texts, but a common version runs: avahana (invocation), asana (a seat), padya (water for the feet), arghya (water for the hands), achamana (water to sip), snana (a bath), vastra (clothing), yajnopavita (the sacred thread), gandha (sandal paste), pushpa (flowers), dhupa (incense), dipa (lamp), naivedya (food), tambula (betel leaf), namaskara (prostration) and visarjana (bidding farewell).
Few families do all sixteen every day. The shorter five-fold form, pancha upachara, keeps gandha, pushpa, dhupa, dipa and naivedya, and that is what the daily sequence above is built around. Save the full sixteen for festivals and special occasions.
Timing, and what to do when short on time
The traditional times for puja are the two sandhyas, the junctions of the day: dawn and dusk. Morning puja is done after bathing and before the first meal. Evening puja is done around sunset; in many homes the lamp is lit again at that hour, the family gathers for a short aarti, and nothing more elaborate is needed.
If you can manage only one, choose the morning. If mornings are impossible, an evening lamp lit every single day is far better than an elaborate puja done once a month.
There will be days of school runs, early shifts and illness. Tradition has always made room for this. On such days:
- Light the lamp, fold your hands, and say one mantra. That is a complete puja.
- Do the five-fold offering instead of anything longer.
- Perform manasa puja, worship done entirely in the mind: picture yourself lighting the lamp, offering the flower, waving the aarti. The texts hold this to be fully valid.
What you should not do is skip the puja because you cannot do it properly. There is no "properly" beyond sincerity.
Bhava, the attitude that matters most
Everything above is the outer form. The inner form is bhava, the feeling with which you approach the deity. The Bhagavad Gita puts it plainly:
Whoever offers me with devotion a leaf, a flower, a fruit, or water, that offering of love from a pure-hearted person I accept. (Bhagavad Gita 9.26)
A leaf, a flower, a fruit, water. Nothing costly is named. What is named is bhakti, devotion. A silver lamp waved absent-mindedly is a lesser offering than a single flower placed with attention. Treat the deity as a living guest in your home: speak to them, thank them, tell them your worries. Children learn more from watching a parent do this honestly for five minutes than from any amount of instruction.
A simple way to begin
Tonight, clear a shelf. Put one image on it, a small lamp, and a cup of water. Tomorrow morning, after you wash, light the lamp, offer the water and whatever flower you can find, ring a bell if you have one, and sit for two quiet minutes. Do the same the next day. Add the incense, the aarti and the naivedya as they come naturally. Within a few weeks the corner will have become the centre of the house, which is what it was always meant to be.