Vigraha Pratishta

[Guest guest]

Dear Ambaa Devotees,

 

Agni Purana, Matsya Purana, Bhavishya Purana, Jayakhya Samhita etc.,

speaks about Deva Pratishtha at home and temples and rules to be

followed. I have also heard my father saying that North of Vidhyas

do not require any specific Pratishtha vidan as Brahma himself has

performed Yagna at the Madhya Bharat i.e.., in and around Itarsi in

Madhya Pradesh, India. After performing the Yagna he gave boon that

usual Agamic rituals are not necessary there for any deva pratishta

and anyone can do pooja etc., to deities. Hence the Agamic rules do

not apply in the North of Vindhyas. There are puranic reference to

this. Of hand I am not able to give reference. I would like to

share certain views for Pratishta of Devata at home. Deities to be

Installed at home should be made of Swarnadi i.e., meaning Pancha

Loha because it contains Swarnadi pancha datu and its height should

be not more than 1 Aunghustha or from 8 parva to 12 Aungula. In no

case it can be more than that (Narada Purana 67/32). Photos or drawn

pictures of any Murthy can be upto 23 Aungula. If it is photo it can

have an height upto 1 hand and pooja can be performed (Jayakhya

Samhita 20/8). In JS it is further elaborates that Murthy's made of

Deva Daru (wood), Soil or Stone is prohibited for Pratishta at home

because doing poojas to such deities at home will take lot of time

to achieve siddhi (Jayakhya Samhita 20/69). That's the reason why

Vishnu Samhita says that Murthy's made of above materials can be

installed only in a temple. A Gruhastha should keep his pooja place

at North East of his house. It will give Abhishtha Siddhi (Matsya

Purana 258/33 and Agrni Purana 106/19). Gruhastha who desires

Abhishta Siddhi should not worship only one Murthy at his place

rather he should keep and worship different deities for fulfilment

of his desires and wants (Aahnika Sutravali 104) . One should

worship at home Surya, Ganesh, Shiva, Durga, Saraswathi, Lakshmi and

in the end his Kula Devata (Padma Purana). At another Shloka it is

also mentioned that a Grahastha should not keep and do pooja at his

house for 2 Lingas, 3 Ganeshas, 2 Shankhas, 2 Surya Pratima, 3

Shakthi and 2 Shaligram Shila (Ahnika Sutravali Page No. 104). I

hope the above points throw some lights on the rules for Murthy's to

be kept at home.

ramakrishnan