Loving Ganesha: Chapter 12 (Section 1) - Ganesha Home Liturgy -- Ganapati Puja

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Namaste all,

 

The first installment of chapter twelve of Loving Ganesha from

http://www.himalayanacademy.com/books/lg/lg_ch-12.html

 

Om Shanti,

 

Neil

 

 

 

Ganapati Puja

GaneshaHome Liturgy

OVE AND JOY COME TO HINDU FAMILIES WHO worship Lord Ganesha in their home

through the traditional ceremony known as puja. By means of such sacred rites

and the divine energies invoked, each family makes their house a sacred

sanctuary, a refuge from the concerns and worries of the world. Pujas can be as

simple as lighting a lamp and offering a flower at the Lord's holy feet; or they

can be elaborate and detailed, with many chants and offerings. The indispensable

part of any puja is devotion. Without love in the heart, outer performance is of

little value. But with true devotion, even simple gestures are sacred ritual. In

this chapter we present a simple puja that anyone desirous of invoking our

loving Ganesha can perform. Sanskrit and English are given here, but the latter

can easily be translated into your own native language. All family members

should understand the meaning of the rites. Sanskrit should not become a

barrier to performing Ganesha puja. After all, He understands all dialects. One

need not be initiated to perform this puja invoking our Loving Ganesha. All that

is required is that the celebrant believe in the laws of karma and

reincarnation, which are the cornerstones of Hindu ethical and philosophical

doctrine. Ganesha worship is enjoyed by all, Hindus and non-Hindus alike, as He

is the first God to be worshiped. It is not wise for an ardha-Hindu, or half

Hindu, to centralize worship on Siva or Murugan or other Gods until full

commitment has been made through receiving the traditional sacraments, called

saµskaras. Home puja is performed at least once a day, usually in the early

morning. It is traditional to not partake of food at least three hours before

puja, so puja is usually done prior to meals.

The Sanctity of the Home Shrine

All Hindus attend puja at their local temple at least once a week and maintain a

sacred shrine at home, which esoterically functions as an extension of the

temple. The shrine room is meticulously cared for and not used for purposes

other than worship, prayer, scriptural study and meditation. Here puja, home

liturgy, is performed daily, generally by the head of the house. All members of

the family attend.

Creating a home shrine is not difficult. The altar should be close to the floor,

since most of the puja is performed while seated, or when there are small

children in the home it is often higher, out of their reach. For a Ganesha

shrine, an image, or murti, of Lord Ganesha is placed at the center of the

altar. A metal or stone image is best, but if not available there are two

traditional alternatives: 1) a framed picture, preferably with a sheet of

copper on the back, or 2) A kumbha, which is a symbol of Ganesha made by

placing a coconut on a brass pot of water with five mango leaves inserted

between the coconut and the pot. The coconut should be husked but still have

the fibers on the top. (See illustration on p. 224.) Bathing the God's image,

or murti, is part of the puja. For this, special arrangements may need to be

made. Most simply, the murti may be placed in a deep tray to catch the water.

After the bath, the tray is removed and the murti dried off, then dressed and

decorated. More elaborately, a drain may be set up so the water flows into a

pot at the side of the altar. This blessed water is later served by the pujari,

who places a small spoonful in each devotee's right palm.

Puja implements for the shrine are kept on a large and ideally metal tray. On it

are arranged ghee lamps, bells, cups, spoons and small pots to hold the various

sacraments. Available from Indian shops, these are dedicated articles, never

used for purposes other than puja. The necessary items are:

1. two water cups and a small spoon for offering water;

2. a brass vessel of unbroken, uncooked rice mixed with enough turmeric to turn the rice yellow;

3. a tray or basket of freshly picked flowers (without stems) or loose flower petals;

4. a standing oil lamp, dipastambha, which remains lit throughout the puja;

ideally kept lit through the day.

5. a dipa (lamp with cotton string wick) for waving light before the Deity;

6. a small metal bell, ghanta;

7. incense burner and a few sticks of incense, agarbhatti;

8. a container of holy ash, vibhuti;

9. a small vessel of sandalwood paste, chandana;

10. a small container of red powder, kunkuma;

11. naivedya, fresh fruit and/or a covered dish of freshly cooked food (most

often rice) to offer the Deity;

12. a camphor (karpura) burner for passing the sacred flame before the God at

the height of the puja.

13. Additional items may include: small Indian pots for bathing the murti,

colorful clothing for dressing the murti, garlands and additional oil lamps to

light and decorate the room, and a CD or tape player.

Before entering the shrine room, all attending the ceremony bathe, dress in

clean clothes and bring a small offering of flowers or fruit (prepared before

bathing). It is traditional for women during their monthly period to refrain

from attending puja, entering the shrine or temple or approaching swamis or

other holy men. Also during this time women do not help in puja preparation,

such as picking flowers or making prasada for the Deity. At this time of

retreat, ladies are allowed to rest and perform private sadhanas, such as hatha

yoga, japa, pranayama, meditation and reading the holy texts.

This same rule applies to men or women with injuries that are in the process of

healing; minor scratches are excepted. Cuts and injuries that bleed, internal

bleeding and operations create psychic openings in the pranic aura that render

the worshiper vulnerable to intrusion from lower astral Naraka denizens, who

may enter or draw out energy and do damage with that energy. The period of

retreat extends until the bleeding stops and there is no more danger of

infection. A minor cut or scratch may reach this point within a few hours. A

deeper cut will generally take two or three days to knit to the point that no

restriction is required. A severe wound may take ten days or longer. A major

operation, such as heart surgery, caesarean section or appendicitis, might

require several weeks or even longer, until the person feels whole again. This

means that you do not go to a Hindu temple to get healed from injuries such as

these, though loved ones can go to pray on your behalf.

When I was in Jaffna in 1948 and 1949, living as a guest in the homes of strict

Saivite Hindus, I was impressed that they had a small house made of thatched

cajan at the far end of the family compound where the women of the household

went for three or four days or more each month until their period was over.

During this time they did not cook for the family or perform any of their

regular duties. They had a time of complete solitude. No conjugal relations

were engaged in during that time. Before reentering the family home, clothing

and cloth that had blood on it were burned. Women bathed, donning new clothes

when they were ready to return to the home, shrine room and normal duties. This

all made a strong samskara, a deep impression, on my mind. The same custom was

followed by the Hawaiians and other ancient ethnic communities. The custom

protects the temple from asuric intrusion.

There is another important form of retreat followed by all knowledgeable Hindus.

I have codified this restriction in sutra 269 of Living with Siva: "Siva's

devotees must observe a period of thirty-one days following the birth or death

of a family member during which they do not enter temples or home shrines,

perform worship rites or attend auspicious events." Japa and other personal

sadhanas can and should be continued during this time. The judgment of who is

part of the family rests on the shoulders of the family itself.

During festivals and special pujas it is customary to decorate the offering

tray, altar and shrine room with sugar cane stalks, whole saffron plants with

root attached, coconuts and banana leaves or even whole banana trees. Every

variety of fruit is acceptable, notably bananas, mangos, limes, pomegranates

and jackfruit. The elephant comes from the forest, and so the elephant-faced

Deity's temple or shrine is made to look like a small forest on festival days

sacred to Him. Of course, modaka balls and other sweets are Lord Ganesha's

favorite treat.

Thiru M. Arunachalam provides some insights into Ganesha's most traditional

flower offerings: "In the matter of floral worship, two articles are considered

very important to Ganesha. One is the aruhu grass blade. The tip of the grass

shoot is collected in sufficient quantities for floral archana [chanting the

names of the Lord while offering flowers]. Aruhu is the most common grass, a

weed in the cultivated gardens. It is the common hariali grass (durva in

Sanskrit and botanically Cynodon dactylon). It is generally collected for

worship with three blades or five blades. Sometimes it is made into a wreath

and placed on the shoulders of Ganesha. The second is the erukku (Calotropis)

flower.... Erukku flowers are stringed together and placed round the crown and

neck of Ganesha" (Festivals of Tamil Nadu, p. 117).

 

 

 

 

Loving Ganesha by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami

 

Web sites: http://www.hindu.org/ & http://www.himalayanacademy.com/

email: contact (AT) hindu (DOT) org

Himalayan Academy Kauai's Hindu Monastery107 Kaholalele RoadKapaa, HI 96746-9304

 

 

 

 

 

 

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