Guest guest Posted March 18, 2004 Report Share Posted March 18, 2004 Namaste to all, For those who are planning to do Durga puja for Navaratri here is someting you may want to think about in preparation. Select a quiet place where you can establish your altar if you don't already have one. If you have a picture of Durga Maa or a murti you can set this up on a small table easily accessible to you as you will sit on the floor and make offerings. Even if you don't have a physical representation of Durga you can recite the mantras in the book. It is nice to decorate the altar a little. You are the artist so be creative. I have seen on many occasions Maa design an altar in a home where there was no altar and in just a short time the energy in the house was completely transformed. Here is another example: To celebrate Ramakrishna's birthday she set up a small table, covered it with a nice piece of cloth, put Ramakrishna's picture on the table. Placed two flower vases next to the picture. Made a flower garland and placed it around the picture frame. Set up a candle and some incense. Simple. NOTE: (Make sure the candle will not burn the cloth. A candle that is enclosed is preferable.) If anybody else would like to share how they have set up their altar please do so. Durga Maa ki jai! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 18, 2004 Report Share Posted March 18, 2004 , "parvati_saraswati108" <parvati_saraswati108> wrote: > Placed two flower vases next to the picture. Made a flower garland > and placed it around the picture frame. Set up a candle and some > incense. Simple. It will be nice and auspicious if candles are replaced with cotton wick lamps having cow ghee(clarified butter obtained from Cow's milk) as fuel. Using materials obtained from cow for puja can have purifying ritualistic effect. The place is made holy by their very presence. These can be found in any Indian grocery store. Rgds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 18, 2004 Report Share Posted March 18, 2004 too cool for words parvati! i set up my first altar not long ago. i almost posted it in the photo section as i have an image, but wasn't sure if that was alright or not. this was a shiva puja, i will make a durga one exactly as you suggest. the shiva puja altar: i told my wife, and she gave me a little wicker table. i talked with ardis about lingams. based on my conversation with her, i went to the backyard. there are all these great rocks there. i closed my eyes and felt in my heart and picked one up. i put it is a dark-rose colored glass candle holder. it fit perfect. i found a nice candle holder, like parvati describes, that you can close the lid. at the local bookstore was an active shiva statuette with the wheel, the dancing shiva, everything. i bought it. from the books i ordered from shreemaa.org, i had a picture of shree maa, one of swamiji, and one of the cover of the chandi path. i leaned them against the shiva, etc. that's it. it's beautiful, it is my center, it is my personal celebration and conversation place with the divine. recently i found a larger lingam from india and added that. steve , "parvati_saraswati108" <parvati_saraswati108> wrote: > Namaste to all, > For those who are planning to do Durga puja for Navaratri here is > someting you may want to think about in preparation. > Select a quiet place where you can establish your altar if you don't > already have one. If you have a picture of Durga Maa or a murti you > can set this up on a small table easily accessible to you as you will > sit on the floor and make offerings. Even if you don't have a > physical representation of Durga you can recite the mantras in the > book. > It is nice to decorate the altar a little. You are the artist so > be creative. I have seen on many occasions Maa design an altar in a > home where there was no altar and in just a short time the energy in > the house was completely transformed. Here is another example: To > celebrate Ramakrishna's birthday she set up a small table, covered it > with a nice piece of cloth, put Ramakrishna's picture on the table. > Placed two flower vases next to the picture. Made a flower garland > and placed it around the picture frame. Set up a candle and some > incense. Simple. > NOTE: (Make sure the candle will not burn the cloth. A candle that is > enclosed is preferable.) > If anybody else would like to share how they have set up their > altar please do so. > Durga Maa ki jai! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 19, 2004 Report Share Posted March 19, 2004 I also like to have a little bell. Any bell that you enjoy the tone of is fine. I ring it before Puja and it seems to "clear the air" bringing "everyone" to attention. I also find it particularly nice to use the mudra for inviting the guru into your heart (I forgot the name--it is on the Devi mandir site). You place your hands in prayer position in front of the heart and then gently turn the tips of the fingers in toward the heart, keeping the hands together. Within a moment or two you can really feel the energy of the guru pouring through you. It is always there, but you can really feel it this way. I showed this to one of my students once and the energy in the whole room changed. It was very powerful. Jai Maa! Much love, Lynne - Satish Arigela Thursday, March 18, 2004 10:38 AM Re: Durga puja class /setting up an altar , "parvati_saraswati108" <parvati_saraswati108> wrote:> Placed two flower vases next to the picture. Made a flower garland > and placed it around the picture frame. Set up a candle and some > incense. Simple. It will be nice and auspicious if candles are replaced with cotton wick lamps having cow ghee(clarified butter obtained from Cow's milk) as fuel. Using materials obtained from cow for puja can have purifying ritualistic effect. The place is made holy by their very presence.These can be found in any Indian grocery store.Rgds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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