Guest guest Posted March 20, 2005 Report Share Posted March 20, 2005 A great effort Nanda. For the information of the non-Indians, performing a Puja is not very common even among the Hindus in India. It is common in states like West Bengal where as it is rare in states like Tamil Nadu and Kerala. I am not going into the historical reasons for this sorry state of affairs. Among the living Saints Mata Amrithananda Mayi (Ammachi as she is called – Mother in Malayalam) is trying to inculcate this habit among the Hindus in India. Swamiji has always emphasized the Puja. His books have helped us in understanding about Puja and also follow the correct procedures. I am so happy that so many of us are taking up the Puja. Thanks to Nanda for undertaking this. I am no expert in Puja, but would like to add my two cents. The two most important things in Puja are Shraddha and Bakthi. Bakthi is devotion. Shraddha is faith, respect, or reverence. In preparation for any Puja reverence is of utmost importance. We want the best flowers, best ingredients and best materials for Puja. You start spending more time for preparation than the actual Puja. I remember about an Ashtami Puja that we were doing some years back. It needed a lot of flowers. The flower seller used to deliver the flowers. We used to spend hours sorting them out so that there are no wilted or immature flowers. This took as much if not more time than the actual Puja. On Sivaratri night I spent a lot of time in sorting the Bilva leaf clusters. 1. Do not offer wilted or immature flowers in Puja. Any flower can be offered depending on what is locally available. 2. Now about the flowers after the Puja. They are normally removed the next day. We call this Nirmalyam. (Which language I do not know. We use words from so many different languages in my house) Do not throw these in the garbage can. If you have a garden these can be buried in the earth around trees or scrubs. The best way is to put them in a river or pond. We keep these at home and once a week or so, put them in the Adi Ganga River nearby. But I do not know whether you are permitted to do this in U.S. Nanda can advise regarding this. The point is that you show reverence to the old flowers/materials also. About Puja materials please check the sites in this category. http://dmoz.org/Society/Religion_and_Spirituality/Hinduism/Shopping/ >From what I have seen in these sites you get better Puja things in the U.S than India. Please check the credentials of the sites before placing an order, since many of these are fly by night operators. I will check on the sites and let you people know. I am so excited about this. I will write about a great Bell that you can get for your Puja later. Jai MAA !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 20, 2005 Report Share Posted March 20, 2005 Dear Sankar. Thanks for the wonderful website. What impressed me most is that I found a site for an electric Havan Kund. I have been puzzling over what a city bound dweller was to do especially when most of the year we have a ban on open fires because we have been in a draught and have had some very bad bush fires. An answer to my prayers. Grace On 20/03/2005, at 8:24 PM, Sankar Viswanathan wrote: > > > A great effort Nanda. For the information of the non-Indians, > performing a Puja is not very common even among the Hindus in India. > It is common in states like West Bengal where as it is rare in states > like Tamil Nadu and Kerala. I am not going into the historical reasons > for this sorry state of affairs. > > Among the living Saints Mata Amrithananda Mayi (Ammachi as she is > called – Mother in Malayalam) is trying to inculcate this habit > among the Hindus in India. > > Swamiji has always emphasized the Puja. His books have helped us in > understanding about Puja and also follow the correct procedures. > > I am so happy that so many of us are taking up the Puja. Thanks to > Nanda for undertaking this. > > I am no expert in Puja, but would like to add my two cents. The two > most important things in Puja are Shraddha and Bakthi. Bakthi is > devotion. Shraddha is faith, respect, or reverence. In preparation for > any Puja reverence is of utmost importance. > > We want the best flowers, best ingredients and best materials for > Puja. You start spending more time for preparation than the actual > Puja. I remember about an Ashtami Puja that we were doing some years > back. It needed a lot of flowers. The flower seller used to deliver > the flowers. We used to spend hours sorting them out so that there are > no wilted or immature flowers. This took as much if not more time than > the actual Puja. On Sivaratri night I spent a lot of time in sorting > the Bilva leaf clusters. > > 1. Do not offer wilted or immature flowers in Puja. Any flower > can be > offered depending on what is locally available. > 2. Now about the flowers after the Puja. They are normally > removed the > next day. We call this Nirmalyam. (Which language I do not know. We > use words from so many different languages in my house) Do not throw > these in the garbage can. If you have a garden these can be buried in > the earth around trees or scrubs. The best way is to put them in a > river or pond. We keep these at home and once a week or so, put them > in the Adi Ganga River nearby. > > But I do not know whether you are permitted to do this in U.S. Nanda > can advise regarding this. The point is that you show reverence to the > old flowers/materials also. > > About Puja materials please check the sites in this category. > > http://dmoz.org/Society/Religion_and_Spirituality/Hinduism/Shopping/ > > From what I have seen in these sites you get better Puja things in the > U.S than India. Please check the credentials of the sites before > placing an order, since many of these are fly by night operators. I > will check on the sites and let you people know. I am so excited about > this. > > I will write about a great Bell that you can get for your Puja later. > > Jai MAA !!! > > > Sponsor > > > <22305_0205_016_b_300250_a.gif> > <l.gif> > > Links > > • > / > > • > > > • Terms of > Service. > > Attachment: (text/enriched) [not stored] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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