Hello Suba ! I am glad that you find the vilakku puja format good & useful. When you do the " neeranjanam" after the puja, combine " na thathra" etc, finish "indraya namah" etc & then proceed again with the puja. I am sorry " shubam karothi" has " crept in" wrongly - I have edited it suitably. Pour 1 tsp water with right hand. Yanikanicha is chanted only once. Arathi in steel plate is best avoided, but you can use glass, since it is silica & hence mud. 7 times namaskarams was prescribed by my Guru - hence I just follow what he said. The times for Lalitha are morning, Parvathi is noon & Durgai is evening. So you can do at any suitable time. But just have a head bath before puja & do. Yes, I plan to post Varalakshmi Puja. Since it is still2,3 months away, I shall take my time, OK? Please feel free to ask me any no: of doubts ! En kadan pani seithu kidappathae! Love & regards, Chithra.
Hello Ami ! If you can wait for some more time, I can post Sankatahara chathurthi pujai. If you are in a hurry, you can download from some site or if somebody else can post it also I welcome it ! Love & regards, Chithra.
I guess I can.. Thanks, Mrs.Chithra..As the next SDC will not be in nearby future,I can wait. And, dont know of any site either!!! Bye.
Doubts cleared,Mrs.C! Dear Mrs.Chithra Thanks for explaining everything so clearly.I'll incorporate the slokams like you have said and do it that way. Please take your time with varalakshmi pooja format. "Ungal sevai engalukku thevai" Love Suba
Some more pestering ... Dear Chithra, I've been poring over all your formats and am amazed at the time & hard - work that you must have obviously put into forming the steps for us. I've only been compiling the different formats / slogams for printing and that itself is testing my patience ( and my back too !! ). Your energy , enthusiasm never ceases to inspire me. Well done Wonder Woman ! But I can't sleep can I , without my usual dose of doubts / questions. So, here is my queries, please answer them at your leisure, ok , no urgency. 1) Before the 'arghyam' step, the 'padhyam' step seems to be absent for the pujas ; though the same is mentioned in the initial '16 step puja format' . 2) For the doopam / deepam showing, must they be lit at the beginning itself while lighting the main vilakku, or only at that stage in the uttara puja should the bathi / small lamp be lit & shown to the God ? 3) For doing archanai, can we use kumkum (as only coins, akshadhai, flowers are mentioned) for the Goddess / lamp puja etc. or kumkum archanai is a separate slogam / process altogether ? 4) While doing naivedhyam, only the 'bhoor bhuva svaha' is mentioned, the full gayathri manthra needn't be chanted ? 5) While doing thamboolam, can we chant ' Bhoogi phala samayuktham.....' ? 6) Regarding broken coconut for thamboolam, the 2 halves (moodis) must be kept together side-by-side and NOT one on each end of the God (like in some friend's place/movies) ? Is that correct ? And the ilaneer shouldn't be drunk, instead poured away right ? 7)Regarding manthrapushpam, needn't we chant the full slogam as such , " Yobaam pushpam vedaa, Pushpavaan, prajaavaan, pasumaan bhavathi .........." 8) Is it ok to use the standard panchapathram / udhrini for the puja purpose or a separate cup/spoon is better ? 9) While purchasing a bell, we scrambled thro' an entire bucket of brass bells and bought one where the nandi's image on top (handle) was very perfect, without any dents ? But , on coming home, my mum said the 'naadham' , sound of the chimes is more important and wasn't satisfied with the sound of our bell . Which is important ? 10) How to bring back the shine to my copper puja vessels ?? Brass takes lime / salt/ tamarind right , like that what to use for copper ? 11) Finally, in all the household I know of , only the man (my father, uncles, grandad etc.) do the puja,{ esp. the sankalpam part, with 'dharbai' in the palms on the laps } -- and my mum / aunt will see the panchangam and tell them the paksham {shukla / krishna }, the thidhi, nakshathram etc. , then just go back to the kitchen for making naivedhyam ; till now haven't seen them 'do' any puja at all (other than varalakshmi vradham ) ? I think you've already advised in the positive for women doing these rituals, to a query from Varloo I think . But I just need one more re-assurance from you in this regard before I start full-fledged and proper worshipping. 'cos anyway my husband has no belief/time for all this. Awaiting your advise, With thanks ,
To make you sleep peacefully, KK ! ! - Regarding the padhyam step, correction has been made. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. 2 - Deepam -a small lamp can be lighted & kept ready for convenience. Dhoopam is lighted only when it is to be shown. 3 - Kumkumam can be used for Devi puja. For male Gods, it may not be appropriate. So I suggested coins. Akshathai can be used except for Vishnu. 4 - For naivedhyam only bhoorbuvassuvaha is chanted. Not the whole Gayathri mantra. Just follow what is given. 5 - Since I want to give as simple & less time consuming a format as possible, I am avoiding all frills. Thamboolam samarpayami is the basic offering line - more than that is your choice. 6 - 2 coconut-halves are kept side by side. Anything more is not necessary. We are not doing anything for a visual effect. Ilaneer can be consumed after puja is over. I usually mix it with payasam if I am offering the same. 7 - It is not necessary to chant the whole manthra pushpam. It all depends on your time availability & interest in elaborating things. As I said, I am giving the minimum essentials, that's all. 8 - Panchapathram udrani can be used. 9 - I give equal importance to nadam & nandi. 10 - In India we get a cleaning powder called " Pitambari" which makes the copper vessels look pink like " rojappoo" ! So I depend on that for my cleaning. Otherwise, I too find it difficult to maintain a good colour for copper. 11- this question is answered by yourself in the next paragraph. Do not go ahead with pujas if you have any misgivings about whether you can do or not ! As I always repeat, whatever you do should be in the " comfort zone" of your mind & heart. It is not in me to decide that for you ! You are the best judge for yourself. Love & regards, Chithra.
Sweet dreams to you too . Thank you for replying, dear Chithra. From tomorrow, am starting proper praying . Got derailed a bit (you know why) but now onwards, feel very encouraged by you to move forward. Nandrigal pala, Most lovingly,
thanks a ton. Dear Chitra, thank you, thank you sooooooooooo very much for posting shiva-parvati puja format. I shall wait for the tulasi puja format now... shall take a print & start doing this puja regularly. can't thank you enough for this help, Chitra. also, by answering KKs questions, you've cleared a lot of our own doubts. Love & REgards,
Dear chitra, Daily I lit the vilakku and say some slokas. but do the poojas only on friday on my own way, bcos i didn't know the correct way of doing puja. now i have taken a printout of your puja format and will follow that. thankyou very much for the puja format and the slokas. i have taken printouts of the slokas from the slokas thread and filed all. can u post the puja format for goddess on pournami day and also please give the significance of pournami puja. Thank you very much. regards, surya.
Nice to hear from you, Surya. The vilakku puja format, I have given is very auspicious to be done on Pournami day. Any Devi Puja is special for Pournami. We pray for Dheerga Soumangalyam & sarva mangalam in life. The special naivedyam for pournami puja is Para annam, I have given in my recipes. Love & regards, Chithra.
