Tamaso maa jyotiragamaya
Mruytorma amrutam gamaya
Aum Shantih! Shantih! Shantih!
O Lord, lead me from the unreal to the ultimate reality, from darkness to light and from the death of ignorance to the immortality of knowledge.
The journey of unreal to real, darkness to light and from ignorance to knowledge can be easily completed in a place like Temple. Temple is a place where divinistic relationship is easily accomplished. Temple construction is an art which needs lot of skill and expertise. Knowledge of both technology and mythology is equally required to construct a temple. It can also be termed as a place that ensures spiritual happiness. The architectural norms of temple have taken birth from the Vedic books. The aim of Vedic philosophy is to first discover the secret laws of nature and then to shape a pattern that can be used in life.
Temple plays an important role and needs to be duly considered. The ideal place for creating a temple in a house is in the North – East direction. It is believed that worshiping in North – East direction will enhance more strength and concentration.
Sometimes, due to certain constraints, puja room cannot be placed in the North – East direction. In that case the alternative is to place it in the North – East corner of any room. It can be drawing room, dining room, study room, kid’s room, or lobby etc. It should be made clear that temple should not be located in bedroom, dressing room, store, kitchen or opposite to a bathroom. The location of temple in a dwelling plays a very important role.
People often tend to commit mistakes in the concept of direction of puja room. People shift their puja room to the North East corner in such a way, which can act as a blockage. North East corner of the house is considered as the most divinistic and spiritual place. It should be open so that it can allow cosmic benedictions to enter the house. A raised platform floor or a wall can act as a blockage too. In Northeast temple, idol should be placed on a hollow platform. Otherwise NE should be kept vacant and puja room can be shifted to Northeast east. The below mentioned points should be taken into consideration:
* The puja room should always be neat and clean.
* It should be placed in NE or East of the building.
* Ideally God should face West whereas the devotees should face East while worshipping. In public temples, God should face East while the devotee should face West.
* The shape of temple can be sthandila (square), mandala (circular) or semi circular in shape. It can be of any other regular shape with no cuts and extensions.
*The slope of the temple should preferably be towards NEE.
* Blue, Purple or white can be used in temple.
* White marble should ideally be used in the flooring.
* The design pattern in the temple should have cosmic spirals as a part of the design element.
* The doors and windows should be in even numbers and they should have two panels each.
* There should not be a door at the back of the devotee at the time of worshipping.
* The idol of God should always be kept at the eye level or above eye level but not below, so that devotees are seemed to be at a position being blessed and God must be at a position of showering blessings.
* The “Vedikas” for yagnas should be placed in SE of the temple.
* Water and fire should not be placed together.
* Brooms should not be kept in the temple and cloth should only be used to clean the floor.
In today’s world, an attitude should be built first before building up a temple. Now a day’s people convert any corner of the house, which is lying vacant as a temple. Ideally the placement of God in the right place should be the first thing to be done. But generally it is not so. People create temples in almirahs or any hidden or unused corner. In case of paucity of space, a small hanging temple from the market can be purchased and hung on an appropriate wall in the right direction. But the following points should still be taken into consideration in case of a hanging temple:
* Such a temple should be hung in open.
* It should be beautifully graced with satin or velvet cloth.
* Preferably there should be 3″ or 4″ breathing space on all sides of the hanging temple.
* The wall on which hanging temple is hung should have a light shade preferably white.
* It should not be hung inside a bedroom, store and opposite to a bathroom.
* It should preferably be hung in NE of the house.
* Another important aspect that should be kept in mind is cleanliness around the temple.
* Idols made of stone are not recommended in home.
It is also seen that due to paucity of space people convert their cupboards as temples. Although such a practice is not recommended as a cupboard temple act as a closed box. Hanging temples are considered better than cupboard temples. In case, puja place is created in a cupboard then following points should be taken into consideration:
* Keep the cupboard as light as possible.
* Remove the panels of the cupboard and place velvet or silk curtains.
* The curtain can be off white, blue or purple in colour.
* Colour the inner potion of the cupboard temple with colour or cloth.
* Create life inside it by placing camphor lamp, flowers, bells and incense etc.
* Always prefer decluttering in the room where cupboard temple is placed.
It is commonly noticed that people place statues of God anywhere in the house other than puja room. These statues are almost treated like a showpiece. This practice should be seriously discouraged. It should be preferred that picture or statue of God should only be placed in a puja room. The idol of God should always be kept in a place where they are paid proper respect, devotion and care.
The above mentioned are some basic tips for a systematic worship and also for finding a proper place of devotion, which can lead to the prosperity, happiness and peace, as well as the blessing of almighty forever. So, let’s earn the positive energies as well as the blessings of the almighty for a blissful life.
Serve Bhadrani Pashyantu Ma Kaschid Dukhbhagbhavet
May all be happy, May all be free from disabilities, May all look to the good of others, May none suffer from sorrow. Let the whole world be in peace and prosperity.
Article by Vaastu Shastra Expert D K Narang
