Saturday, August 25, 2018

Daily Puja for Evening Worshipers

People who are unable to afford time for performing their daily puja in the morning times can do it in the evening times after returning from their jobs.

The Supreme Being or God knows your problems and weaknesses. So, he may not demand that you should perform your worship only in the morning time or in a particular method.

If you can afford to perform it in the morning time, it is well and good. Because the morning time is best suited as you will be fresh and peaceful. But, modern lifestyles and job culture do not allow many people to devote time during the morning hours. They will be more worried about how to reach the office timely rather than concentrating on God.

So, I thought of suggesting an alternative puja process for such people (on a request from one of my friends) who can perform it in the evening times at their convenience which can further be adjusted or modified according to your own beliefs, needs, and available time.



Evening Puja Performance

Puja Materials

Idol of God/Goddess or Photos/Images
Lamp holder (either bronze or steel or any metal)
Oil for lighting the light
Wicks and Matchbox
Flowers (optional)
Incense sticks (Agarbatti) and Camphor

A small Metal Pot and Spoon (preferably copper or silver) filled with water for performing puja.
A plate or wide bowl for dropping water into it as if offering to God or as if washing God's hands and feet.

Naivedyam (any sweet dish cooked for naivedyam or simple rice, or fruits, or Gur/jaggery/mishri).



1. Get Ready for Starting Puja

  • Wash your legs, hands, and the face. If you are taking a bath, that's well and good.
  • But change your clothes, in either case, wearing some neat and clean, pure clothes.
  • Clean the puja place and remove the old puja material including the old wicks. 
  • Light the oil lights by adding some new oil and fresh wicks to the lighting lamps (diyas). You may light two wicks in the same lamp holder or light two lights separately in different holders.

2. Starting the Puja

  • Chant the purification sloka of "apavitra..." sprinkling drops of water over your head with your right thumb and all around the worship place with the spoon.
  • You may tell your God that you could not afford time in the morning times and so are doing the puja in the evening times. And, seek his forgiveness and permission to do so.
  • Here is a detailed version of starting any puja. But you need not follow all these procedures. You can simply do the purification mantra and start your puja.

3. Chant Your Prayers and Hymns

  • Perform your puja with some easy-to-recite slokas glorifying your God like Lakshmi Stuti, Vishnu Stuti, Shiva Stuti, Tirupati Balaji Stuti, Sri Rama Stuti, Sri Krishna Stuti, Ganesh lyrics, Hanuman lyrics, etc. You can choose any two or three from above or anything that you like most.
  • You may offer flowers also while doing so or you may decorate the God with the flowers first and, then, begin chanting the worship slokas.
  • Whatever you do, do it with real faith and sincerity.
4. Thereafter, as usual, light the incense sticks and show them to God assuming that God is sniffing the incense with pleasure.

5. Next, show the wick lights to Him/Her with your right hand.

6. Now, it is time to offer some naivedyam (any fruits or home-made food). You can offer even some Gur/Jaggery or the Mishri (rock sugar) as the naivedyam.

7. After Naivedyam, show some water to God in the spoon or with a mango leaf or pan leaf (betel leaf) and drop it in the plate or bowl kept there for that purpose (as if washing their hands and feet). 
Offer water again to drink (show to the God and drop in the plate).

8. Thereafter, light the camphor and recite the mangaLAsAsanam.

Now, the puja is over.
Seek the blessings from God and take/distribute the prasadam.

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