Lakshmi Puja

Goddess Lakshmi

Lakshmi puja is performed during Diwali, the festival of lights. According to tradition people would put small oil lamps outside their homes on Diwali and hope Lakshmi will come to bless them.

Goddess Lakshmi is worshipped by those who wish to acquire or to preserve wealth. It is believed that Lakshmi (wealth) goes only to those houses which are clean and where the people are hardworking. She does not visit the places which are unclean/dirty or where the people are lazy.

In the Sri Vaishnava philosophy however, Sri (Lakshmi) is honored as the "Iswarigm sarva bhootanam" i.e. the Supreme goddess and not just the goddess of wealth. This is an important distinction between Sri Vaishnavism and other materialistic philosophies.

The auspicious moment

The third day of the festival of Diwali is the most important day of Lakshmi-puja and is entirely devoted to the propitiation of Goddess Lakshmi. On this very day sun enters his second course and passes Libra which is represented by the balance or scale. Hence, this design of Libra is believed to have suggested the balancing of account books and their closing. Despite the fact that this day falls on an amavasya day it is regarded as the most auspicious.

The day of Lakshmi-Puja falls on the dark night of Amavasya. The strains of joyous sounds of bells and drums float from the temples as man is invoking Goddess Laxmi in a wondrous holy "pouring-in" of his heart. All of a sudden that impenetrable darkness is pierced by innumerable rays of light for just a moment and the next moment a blaze of light descends down to earth from heaven as golden-footed Deep-Lakshmi alights on earth in all her celestial glory amidst chantings of Vedic hymns.

A sublime light of knowledge dawns upon humanity and this self enlightenment is expressed through the twinkling lamps that illuminate the palaces of thewealthy as well as the lowly abodes of the poor. It is believed that on this day Lakshmi walks through the green fields and loiters through the bye-lanes and showers her blessings on man for plenty and prosperity.

After Lakshmi Puja, lamps are lit all over the house

Lakshmi Pooja, or the worship of the goddess of wealth, is the main event on Diwali in North and West India. It is extremely important to keep the house spotlessly clean and pure on Diwali. Goddess Lakshmi likes cleanliness, and she will visit the cleanest house first. This is also the reason why the broom is worshiped on this day with offerings of haldi and kumkum (turmeric and vermilion). Lamps are lit in the evening to welcome the goddess. They are believed to light up Her path.

Lakshmi Puja consists of a combined puja of five deities: Ganesha is worshiped at the beginning of every auspicious act as Vighneshvara; Goddess Lakshmi is worshiped in her three forms - Mahalakshmi (the goddess of wealth and money), Mahasaraswati (the goddess of books and learning), and Mahakali; Kuber (the treasurer of the gods) is also worshiped.

Procedure of a Diwali Puja: How many times have you done the Diwali Pooja and didn't know what was the next step until Mum or Granny told you? And what about the meaning of all the things we do? Well, this year it's your turn to surprise your elders by knowing what to do exactly and why do we do what we do... Do you do the Diwali prayers this way?

Firstly, you have to keep your house clean and draw a Rangoli at your doorstep to welcome Goddess Laxmi.

Before starting the Puja it's important to have all thing ready... Here is a list of things you will need:

Silver and Gold coins, Ten Suparis (Areca Nuts or Betel Nut), Uncooked Rice, Five paan or mango leaves, A coconut, Water in the 'lota'(small pot), Kumkum for applying tilak (Red vermillon to put on forehead), Diyas (Lamps), Gulaal (holi color), Mithaai (Indian sweets), Camphor, Agarbattis (incense sticks), Dry fruits (almonds, cashews), Thaali (plate or dish), Rose or other flower petals, Red string, New note-book, Panchamrita (made from mixture of fresh milk, curds, honey, ghee & sugar), A piece of red cloth for putting the pooja items, Ghee for the diyas, Rose water, Water, Icons of Lord Ganesha, Goddess Saraswati, Goddess Laxmi and Lord Narayana

Got everything? Ok, then now we can start the Pooja :

On a new piece of cloth, make mounds of rice and place suparis on top. The suparis stand for the planets. Either keep another supari for Ganesh, or a Ganesh icon. Fill the lota with water, adorn paan leaves around the lota. Place a coconut on top of the lota. Tie a red string around the lota. On the lota draw with kumkum four lines representing the Vedas. A Swastika moving clockwise with 4 tikas. Light the agarbattis and the diyas. Take some water on your left hand and sprinkle water on to yourself after washing and purifying your hands. Place a flower petal on your palm with some rice. Chant the Gayatri Mantra 3 times (optional). Now first visualize Lord Ganesh. Welcome Him to your pooja. Chant Om Ganeshaya Namah Pray to Lord Shivji the same way. Chant: Om Namah Shivaya Sprinkle water on the lota, apply kumkum, shower rice and flowers, offer mithaai, and dry fruit and accord the same treatment that you would to an esteemed guest. Follow the same procedure with the 9 planets. Sprinkle water towards the North, South, East and West. Bathe the icons first in panchamrita and then in rose water. Apply kumkum, shower flowers, offer mithai and dry fruit to the different icons of gods. Draw a Swastika, apply kumkum, shower rice and flowers, offer mithaai and dry fruit to the Laxmi Patro and note-book. In the milk bowl, add water, gulaal, flower petals and mithaai. Then put the silver and gold coins in. It is said if you make the coins jingle, it would attract Laxmi Maa to come to you. Visualize MahaLaxmi and say: Om Shreem MahaLakshmaye Namah. In some families, it is tradition to tap a coin to your teeth and to your eyes. Tapping the coin to one’s teeth is that though we pray for wealth, we acknowledge that we will not take our material wealth with us; and tapping them to one’s eyes symbolizes one’s request of intellectual stimulus. Now you are ready for the Mahalaxmi Aarti. Make a mound of rice and place camphor in a thali or an aarti container. After the aarti is over, rotate the lighted aarti container before all gods and the whole house. Place your hands over the lighted camphor and then over yourselves. At the end of the post, you have a video and the words for the Aarti :)

Do the above with faith and devotion and don't worry too much if you do not do it very correctly. Say 'Haraye Namaha' 3 times. That takes care of all the mistakes that you may have committed knowingly or unknowingly during the ritual. What is most important is your faith and love.

After the Aarti, the ‘Palau’ is traditionally recited, followed by the ‘Bhog’. Now, what exactly is the Palau? Why do we do it? What are we doing when we do Bhog? Keep reading ;)

The Palau ceremony (bowing our heads in obeisance) is said after songs of worship or the aarti. We end our prayer with a request to the Lord to fill up the ‘jholee’ or the palau which they hold in their hand in a symbolic attempt to fill it with the goodies that they prayed for and which they expect to drop from Heaven at the end of their ritual. This is done by holding the lower part of the shirt stretched out to beg from the Lord the good and welfare of all. One should also pray for the well being of others before one asks anything for oneself.

The Bhog ceremony is the offering of the ‘prasad’ or the sweets and food to the deities for blessing. Some people recite a specific mantra during this ritual while some others say a few personal words of appreciation. Either way, it is one’s personal way of making offerings and securing blessings for what they are about to consume. The items offered are gathered in small amounts on a plate or a ‘thaali’ – then placed in front of the altar. Once offered, the items are returned to the pots or serving trays from which they were taken – an action that symbolically spreads the blessings of the food into everything that is prepared / served.

Offering Prayers to Goddess Laxmi:-

Om Jai Laxmi Mata, Maiya Jai Laxmi Mata, Tumko nis din sevat, Maiya ji ko nis din sevat Hari Vishnu Data Om Jai Laxmi Mata (Repeat above verse)

Uma Ramaa Brahmaani, Tum hi Jag Mata,Maiya Tum hi Jag Mata, Surya Chandra Ma dhyaavat, Surya Chandra Ma dhyaavat Naarad Rishi gaata. Om Jai Laxmi Mata.

Durga Roop Niranjani, Sukh Sampati Data, Maiya Sukh Sampati Data Jo koyee tumko dhyaavat, Jo koyee tumko dhyaavat Ridhi Sidhi dhan paataa Om Jai Laxmi Mata.

Tum Pataalani Nivasini, Tum hi Shubh Data, Maiya tum hi Shubh Data Karma Prabhaav Prakaashini, Karma Prabhaav Prakaashini Bhuv Niddhi ke praata Om Jai Laxmi Mata

Jis ghar tum rehti teh, sab sath goon aataa, Maiya sab sath goon aataa, Saab sambhav hojata jataa, Saab sambhav hojata jataa Man naheen ghabraataa. Om Jai Laxmi Mata

Tum Bin Yaghya na hote, vaastra na ho paata, Maiya vaastra na ho paata, Khana paan ka vaibhav, Khana paan ka vaibhav Sab tumse aata Om Jai Laxmi Mata

Shubh Goon Mandir sunder, shero da di jaata, Maiya shero da di jaata Ratna chaturdashi tum bin, Ratna chaturdashi tum bin Koi nahi paata Om Jai Laxmi Mata.

Maha Laxmiji ki Aarti, jo koi nar gaata, Maiya jo koi nar gaata, Pur aananda samata, Pur aananda samata, Paap utar jaata Om Jai Laxmi Mata.

Om Jai Laxmi Mata, Maiya Jai Laxmi Mata, Tumko nis din sevat, maiya ji ko nis din sevat Hari Vishnu Data Om Jai Laxmi Mata (Repeat above verse)