Selecting a Surface for Your Shrine
Choose a quiet corner of your home to place your shrine. This space could be a quiet corner of a living area within your home, or it could be an entirely separate room. If you can, try to choose a peaceful space that will be free of distractions.[[Image:Create a Home Shrine (Hinduism) Step 1 Version 2.
If you need to, you can use a small shelf table against the wall in your kitchen or living room. Just be sure to clear the room of distractions before you begin your worship.
Purchase a ready-made shrine for a more ornate foundation. If you’d like, you may purchase a large, ornate structure designed for use for your home shrine. Some specialty stores and online retailers make standing temple-like structures with columnar supports and roofs that are beautifully decorated. A benefit to a specially designed shrine is that it looks and feels different to the other furniture pieces and spaces throughout your home. Consider commissioning a craftsperson to create a custom home shrine for you if you want something specific.
Find a small, low table to use for a simple household shrine. Choose a low, narrow table like a coffee table or side table to accommodate your seated worship practices. You can use a new table or one you already own, but the table shouldn't be used for anything else. If you’re worried about small children or pets disturbing your shrine, opt for a table that stands higher off the floor. Don’t use a surface you already use for other purposes, like the end of your dinner table or the side of a desk. The shrine should be kept as a sacred space, separate from other daily activities.
Turn a shelf or wall space into a small home shrine. Technically, you can use any type of surface for your own shrine. If you’re short on space, use a designated closet shelf or cabinet as your shrine. Even a few photos of the Gods (murtis) displayed on a wall could function as a very small shrine, so long as you treat the space with devotion and sanctity. Remove any other items from the shelf and clean it off to prepare it for use as a shrine. Don’t use the shelf for any other storage once it becomes your home shrine.
Adorning Your Shrine
Place images or statues of the Gods, known as murtis, on your shrine. A murti can be an icon, printed image, or statue, and each one represents a particular God. If you're using a stone or metal statue as a murti, place it at the center of your shrine in a deep bowl, ideally made of brass or silver. The bowl will catch any sacred water or milk you pour during murti bathing rituals. Include 1 or more murtis of any format to represent whichever Gods you wish to worship. If you don't have a statue, obtain a picture of the God and place a sheet of copper behind it before putting it in a frame. Set this frame onto your shrine. Krishna and the elephant-headed god Ganesh are popular choices for home shrines. For easy clean-up, set up a drain that goes from the bowl to a jar located below or beside the altar to catch the water or milk. Otherwise, after each ceremony, you'll need to remove the murti from the bowl and pour out the liquid.
Decorate the shrine’s surface and murtis with ornate accessories. To add a decorative touch worthy of the Gods, find an elaborate piece of fabric to cover the shelf or table you’re using as your shrine. You can also gather jewels, accessories, flower garlands, and other decorations for dressing your murtis. These can be as elaborate or as humble as you’d like. As your devotion increases with daily worship at this sacred space within your home, you’ll naturally want to enhance its beauty to please the Gods. Consider adding a yantra, an image made up of geometric shapes that represent deities, to your shrine along with the murtis. These are often useful for meditation.
Include metal containers for your offerings to the Gods. To make offerings of water, include a water cup and a small spoon on your shrine. You can also include a bowl that can hold unbroken, uncooked rice with turmeric, and another bowl or tray to hold loose flower petals or fresh, stemless flowers. If you plan to make offerings of fresh fruit or cooked food during worship, you'll need a bowl or covered container for that as well. Use brass and silver for these containers, if possible. Place the bowls directly onto the shrine or arrange them on large metal trays.
Light your shrine with a variety of lamps. You can include a standing oil lamp (dipastambha) to light during puja and throughout the day. Include a camphor lamp (karpura) for use during puja as well. Add a candle with a cotton wick (dipa) that can be used for special occasions to your shrine. Include other lamps and candles around the room to add additional light.
Engage the senses with objects like bells and incense. In addition to the beautiful appearance of your shrine and the offerings of food you make to the Gods, include items that nourish your other senses. For instance, you might use a metal bell (ghanta), incense (agarbhatti), and an incense burner to create sounds and scents while you worship at your shrine. Obtain a strand of prayer beads (mala) to hold as you pray. Drape your prayer beads on the murti when you’re not worshipping at your shrine. To add a tactile element, find an ornate cushion to sit on or a soft shawl you can wear during worship. Consider including a music source such as a CD player or speaker so you can listen to mantras or music.
Personalize your shrine with photos of family members and mentors. To honor the guru of your lineage, place their picture on the shrine or on a nearby wall. Consider adding photos of your mentors and other family members, such as ancestors or children, to celebrate and honor the special people in your life. You can also personalize your shrine with a journal, if this is part of your spiritual practice.
Worshiping at Your Home Shrine
Practice puja at your home shrine on a daily basis. Perform puja, the traditional ceremony of worship and offering, every day. Have the head of your household gather the whole family together to worship, or complete the ritual by yourself. Light a lamp and make a humble offering to God as you pray. Traditions vary widely across Hinduism, but perform yours with pure devotion and even the most simple acts will be sacred. Some traditions include bathing the murti in water or milk and distributing the blessed liquid to other worshippers, burning incense, reciting Sanskrit chants, and ringing the ghanta bell as you make offerings. Early morning is a common time for puja, but you may also worship later in the day. Come to your home shrine for meditation, devotional singing, or prayer outside of your daily puja practice.
Treat your home shrine as a sacred space with love and devotion. The size and ornateness of your shrine don’t matter. No matter what type of shrine you have, treat it as a holy space for connecting with the Gods. Express your sincere faith with love and devotion. Approach your home shrine with reverence and care, as if it were a temple. If you don’t worship regularly with a sincere and devoted intention, the spirit of God won’t be present in the murtis and your shrine shall not be a holy space.
Refrain from using the shrine for any purpose outside of worship. Don’t use the table as casual storage. Instead, maintain your shrine’s sanctity by keeping it clean. Keep clutter and non-spiritual objects away from it. Make sure it’s out of the way of drafts or disturbances. Refrain from moving the items off of the shrine’s surface and using the table for something else. Keep it as-is and care for it regularly.
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