Vaastu Puja
The Vaastu Shastras are full of ritualistic data that pertain to the relationship of a person to the earth (bhoomi) or with the energies (vaastu devata) or to the trees (vana mahotsavam, vana muhurtam).
To understand the right time to plant, to sow, to build, to reap, and to expand businesses are all part of the Vaastu Shastras.
Many important functions such as the following:Vaastu Muhurtam, Bhoomi Puja, Garbhanyasa, Kumbhabhishekam, Grihapravesam have been pointed out below:
Vaastu Muhurtam. After referring to the Panchangam or Indian calendar, the right time is chosen to inaugurate the site and to propitiate the energies. The time chosen is when the Vaastu Purusha is awake and therefore capable of participating in the ceremony in a powerful manner. As already stated, the Vaastu Purusha is awake during eight months of the year and asleep in the other four. (Eight months of wakefulness-Mesha, Vrishabha, Kataka, Simha, Tula, Vrichika, Makara, Kumbha. Four months of Sleep-Dhanur, Mina, Mithuna, Kanya.)
Bhoomi Puja. Usually this puja is carried out at the same time as vaastu muhurtam. A small 64-part diagram denoting the manduka padam and the Vaastu Purusha within it is marked in the NE part of the property using different seeds and colouring substance. To each of the devas of this mandala, the chants and the offerings mentioned earlier are made. It is also common to make a test pit in the NE in which the first bricks or stones are placed during the bhoomi puja. An effigy of the Vaastu Purusha is made in straw and burnt. This is to ward off evil spirits. It is recommended that this ritual be carried out in the morning.
Garbhanyasa. This is a ritual carried out to bring alive the building and its spaces. It is recommended that this ritual to be carried out in the evening or night after the building has been completed and it is ready for occupation.
For the ritual a specific location is picked and a small cavity is dug out into which a box made of copper or silver is placed. It may have nine or twenty-five compartments, which is a mandala form known as peetha padam (nine). Upapeetha padam (twenty-five). In the compartment facing east, offerings to Surya and Indra are made in silver and gold, in the south to Yama and Simha in iron and gold, in the west to Varuna in silver, in the north to Soma in silver, and similarly to all the other directions. Nine grains, nine gems, minerals and herbs are placed in the box. The bottom of the cavity or pit should have earth from different places. First placed. This is then covered with a wooden lid and placed in the cavity. The cavity is filled up amidst chanting and prayer.
This box or casket is held to be the source of life and movement. By placing it with its offerings to the energies, the building comes alive. Garbha means the womb, hence this is the womb or life-defining ritual. The ritual may be carried out in the centre or brahmasthana, or in the north, west, east, south, on one side of the central axis (to the right facing from the outside).
Kumbhabhishekam. This ritual is usually carried out for temples. After the temple structure has been completed, and the image of the Divine One placed in the garbhagriha or sanctum, the kalasam or bronze urn is placed on the top of the outer structure. With hold water that has been purified through puja, the kalasam is finally cleansed. It is this final ritual which marks the completion of a temple and with which it promises that the temple is now ready for the dialogue between the community and the gods.
Griha pravesam. In residences, the final action of purifying and making ready the space for occupation is called Griha Pravesham. The planets and the devas are propitiated, Vinayaka invoked, the space sprinkled with holy water, and sanctified with the sacred Vedic ritual. After this ceremony, the inhabitants may move into the built space and start their new lives.
With all these rituals, the tradition has helped people understand the intrinsic and extraordinary relationship they share with their physical and spiritual environment. There is no connection with organized religion in any of the rituals, they take on an almost tribal character in the offering of energy back to the earthly systems.
To understand the right time to plant, to sow, to build, to reap, and to expand businesses are all part of the Vaastu Shastras.
Many important functions such as the following:Vaastu Muhurtam, Bhoomi Puja, Garbhanyasa, Kumbhabhishekam, Grihapravesam have been pointed out below:
Vaastu Muhurtam. After referring to the Panchangam or Indian calendar, the right time is chosen to inaugurate the site and to propitiate the energies. The time chosen is when the Vaastu Purusha is awake and therefore capable of participating in the ceremony in a powerful manner. As already stated, the Vaastu Purusha is awake during eight months of the year and asleep in the other four. (Eight months of wakefulness-Mesha, Vrishabha, Kataka, Simha, Tula, Vrichika, Makara, Kumbha. Four months of Sleep-Dhanur, Mina, Mithuna, Kanya.)
Bhoomi Puja. Usually this puja is carried out at the same time as vaastu muhurtam. A small 64-part diagram denoting the manduka padam and the Vaastu Purusha within it is marked in the NE part of the property using different seeds and colouring substance. To each of the devas of this mandala, the chants and the offerings mentioned earlier are made. It is also common to make a test pit in the NE in which the first bricks or stones are placed during the bhoomi puja. An effigy of the Vaastu Purusha is made in straw and burnt. This is to ward off evil spirits. It is recommended that this ritual be carried out in the morning.
Garbhanyasa. This is a ritual carried out to bring alive the building and its spaces. It is recommended that this ritual to be carried out in the evening or night after the building has been completed and it is ready for occupation.
For the ritual a specific location is picked and a small cavity is dug out into which a box made of copper or silver is placed. It may have nine or twenty-five compartments, which is a mandala form known as peetha padam (nine). Upapeetha padam (twenty-five). In the compartment facing east, offerings to Surya and Indra are made in silver and gold, in the south to Yama and Simha in iron and gold, in the west to Varuna in silver, in the north to Soma in silver, and similarly to all the other directions. Nine grains, nine gems, minerals and herbs are placed in the box. The bottom of the cavity or pit should have earth from different places. First placed. This is then covered with a wooden lid and placed in the cavity. The cavity is filled up amidst chanting and prayer.
This box or casket is held to be the source of life and movement. By placing it with its offerings to the energies, the building comes alive. Garbha means the womb, hence this is the womb or life-defining ritual. The ritual may be carried out in the centre or brahmasthana, or in the north, west, east, south, on one side of the central axis (to the right facing from the outside).
Kumbhabhishekam. This ritual is usually carried out for temples. After the temple structure has been completed, and the image of the Divine One placed in the garbhagriha or sanctum, the kalasam or bronze urn is placed on the top of the outer structure. With hold water that has been purified through puja, the kalasam is finally cleansed. It is this final ritual which marks the completion of a temple and with which it promises that the temple is now ready for the dialogue between the community and the gods.
Griha pravesam. In residences, the final action of purifying and making ready the space for occupation is called Griha Pravesham. The planets and the devas are propitiated, Vinayaka invoked, the space sprinkled with holy water, and sanctified with the sacred Vedic ritual. After this ceremony, the inhabitants may move into the built space and start their new lives.
With all these rituals, the tradition has helped people understand the intrinsic and extraordinary relationship they share with their physical and spiritual environment. There is no connection with organized religion in any of the rituals, they take on an almost tribal character in the offering of energy back to the earthly systems.
posted by Amish at 12:40 AM
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