Satyanarayana Puja

Satyanarayana Puja is a ritual performed by Hindus before/on any major occasion like marriage, house warming ceremony etc. It can also be performed on any day for any reason. The Satyanarayana Puja is uniqueFact|date=March 2007 in that it does not require a brahmin to perform.

The Satyanarayana Puja is usually done on the "Poornima" day of every month (the day of the full moon). It is also done on special occasions and during times of achievements as an offering of gratitude to the Lord. These occasions include marriage, graduation, and the purchase of a new home to name a few. In addition, it is said that a devotional performance of this pooja will bear children to couples trying to start a family.

The puja starts by a prayer to Lord Ganesha, the elephant God and remover of all obstacles that may occur as a result of incorrectly performing the puja. This is done by chanting all the names of Lord Ganesha and offering prasad (a food offering, usually consisting of one of Lord Ganesha's favorite foods - modak, a sugar and coconut mixture, or [lhadu] ) and the showering of flower petals.

Another part of the prayer involves a prayer to the Navagraha's - the nine important celestial beings in the universe. They consist of Surya (the Sun), Chandra (the moon), Angaaraka/Chevaai (Mars), Budha (Mercury), Guru aka Bruhaspati (Jupiter), Shukra (Venus), Sani (Saturn), Rahu (the head of the Demon snake), and Ketu (the tail of the Demon snake).

The rest of the puja consists of worship to Satyanarayana, an extremely benevolent form of Lord Vishnu. First "panchamritam" is used to clean the place where the deity is placed. After placing the deity in the correct position, Satyanaraya swami is worshipped. Names of Satyanarayana are chanted along with offering of a variety of prasad (including a mixture of milk, honey, ghee/butter, yogurt, sugar) and flower petals.

Another requirement of the puja is that the story of the puja be heard among all those observing and partaking in the pooja. The story involves the origin of the puja, the benefits of it, and the potential mishaps that may occur with the careless performance of the puja.

The prayer concludes with an Aarti, which consists of revolving a small fire-lit-lamp in the vicinity of an image of the Lord. After the puja is over, participants and observers of the pooja are required to injest in the prasad that was offered and blessed by the Lord.

ee also

*Puja
*Narayana
*Annavaram

External links

* [http://www.odia.org www.odia.org] The Odia (Oriya) book of Shree Satyanarayana Pala is available here.