AdarshPanditji Blog: Puja Guides and Festival Tips

Welcome to the blog. Each article below is written from notes taken while learning from Adarsh Panditji, explained in simple steps so you can follow along at home.

Daily Puja at Home: A Simple Routine from AdarshPanditji

Panditji often says that a daily puja does not need to be long; it needs to be sincere. Ten to fifteen minutes each morning is enough to begin.

Prepare the space

Take a bath and wear clean clothes. Wipe the altar, remove yesterday’s flowers and refill the water in the kalash or small vessel.

The routine

  1. Light a diya with ghee or sesame oil and an incense stick.
  2. Sit facing east or north and take a few calm breaths.
  3. Remember Lord Ganesha first by chanting “Om Gam Ganapataye Namah” eleven times.
  4. Offer water, fresh flowers and a pinch of kumkum or haldi to your ishta devata (chosen deity).
  5. Offer something simple as naivedya – fruit, jaggery or a few sugar crystals.
  6. Perform a short aarti, then bow down and offer your prayers.

Share the prasad with your family. Consistency matters more than elaborate offerings.

How to Read the Hindu Panchang: Notes from AdarshPanditji

The panchang is the traditional Hindu almanac. The word means “five limbs”, and Panditji taught me to look at those five elements before choosing a day for any important ritual.

The five limbs

  • Tithi – the lunar day. There are 15 tithis in the waxing fortnight (Shukla Paksha) ending on Purnima, and 15 in the waning fortnight (Krishna Paksha) ending on Amavasya.
  • Vara – the weekday: Ravivara (Sunday), Somavara, Mangalavara, Budhavara, Guruvara, Shukravara and Shanivara (Saturday).
  • Nakshatra – the lunar mansion, one of 27, in which the moon is placed.
  • Yoga – a combination of the positions of the sun and the moon.
  • Karana – half of a tithi.

The twelve masas

The Hindu lunar year has twelve months: Chaitra, Vaishakha, Jyeshtha, Ashadha, Shravana, Bhadrapada, Ashwin, Kartika, Margashirsha, Pausha, Magha and Phalguna. Festivals are fixed by the month and tithi, which is why their English calendar dates change every year. Ganesh Chaturthi, for example, falls on the fourth day of the waxing moon in Bhadrapada.

Griha Pravesh (House Warming) Rituals Explained by AdarshPanditji

Griha Pravesh is the ceremony performed when a family enters a new home for the first time. Panditji explains that its purpose is to purify the space and invite peace and prosperity into the household.

Key steps

  1. Choose a muhurat – an auspicious date and time selected using the panchang.
  2. Ganesh puja – every ritual begins by worshipping Lord Ganesha to remove obstacles.
  3. Kalash sthapana – a pot of water topped with mango leaves and a coconut is carried into the house.
  4. Entering the home – the family steps in with the right foot first.
  5. Vastu and Navagraha puja – prayers to the deity of the dwelling and the nine planets.
  6. Boiling milk – milk is boiled in the new kitchen until it overflows, a symbol of abundance.
  7. Havan – a fire ritual that purifies the atmosphere, followed by aarti and prasad.

Because the steps and mantras are detailed, most families invite a pandit to perform Griha Pravesh. You can contact Panditji to discuss a suitable muhurat.

Diwali Lakshmi Puja Checklist by AdarshPanditji

Lakshmi puja is performed on the new moon night of Diwali to welcome Goddess Lakshmi, the giver of wealth and well-being. Here is the checklist Panditji shared with me.

Before the puja

  • Clean the entire home; Lakshmi is believed to enter only clean, bright homes.
  • Draw a rangoli at the entrance and place diyas at the doorway and windows.
  • Set up a raised platform with a red cloth, a Lakshmi and Ganesha idol or picture, and a kalash.

Items to keep ready

  • Ghee diyas, incense, camphor, kumkum, haldi, akshata (unbroken rice) and flowers, especially lotus or marigold
  • Coins or some money, a new account book if you run a business
  • Sweets, puffed rice (kheel), batasha and fruits for naivedya

During the puja

Worship Lord Ganesha first, then invoke Goddess Lakshmi, offer flowers, kumkum and sweets, chant the Lakshmi mantra “Om Shreem Mahalakshmyai Namah”, and finish with the Lakshmi aarti. Keep a diya burning through the night.

Have a question about any of these guides? Get in touch with Adarsh Panditji.