India Behind The Lens (News Centre)

Introduction: Hindu Dharma provides various pathways to worship the divine. Ritualistic worship (Karmakand), a subset of Path of Devotion (Bhaktimarg), is one such path. In the Path of Ritualistic Worship (Karmakand), as the name suggests, every aspect of the ritual has spiritual significance and science behind it. In this article, we will look at the aspect of arranging the platter for ritualistic worship.

Arrangement based on cosmic elements: Before commencing the actual ritualistic worship (pujaa), it is important to arrange the tools and other components used in the ritualistic worship in a spiritually beneficial manner. From the viewpoint of the science of spirituality it is appropriate to arrange them based on the level of the five cosmic elements. The cosmic elements are Absolute Earth (Pruthvi), Absolute Water (Aap), Absolute Fire (Tej), Absolute Wind (Vaayu) and Absolute Ether (Aakaash). The reason for an arrangement based on the cosmic elements is that such an arrangement balances and coordinates the five cosmic elements that are active in the universe. This helps the embodied soul (worshipper) to derive maximum benefit from the manifest (sagun) and unmanifest (nirgun) frequencies emitted by the deity being ritualistically worshipped.

Arranging the components of the ritualistic worship platter: The arrangement of the components of the ritualistic platter is as seen in the above image. It is explained in the two-dimensional context of the relative position of the deity being ritualistically worshipped and the worshipper. Thus, ‘at the forefront’ refers to the part of the platter positioned close to the image or idol of the deity being worshipped, and ‘lower end of the platter’ refers to the part of the platter positioned close to the worshipper.

Powders: In the ritualistic platter, turmeric (haldi) and vermilion (kumkum) are to be placed to the right of the embodied soul (worshipper). The black coloured powder (bukka), magenta coloured powder (gulal) and saffron coloured powder (shendur) are to be placed to the left of the worshipper.

Fragrances: The perfume bottle, fragrant paste (usually sandalwood paste), flowers, a special type of tender grass (durva) and leaves (patri) are to be placed at the forefront of the platter, i.e. close to the image of the deity being ritualistically worshipped. This is because the subtle, spiritual frequencies of the deity are activated by the fragrance particles in the perfume, fragrant paste and flowers and by the colourparticles in the special grass and leaves.

Betel and monetary offering: The leaves and nuts of the betel plant and money are offered in the ‘ritual of offering money’ namelydakshina. These components are to be placed at the lower end of the platter, i.e. close to the worshipper. This is because these components are an effective medium for transmitting the deity’s subtle, spiritual frequencies towards the worshipper.

Unbroken rice grains: In the center, the all encompassing unbroken rice grains are to be placed. The unbroken rice grains become the central portion of the platter because the frequencies of the five superior deities, namely Lord Shiva, Goddess Durga, Lord Rama, LordKrushna (Krishna) and Lord Ganapati are attracted to them. These divine frequencies are then transmitted as needed to the other components like vermilion, turmeric, etc., placed around the rice grains in a circular manner.

About Forum for Hindu Awakening : The Forum for Hindu Awakening (FHA) is a charitable organization devoted to awaken society to the unique spiritual science behind Hindu Dharma concepts and practices, to motivate people to live and preserve them and to facilitate the spiritual progress of humanity.

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# Correct method and science of doing Namaskar to God
# Why namaskar, not hand shake: Spiritual benefits of namaskaar

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