Does your puja room look like this?
78 items. Yes, that many pictures or idols or props of God were in my puja room. If we count individual deities it went well above 130 - including a picture of Shakti peetams with more than 50 devis. Think how much time will be spent on maintenance and upkeep daily.
The Brahma sutra of Hinduism says, "Ekam Brahm” - meaning there is only one god.
How is your pooja room setup? Overflowing with multiple god pictures and idols collected over many years? Overflowing packets of vibuthi and kumkum packets from every temple visit? When you are ready to worship, do you spend hours cleaning and decorating?
Like many household items, puja items and pictures of deities accumulate over time. Some are bought when visiting temples on a pilgrimage, some gifted by friends and well wishers and some are passed onto the next generation. Do you keep adding them to your puja place so as not to offend anyone, but worrying how to manage the place? Like household clutter, what should be a place for prayer and meditation will ultimately become a chore to keep up.
How many gods do you actually pray to daily?
When I visit friends, I regularly see around 30-50 individual idols or photos of various gods in their puja place - some are neatly organized but many times the place could use a makeover. Many pictures were usually of the same god too.
On average, most of us pray to less than 5 gods on a daily basis - Ganesha, shiva/Vishnu, some form of Amman and a family god. If this is the case, what are we doing with the rest of them? Are we just using those God’s pictures as decorative item? -if the daily puja takes 5 to 15 minutes, how long will it take to clean, decorate and worship all 30+ god forms?
Do you feed all these gods?
A quick inventory of puja place - mine and few friends: around 5 ganesha pictures/idols (wedding time idols given to newlyweds), 8 murugan pictures from different temples, many amman pictures from south india (Meenakshi, lakshmi, Mahishasura marthini, muthu mariyamman,...), multiple Shridi sai photos, Vishu forms, shiva pictures from multiple temples, … Well you get the idea.
Literally after bathing the Ganesha idols, i pray to six gods daily - that's all, During festivals, dusting and adoring all pictures with kumkum and flowers takes an hour.
When a guru ji visited a friend's place, he commented, do you really feed all these gods daily and properly? That was an eye opener. It is our tradition to offer naivedya to gods. Indirectly he was hinting that if you pray (or keep them at home) to these many gods, make sure you put in enough effort daily.
Tradition
The best thing about Hinduism is its simplicity.
You want ganesha but no idol of him, all you need to do is make turmeric paste, and voila you have ganesha to worship.
To invite any god, all one need is a
kalasha (vessel with water and coconut on top) - This is how its still
done today all over the world.
In temples, how many deities do you see in the Sanctum sanctorum (Garbhagraha or moolasthanam) One or too many? Just the primary deity sometimes with their consorts - many times only a single lamp is lit. Your focus is clear.
Why not follow these simple principles at home?
Minimalism or declutter?
De-cluttering is basically organizing things for nicer presentation and easy access - very minimal stuff is removed.
Very few can do a good job in de-cluttering and presenting it nicely. Remember feeding the gods early? You still have to do it and it will take time.
Instead, the best option is to minimize. One word of caution - for many of us, there are sentimental and superstitious items in puja places that we will find very hard to part with. Take it slow and even do it multiple times.
Identify the Gods you pray to daily. They make the cut.
If there are duplicates of the same deity, pick one or two favorites (example: if you have six pictures of lord muruga from arupdai veedu - six abodes of muruga - pick the family deity first, next the temple you live close to or a favorite).
If you find a god’s picture hard to part with, at least find a place to store them - a box right in the puja room - this way the pictures or idols are always accessible. If you find yourselves reaching for it often, you know they belong in the main place.
Do the same with accessories - do you really need three incense stick holders or multiple aarthi plates or multiple sizes in lamps daily?
Sometimes, donating to others will be helpful - I used to get Tirupathi calendars every year - when given to friends ended right in their puja room. Some smaller items may find no takers and eventually need to be discarded.
Motivation:
When i was confused and searched for answers few things were clear.
There is no rule stating you need to worship God X on day 1, God Y on day 2 and so on. In fact, the opposite is true - be faithful to your favorite god and surrender totally. That is all is required.
He or She may be Shiva, Vishnu, Muruga, Rama, Balaji, Ganesha, Durga, Saraswati, Lakshmi, Hanuman or anyone else.
Pattinathar’s quote comes to mind: (tamil) “Kadhatra oosiyum vaaradhu kaan kadai vazhike!!!” - Even an eyeless needle won’t accompany you in your last journey (Even an eyeless needle is useless when you die). He had so much wealth, but figured out the true attachment lies with one and only god. Every material possession is ultimately worthless in this pursuit of God.
He sang beautifully: Ondru Endriru Dheivam Undu Endriru - When you pray - focus your mind on god, believe in that god; detach yourself from any material wealth you think is higher than god.
Do we need anything else? Do you think the goddess Lakshmi will complain if you don’t adorn her with silk sarees and diamond jewellery? Shiva does not wish for abhisheka with 100 items - if you pray to him heartily and offer a Bilva leaf, he is the happiest.
We see so many new Shirdi temples built all over India. The grandiose of those temples is impressive. But truly what Sai baba wanted from all is to help the unfortunate, feed the poor and cloth and shelter the needy.
Sanctum in the house
Many puja rooms are a place where things go in - one way. Sooner or later, the main purpose of doing puja is lost and it becomes a dreaded chore to clean and maintain the place.
Of any de-cluttering or downsizing project, puja room is the hardest for many due to personal beliefs and attachments.
Just remember there is no specific number here - whatever you feel is right and will serve the purpose is just enough. It may take time and multiple rounds, but don’t give up. Keep at it. One day, it’ll truly be the perfect place. Your mind will be clear.
Make your puja room a place to pray and meditate.
Om Shanthi!!!
