Different “Swaroop” of Lord Shiva and Interesting Vedic facts behind it

- H.H Swamiji Sri Selvam Siddhar

DakshiNAmUrti

DakshiNamurthy dhyAna Slokam:

The leg pressing over a demon, on the top of which the Embodiment of merits is sitting with one leg folded, the one who teaches difficult words (vedas) with ease, the sages enjoying (the teachings, sitting) on ground, with the (hand) posture of explaining, a fire pot, book and akshamAla in the four hands, Who trembles away my ignorance, to That dakshiNAmUrti (salutations).

PurANa of the dakshinamurthy:

DakshiNA mUrti: south faced Lord (yOga mUrti)

The four sons, of brahmA, sanaka, sanandana, sanAtana, sanat kumAra did austere tapas and analysis, but they were unclear of the Supreme Truth. They finally decided to come to Lord Shiva to get the knowledge of the Truth. The Lord sat under the banyan tree, and the four sages also sat down around Him. Lord stayed in the yOga posture without saying a single word. The four sages got all their doubts cleared just by that posture. The form in which God appeared as a Supreme Guide is the form of wisdom dakshiNAmUrti.

This explains that the Truth cannot be explained in words and must be experienced. Including the great chinmudra posture, the posture of shrI dhakshiNA mUrti, who is the teacher of all the teachers, indicates a lot of information that needs days to explain. As thirumUlar says, the posture of the guru is a thing to be thought about always. That is the clarity ! (theLivu guruvuru chin^dhiththal thAnE)

Chandrashekharar

Shlokam:

With the hands in abhaya (protecting) and varada (boon giving) postures, with a pleasing and decorated expression, a blossomed face and eye, with the shadow created by moon on the crown, with an upright body, and feet in the same level, Coral like formed, holding the deer and axe, (He) stay in the lotus pedestal. (of my heart)

PurANa of the deity:

cha.ndra shEkharar : moon ornamented Lord (bhOga mUrti)daksha had twenty seven stars as daughters. All of them were married to moon. But the moon had special attraction towards rOhiNi. So all the other wives complained it to the father dakasha that their husband moon is not treating them fairly. daksha got angry and cursed the moon to lose its luminance (kala) day by day. Every day the moon started losing one luminance part (kala) out of his 16 parts. Afraid and ashamed moon disappeared into the ocean. There are many herbs that require the light of the moon to grow. Without moon, they were harmed. Consequently there was suffering in the world. To end the problem the celestials advised moon to take refuge in the Great Divine, Lord shiva. Left with only one kalA, he took refuge in Lord Shiva. Being the graceful Almighty, He wore the moon crescent on His head, making him grow for 15 days and decay for 15 days periodically.Thus chan^drashEkharar is considered a giver of refuge.

kirAtar

shlokam:

Body black in color, two shoulders holding bows and arrows, hair falling on the forehead, posing comfortably, with two piercing eyes, blossomed nice face, with feathers and fragrant flowers in his head, wearing the skin of tiger, Terrific, I meditate that Hunter (kirAta), the thief (hara).

PurANa of the deity

kirAtar : the hunter

This is the only form of Lord Shiva in which He appeared black in color. Arjuna wanted to get the peerless weapon pAsupatAstram from Lord Shiva for the battle of mahAbharata. He left the other four pANdavAs, went to the forest and did austere tapas for getting the boon of Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva was satisfied with his prayer, wanted to give the pAsupatAstram to him, but wanted to play a bit too. He took the form of a Hunter with Shakthi as Huntress. That time a demon by name mUkAsura, who was in the form of wild pig came to kill Arjuna. To kill the wild pig Arjuna fired an arrow from the front, at the same time the Hunter, Who is none other than God Himself, attacked it from the back and killed the pig.

Arjuna mocked at the Hunter for firing the arrow from the back. Having great pride of his valor, he was als angry at the Hunter because He aimed at his prey. The Hunter responded that attacking an animal from the back is not against rules of hunting. An argument broke out. They decided to fight deciding who was more valorous between them. The Hunter cut the string in Arjuna's bow with His arrow in the fight! Angered and

excited, Arjuna started wrestling. He couldn't match the Lord, and the Lord enjoyed his fighting. At one point of time in wrestling Arjuna held the foot of the Hunter. As the Lord is pleased when somebody catches His holy feet, He stopped wrestling appeared with pArvati revealing who He is.

Shocked Arjuna pleaded for forgiveness, as he was trying to fight with the Supreme out of his ignorance. However the God, Who is pleased by devotion, blessed him and gave him the invincible pAsupatAstra. (In some books it is told that Arjuna couldn't fight with the Hunter, he started worshipping the Shiva Lingam. To his astonishment he found the flowers he offered to the Lingam on the head of the Hunter. Then he prostrated before the Hunter and the Lord revealed Himself). This can be found in detail in kirAtArjuniyam of bhAravi and mahA bhArata.

Jala.ndharAri

Shlokam:

Smeared in red (blood), moving fierce, with three nice eyes, Protection posture, axe, deer, bow decorating the hands, cutting the head of jala.ndhara who is trying to hold the disc (chakra) of earth (ground), I pray, the destroyer of jala.ndhara.

PurANa of the deity:

jala.ndhara ari : enemy of jala.ndhara (vIrA mUrti)

Jalandhara was a demon king. After doing harsh austerities he got lots of boons. By the power he got out of those boons, he captured and ruled the worlds. He went to the dEvAs to fight against. Since nobody was ready to fight against such a powerful enemy, everybody subdued to him without much resistance. He then proceeded to more powerful worlds of satyalOka and vaikuNTha. There too nobody was ready to fight against him. But he was told that only Lord Shiva can fight against him. Stupid jalandhara not realizing what he is doing, went to KailAsa, the abode of Lord shiva, to fight with the God! Lord Shiva took the form of an old man and stood on his way. He asked Jalandhara where he was going. Jalandhara replied that he was going to fight against Lord Shiva. Smiling the Old Man marked a disc (chakra) on the ground. He said, "Before fighting with the powerful Lord shiva, check your strength by lifting this disc above your head." jalandhara laughed at the Old man that he did not realize jalandhara's strength. He decided to show off his strength by lifting that disc. As he started lifting Jala.ndhara realized that it was not an easy job. He took that disc with great difficulty and placed on his head. The disc cut his head off cutting him into pieces!

(That disc is the sudarshana chakra part of which was given to mahAvishhNu by the Lord chakra pradhar). ThiruviRkudi is the temple associated with this valorous deed of Lord Shiva

GangAdharar

PurANa of the deity:

ga.ngA dharar : Lord wearing ga.ngA (river to head).bhagIratha was the renowned king forefather of rAma of raghu vamsa. His forefathers known as sagaras were burnt down due to a curse. For the upliftment of those ancestors from the cursed state to get to the heavens, he wanted to bring the river ga.ngA to earth. The idea is that when ganga waters touch the ash of sagaras, they would be uplifted from their sin. He did very severe austerities and to get the permission from indra. He gave permission to bring the ganaga flowing in the heaven to the earth, however he told, coming down to earth would be the decision of ganga. So bagIrata again started his penance and prayed the goddess ga.ngA. She agreed to come down, but warned him that he should find a person who could withstand the force with which she will descend to earth! He agreed and found out that the refuge would be at Lord shiva. He did the austerities pleasing Lord Shiva. Appreciating his devotion and efforts, Lord agreed to hold the ga.ngA when she descends to earth. ga.ngA out of her pride and ignorance thought that the Lord won't be able to withstand the force! She came down with an intention to gush down the Lord with heavy force. Can the Lord, Who holds the entire world He created, be pushed down by a river ? The Lord, who is the creator of the entire universe and who has taken the forms just out of the grace on creatures, arrested her flow in His matted hair! She tried her best to rush out of His matted hair, but in vain. Not a drop of water could escape! bhagIratha, worried by this (as he would not get ganga to earth otherwise), prayed to the Lord to show mercy on her. The Gracious Lord allowed the ga.ngA through a strand of His matted hair. ga.ngA then flowed humbly, gracefully and giving prosperity on her way to pAtALa. Thus the ancestors of bhagIratha were resurrected by the holy water of ga.ngA.

The Lord in the posture holding the ganga in the matted hair is called gangAdhara mUrthi.

How to worship in the Hindu- (Shiva) Temples?Param Pujya Swamiji Sri Selvam Siddhar

Temples are the connecting points of high importance in our religion and culture. The absolute necessity of the temple worship is stressed throughout by the great saints of the religion. It is not very difficult to realize the important role they play in cultivating the spiritualism in people. It is the place for collective worship. Given these significant roles

of the temples it is required to have some discipline to be followed in the temples for having the real expected out of the worship. Here are a few one can follow to set that harmony. Most of these are in general applicable to all Hindu temples though a few are specific to shaivite temples.

Going to the temple with a clean body. Legs and hands shall be cleaned at entering the temple.

Going to the temple adorned with holy symbols like the Holy Ash, rudrAxam.

Taking something to offer to the Lord. It is an offering out of devotion. It would be nice if the offering is the one required in the worship.

Not to enter the temple with foot wear.

Prostrating in front of the flag column (dwajastaMbham) (towards the North) on entering the temple.

Not to prostrate anywhere else in the temple.

not to prostrate to anybody else in the temple premises.

Taking the permission of nandi dEvar mentally before entering His abode.

Saluting the elephant headed Lord enter the Lord's abode.

In Lord shiva's abode, engage the mind in the thinking of the God. Avoid any gossip. Temple is not the place for gossiping. Can sing or chant His names loudly and sweetly if it would not disturb others. Otherwise it could be done internally without making noise.

The Holy ash given as the blessings should be worn saying "shivAya namaH". It should not be spilled on the ground or wasted.

It is normally a procedure to offer something to the priest whose whole life should be in the service of the Lord.

Circumambulating the Lord saluting the Goddess and the deities in the temple. The circumambulation would be done at least for three times. On special occasions like

pradoshham the are special circumambulation methods like soma sUkta pradhaxiNam are followed.

While in the temple either the Holy five letters or any praise could be chanted.

Before coming out of the temple go to the place of chaNdEshwarar and take permission for the materials which after worship are taken out of the temple as blessings. One must

not take anything out in excess and things taken from the temple should be only as the mark of blessings. If nothing is taken it is the normal practice to wipe (rub) the hands together in his place.

Should do something in the promotion of the temple physically or materially or whichever is convenient and required.

On coming out of the temple, again prostrate in front of the flag column towards the north. Sit facing the north and meditate on the God chanting the Holy five letters.

While inside the temple should not make the place dirty in any way or make any noise.Going to the temple at least once in a week with the family.

The mind should be focussed on the Lord like the dust of iron that stick to the magnet. A worship with such an orientation would have very good effect in us by the grace of the Almighty.

Holy Ash- Viboothi- Facts & Importance- Param Pujya Swamiji Sri Selvam Siddhar

Lord kAlAgni rudra teaches bhusu.ndi - earth came out of the sadyojAta face of the Lord. From this came the gray colored cow called nanda from the dung of which came vibhUti. From the vAmadeva face came the water, from that came the black colored cow bhadra giving bhasita. From the aghora face came the fire, from that the copper colored cow t the copper colored cow surabhi giving bhasma. From the tatpuruSha face came the gas/air, from which came shAnti and from that came the white colored cow sushIle giving xAra. From the IshAna face came the space, from which came the multi colored cow sumanA giving raksha.

The Holy Ash which is called by five names, when pronunced raises the spiritual power of the individual and hence is called vibhUti. Since it burns the sins to ashes it is called bhasita. Since it gives the wisdom to all it is called bhasmam. Since it neutralises the bad things it is called xAra. Since it protects the people from evil forces, it is called raxa.

Irrespective of caste, creed, sex and all other differences all the people shall wear the Holy Ash. It is an old adage the says the forehead without the ash is a ruined one. The Holy Ash having the powers of agni and soma refreshes the one who wears it. For the seekers of yoga this Holy Ash kindles the spirit and provides early fruit. When wearing the Holy Ash the mantra shivAya namaH(The Holy Five Letters(1)) is chanted or the sadyojAtAdi paJNcha brahma mantra(2) or the tryambakaM or mAno mahAntam from rudra sUktam(3).

The Holy Ash purifies the one who wears it. This purification (bath) is called Agneya snAna. In this the renouced ones would smear the ash in the remains of ritual fire from the leg to the head. Others would smear in the ash from the head to the leg.

ska.ndha purANam says that the Holy Ash would have to be worn at the following fifteen places in the body: Head. Forehead Neck Chest Both sides of the belly Two arms Two Ankles Two wrists Two sides of the back Behind the neck.

The holy Ash is the substance the devotees wear on their bodies with adoration and respect. This along with the rudrAxa beads (1) shows up the devotees of the Simple but Supreme Lord shiva. The holy Ash has lots of spiritual sense. There are lots of hymns telling the glory of the holy Ash. ((2) - for example). Ash - the substance that is arrived when things are completely burnt off. In natural terms it is a final state. The state where it has nothing left to burn off ! This indicates the transience of the beings and the Permanence of the Supreme that smears in this ash. This also indicates the matured state of bliss the devotees would be heading towards which stands beyond perturbance - transformation (nothing to burn off).

The purANic events associated with the holy Ash show its significance. When the three daemons of impurities (tripura) were burnt down by the mere smile of the God, the ash that remained got settled on the Lord, Who danced there. Thus the tripurAri was smeared in the Ash that came out of burning out of the three impurities. When the cupid - the deva of lust, tried to fire his arrows on the yogic Lord, he was burnt by the Lord into a heap of ash. The unruffled Lord appeared decorated with that ash. At the times when everything reduces unto It, the Everexistant Lord wears that ash.

The devotees of the Lord, Who gives His form to the ardent worshipper, wear the same way the holy Ash on their body. This holy Ash is prepared in the ritual fire in a specified way (3) along with the chanting of the Holy Five Letters (4) and other vedic hymns. Thus obtained Holy Ash is worn on various specified places of the body including the forehead chanting the Holy Five Letters. (There are two broad categories of wearing the Holy Ash. One is uddUlanam that is sprinkling the Holy Ash on the body and the other is tripuNDram that is in three distinct bands)

Some of the upanishads that hail the glory of holy ash.

kAlAgnirudram : aitrIya: yogatattva ;jApAli : sanyAsa :vAsudeva :bhasmajApAla :jApAla (bR^ihajjApAla) :nArada parivrAja :rAmarahasya: chANDilya :tripurAtApini :atharvashira

An Angry God – Lord Shiva ?

There has been a misconception with some people that Lord Shiva is a fierce One. This misconception stems from the portrayals that He is the god of destruction, He is adorned with the skulls and snakes, the ways of worship are quite strict and yogic in nature. A more closer look into the Shaivism would clarify these.

First of all the word shiva itself means auspicious and perfection(1). Can there be a more auspicious thing than the Auspicious ?! This great God who is adorned with skulls and snakes, is the one the great devas worship. Because those great divines realise this Supreme's potence and glorious qualities.(2) Saluting this Lord, who goes on alms as if He has nothing but in reality made the kubhEra the king of wealth, all the divines get their greatness and prosperity. This Supreme, who could not be explored by even the great devas, get very easily pleased and showers on the devotee with boons. It is said when one wants even hard to get boons, worship of Lord shiva would be the way. Very naturally our Lord is called ashutosha (fast pleased) and bholenath(innocent Lord) !!

When one evolves in the worship of Lord shiva to be a devotee, the worship is more out of love than a fear for a supernatural power. When the devotee experiances the Glorious qualities of the Lord the love blooms and this love, knowledge and experiance paves way for the spiritual success and not the fear. (This is in fact the speciality of Hinduism not compelling the follower to fear for a super natural power but to know, experiance and be in It). The disciplined paths of worshiping the Lord may appear difficult but sure to bring lots of marvel in return. Also not all the worship paths are so strict. If this God would get pleased only for highly strict rituals what would one have to say about kaNNappa ?(3)

Lord Shiva is not the the god of destruction, but is the Supreme who plays the five activites of Creation, Protection, Destruction, Concealing and Blessing. The God shiva who is known as parashiva (the Supreme Shiva) plays these actions that run the Universe through Its forms and powers but is above all these specific deeds.(4) But like an owner of a firm who also works with the people he employed, the Supreme Shiva in spite of being the Master of all these great deeds also enacts as the doer of some deeds like the destruction, Concealing and Blessing.

Various forms of the Lord Shiva show Him Ash smeared with skulls and snakes dancing in the cemetries. But it should be understood that these are the glories of the Supreme that It is adorned with nature since It is beyond the human ornations.(5) It is this Lord the wise worship when they want the most auspicious boons.

O, Giver of the Boons, the bull, the parts of a cot, chisel, the elephant-skin, Ashes, the serpent, the skull : these are the articles of your house-hold. And yet gods get all their riches merely by the movement of your eye-brows. Really, false desires for worldly things do not deceive ( mislead ) one who is always is absorbed in his soul

shiva mahimnaLove and shivam, there exist two things, say the fools.Love is shivam, that nobody understands.When everybody realise that Love is shivam,they sit in love as shivam.Thirumuular

Lord shiva, the Supreme Potent and Yogeshwara is also the absolute Auspicious One the devoted mind loves in extremity.

How can the god of destruction be the Supreme?

Destruction is one among the three activities that is undertaken by the Three Holy Manifestations of sanAtana dharma respectively. That being the case how could one say Lord Shiva who gets associated with the destruction be the Supreme God ?

braHma, viShNu, rudra, often referred to collectively as trimUrti, play the role of masters of creation, protection and destruction respectively. If we take this world as an example it is an easy task for almost everybody to involve in the acts of creation. (This is not to say that the Universal creation is a trivial task. All due respects to Lord braHma). Whereas as for as protection is concerned it is only few good hearted people, who have the strength and inclination to help for the cause of goodness do the protection deeds. But... not everybody is provided with the power of destruction. When anybody starts doing the destruction then there would be chaos which they call the law and order problem. There is normally one authority called government is given the

authority to destroy and not others. This would show how difficult is the action of destruction and how carefully it has to be dealt with. This is the reason the act of destruction (to be correct this word should be actually "reduction", as things are not getting destroyed but only a change of state happens odukkam in thamiz and pralayam in saMskR^itam) is handled by a form of Lord shiva Itself, Who is called rudra. Since rudra is a form of the Lord, rudra is considered as Lord shiva Itself.

Ok, so far only one part of the question is answered. Agreed, the importance of the act of reduction (destruction). But when this Lord being one among the Trinity, how can this Lord be considered the Supreme ?

Let us take an example of a small shop. The owner employs a few skilled people to do the regular work and at peak hours or at critical periods, he/she also takes some important work and executes it. Now that individual wears two caps. One as the owner of the shop and other as the worker in the shop, but the individual is the same irrespective of whether he /she is acting as the owner or as a worker. Nobody questions his/her ownership because he/she shares the work load with the others in the shop. The same way though the Supreme Lord shiva is beyond the five deeds, It also takes roles in the critical deeds assuming a form specific to that role. So though Lord shiva gets associated with one of the three in the Trinity, He is the Supreme Itself.

A point to note here is that it is not just these three actions, but there are totally five deeds which are the acts of/on behalf of the Supreme. These five activities referred to as panycha kR^ityam are creation, sustenance, reduction, illusioning and blessing. The holy masters for these five activities are braHma, viShNu, rudra, maheshwara, sadAshiva respectively. Of these the later three are nothing but the forms of the Supreme shiva (called parashivA). So to conclude Lord Shiva is the Supreme, Who assumes various critical roles and assumes appropriate names and forms, and also stands transcending all these.

Lord Shiva - God of All

-Swamiji Sri Selvam Siddhar ( The only living Siddhar in USA)

Many of the asurAs worship Lord shiva and get boons as observed in the purANAs. Whereas

very few of them worship the other divines. Why is it so ? Why should the God show grace to

asurAs ?

Lord shiva is the Supreme, Which does not have any parents Which never takes birth Which is all

alone without association with any of the creatures or creations enjoying in the Self. God is the

only one Who is dependable for anybody / anything to surrender to as It is the only perennial

Being. Hence God is the Lord of all creatures (lives/souls). For this reason the Lord is hailed

as pashupati (Lord of living beings). Whether it is devas or asuras or humans or other creatures

all are pashus. That being the case how could the Lord be partial to one section of pashus and

withdrawing the Grace for the other ? So anybody who worships the Lord sincerely could get

blessed with Its Grace irrespective of the caste, creed, race, power, status and qualities.

It is in fact to be noted that Lord shiva is worshipped by the devas like viShNu, braHma, indra, by

asuras like bANa, rAvaNa, tripura, sUrapadma, by humans like sha~Nkara bhagavatpAda,

samban^dhar, appar, by other creatures like jaTAyu, sampAdi (eagles), vAli (monkey) and the list

goes on and on. One finds in the purANas the variety of people of different backgrounds and

qualities worship the Lord shiva. There are many histories of temples which talk of the cranes,

bees, elephants, spiders, snakes worshipping the Lord and getting blessed. So the Lord as the

Supreme blesses anyone who worships in sincere devotion. There is no discrimination on who

the seeker is. The Lord is so merciful that He showers the boons one look for when there is a

determination to seek Him. It is evident from the history of asura bANa who attained a great fame

of his valor and got the place in the abode of Lord shiva all due to his determined worship of the

Lord.

But..., if the receiver of the boons does not use them in proper way and misuses to disturb others,

in the Lord defined system of this universe they get punished for the misdeeds. A closer analysis

would show that the devas are the divine elements of nature that are essential for all of us to

survive (like air, sun, fire etc). Very often asuras are the one who disturb the nature as evident

from purANas. So when the asuras misuse the boons got to disturb the other lives they get

punished as evident from the histories of hiraNya, rAvaNa and others. When the misuse goes

beyond a point by the powerful forces so as to question the existence of the whole system, the

Lord the One Who is essential for all the essentials, Who has devised this whole Universe, takes

the action to restore normalcy for example like tripura dahana.

Lord shiva is the God of all. Like the mother He showers the grace for all the children, but the

misusing children get punished. This Supreme Lord better than a mother does not withhold the

grace, He is our belovedpashupati.

Translation:

The above vedic scripture was written in Tamil – Indian Laguage. The meaning is as

follows:

Daemons, kinnaras, deva of death, deva of rain, mobile fire, air, sun and moon, illusionless tiger,

monkey, snake, vasus, heavenly people and under the earth people - of all these, the ones who

worship Your Holy Feet relentlessly - seeing the great glory out of Your grace they have attained,

without any surprise I surrender to Your Holy Feet, Oh the Lord of fertile thiruppunkUr !

Upacharas & Darshana-Swamiji Sri Selvam Siddhar

( The only living Siddhar in USA)

Sixteen Upacharas

During the worship of the Lord 16 types of services/honoring are done to the Lord. Evidently these are the outpouring of love that are channelized and suggested by the Agamas.

AvAhana - Welcome/installationAsana - Giving seatpAdya - Washing the legarghya - Washing the handsAchaman - Water to drinkmadhuparka - Sweet (honey) mixture to eatsnAna - Bathevastra - ClotheupavIta - Offering holy threadgandha - Scentingpushpa - Floral decorationdhUpa - Incence smokedIpa - Light decornivedana - Offering (food)karpUra - Camphor lightpradaxiNa namaskAra - circumambulation and salutation

Six Darshana

The darshanas are the philosophy schools. As against the philosophies that do not account the vedas like lokAyata, charvaka etc., these six accept the vedas. They are not necessorily contradicting, but often extending from the one another.

nyAya of gautama - Based on logic to explain the world and God.vaisheShika of kaNAda - Allied to nyAya and explains how the world is created.

sAnkya of kapila - Lists down 25 tattvas (hence called so). Taken basis by the later mentioned philosophies.yoga of pata~nchali - Prescribes the yogic practices required to attain the final state.pUrva mImAsa of jaimini - It is kriya mArgar (path of action) based on the samhita, brahmana and Aranyakas of vedas.uttara mImAmsa of bAdarAyaNa - It is the philosophy school taking basis upaniShad also called as vedanta.

The offering substances to the Gods & procedures

To yield Good wealth & Health

-Swamiji Sri Selvam Siddhar

(The only living Siddhar in USA)

The Lord, Who holds the holy ga~Nga in His matted hair, is delighted by the holy anointment that is done by

the devotees. When this was done with sincerity He gave the small child vichAracharuma the

great chaNdIsha post (1, 2). The Lord, Who is adorned with bilva leaves on His glittering long hair, also

enjoys the fresh leaves and flowers the devotees offer in their fragrance of care. The Lord is so Gracious

that when a monkey shed the leaves of bilva tree on a shiva li~Nga below just out of habit, He made the

monkey the famous muchukun^dha emperor (3). So are the greatness of flowers and anointment materials.

For the good people would be available the flowers and water (puNNIyam cheyvArkkup pUvuNdu n^IruNdu)

asserts the sage thirumUlar. We should try to do as much as possible the worship complete with these holy

substances and pure love. This page talks about the procedure prescribed in the scriptures as the worship

procedure. This could be followed howmuchever possible.

When doing the worship whether at home or at the temple, it is of utmost importance to maintain cleanliness

of body and mind. the surroundings should be clean, the worship substances should be clean ad also the

body should be clean. Before the worship one should bath and wear clean dry clothes. It is also required to

wear the Holy Ash. When going for the worship of the Lord should take something like amointment

substances or flowers or food offering or any other offering as a token of the love for the Supreme. These

offering should not be taken in the lower part of the body. These offerings could be kept only at clean places.

When doing the worship it is advised to be in a proper convenient posture (Asana) so that the concentration

would be on the Sweet Lord without physical disturbances.

Anointment

Pure river water, well water are qualified for the holy anointment of the Lord. The water for holy anointment

would be brought by clean people escorted by musicians. The fragrant flowers like pAdhiri, uthpalam, alari,

lotus would be put in this water for anointment. Old water should not be used.

The following anointments are done in that order

Gingily oil : Flour (rice flour) : n^ellimuLLi : pa~nchagavyam (Cow's milk, curd, ghee, dung and

urine mixture) : pa~nchAmR^itam (explained below) : Milk : Curd : Ghee : Honey: Sugarcane juice:

FruitsL” : Tender coconut : Smellful sandal : shR^i~Nga n^Ir : dhArA n^Ir : snapana n^Ir :

sha~NkAbhiShekam : Holy ash : Cooked rice : kumba n^Ir

A text called sakalAgama saN^graham suggest the following order

1. Oil : pa~nchagavyam : Flour : n^ellimuLLi : Turmeric : pa~nchAmR^itam :Milk :Curd : Ghee : Honey

2. Sugarcane Juice : Fruit juice : Tender coconut : Cooked rice : Sandal

3. snapan n^Ir

pa~nchAmR^itamrasapa~nchAmR^itamA sweet mixture of cow's milk, curd, ghee (boiled butter), sugar and honey. (cardamom like nice smelling spices could also be added.)pazapa~nchAmR^itamIn the above if the fruits like mango, jack, banana are added this fruit pa~nchamR^itam could be got

pa~nchagavyamThe mixture of the cow's milk, curd, ghee, water and dung.

It is said that

Pure Water fulfils desires

Perfumed oil gives comfort

Milk gives long life

Ghee gives liberated state

Curd gives good children

Honey gives melodious voice

Rice powder frees from debts

Sugar cane juice gives good health

pa~nchAmR^itam gives wealth, body strength

pa~nchagavyam drives off sins

Lemon removes fear of death

Sugar removes enmity

Tender coconut gives enjoyment

Cooked Rice(Annam) gives mejestic life

Sandal gives Lakshmi's grace

nellimuLLi cures diseases

sha~NkhAbhiShekam gives good-deedful life

Offering gives land lordship

thAmbUlam gives comfort

ShoDasha upachAram   (Sixteen honors to the God/ Goddesses)

1. dhUpam (scented smoke)

2. dIpam (lamp/light)

3. mahA dIpam

4. nAga dIpam

5. vR^iShabha dIpam

6. puruSha dIpam

7. pUrNa kumbam

8. pa~ncha dIpam 1

9. pa~ncha dIpam 2

10. pa~ncha dIpam 3

11. pa~ncha dIpam 4

12. pa~ncha dIpam 5 (five lights)

13. naxatra dIpam

14. meru dIpam

15. karppUram (Camphor)

16. mahAnIrA~njanam

MhAdIpam could have 11, 9, 7, 5, 3, 1 light plates in the layered form. dhUpam needs to be shown near the nose and the dIpam in front of the eyes.

Soft and clean clothes should be used to clad the Lord's form. It is said that the offering of clothes would

lead to life in shiva lokam. Sandal mixed with agar, goshtam, saffron, camphor and rose water could be

applied to the Lord.

Ornaments

Any ornament could be used to ornate the Lord any day, but the following are suggested as speciality.

Days and Ornament Gem

Day Ornament

Sunday Ruby

Monday Pearl

Tuesday pavaLam

Wednesday Emerald

Thursday Topaz

Friday Diamond

Saturday indra nIlam

Flowers

God's head should be ever decorated with flower. In the morning lotus, purachampU, tulasi, navamallikai

(jasmine), n^an^dhiyAvattai, man^thArai, mullai, shaNbakam, punnAgam are the preferred flowers. In

the noon white lotus, araLi, purachu, tulasi, n^eydhal, bilvam, shanku pushpam, marudhANi, kovithAram,

Oridhaz are best suited. In the evening red lotus, lily, jasmine, jAti mullai, marukkozun^dhu, vettivEr,

gajakarNikai, tulasi, bilvam are suggested.

There are eight flowers renowned as aShTa puShpam much preferred for the worship of the Lord. (ettuk

kolAmavar chUdum inamalar). They are

1. aRugu

2. chaNbakam

3. punnAkam

4. n^an^dhiyAvattai

5. pAdhiri

6. brugati

7. araLi

8. thumbai

Expiry period for the flowers

After plucking the flower the flowers would have to be used for worship before the following specified number of days.Lotus 5 days

araLi 3 days

bilvam 6 months

tulasi 3 months

n^eydhal 3 days

shaNbakam 1 day

viLAmichchai ever (no expiry)

The flowers that were brought in hands, those fell by itself from the plant, dried up ones, those were smelt,

those kept in dirty places, materials are not to be offered to the Lord. The petals of the flowers should not be

pulled apart while offering. The leaves could be pulled separately and offered.

Leaves preferred for worship

tulasi

mukiz

shaNbakam

lotus

bilvam

kalhAram

marukkozun^dhu

marudhANi

dharppam

aRugu

achivalli

n^Ayuruvi

vishNugran^thi

n^elli

The flowers not suited for divines

The following flowers should not be offered for the respective devas.Lord shiva thAzai

viShNu axata (rice), veLLerukku, Umaththai

Goddess aRugu, veLLerukku, man^dhAram

sun (sUrya) bilvam

vignesha tulasi

Five bilvas

1. mullai

2. kiLuvai

3. n^ochchi

4. bilvam

5. viLA