Shaligrama pooja

Can a married person (one year old) do Salidram pooja?

vaishram said:

Can a married person (one year old) do Salidram pooja?

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I don't know about Smartas, but for SVs, all you need is to have undergone panca samskaram, i.e. Samasrayanam, and be in good standing with nitya karma such as Sandyavandhanam.

Marital status has nothing to do with it.

Cheers!

vaishram said:

Can a married person (one year old) do Salidram pooja?

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Yes. In fact at the time of marriage the girl's father gives the groom shaligramam also as part of the stridhanam in the hope that the groom will do pooja daily.

Yes for SVs samasrayanam and proper learning of the Thiruvaradana kramam from an Acharya is mandated. It should be performed after the Madyahnikam on ordinary days.(Ofcourse, Praata Sandhya, Brahma Yagyam should precede this)

During Danur Maasam, it should be performed during Brahma Muhurtha. Praata Sandhya can be performed before this. A different Sishtaacharam also exists where Araadanam is performed before Praata Sandhya during Danur Maasam.

Also on special occasions, special Thiruvaradanam is mandated, at the appropriate time, for ex, saayam sandhya Kaalam for Nrisimha Jayanthi, mid night for SriJayanthi, and Janana Muhurtham for Sri Rama Navami. Fasting till the Aradanam is also mandated.

Daasan

normally in all Brahmin's families treditionally there is a Panchayana Pooja to be performed daily. The pooja start with Sangalpam, kalasapooja, Sanga Poooja, Kanda Pooja, Aathma Pooja then Prathista of Lord Surya, Lord Maha Ganapathy, Lord Maha Vishnu ( Saligramam), Lord Ambal & Lord Saamba Parameswara. After that Apishegam of Honey, Cow's Milk, Curd, Panner & Tender water of Coconut etc., After that is completed, vasthra alankaram, Archana, Upacharam, Neivethiyam & Karpoora aarathi. After that the Nandhi apishegam & alangaram. This is regurally performed by all brahmin houses. So Saligramam is nothing but Lord Maha Vishnu only which can be kept in all brahmin's homes.

hi,
saligrama pooja is nitya pooja....saligrame harih.....so every day is
good day for saligrama pooja...

regards
tbs

On Salagrama

Folks, Greetings!

I would like to present the role of Salagrama aradhanai in the daily lives of observant SVs. Even though Salagrama aradhanai is not an ordained ritual like nithya and naimitika karmas, it is highly recommended. So much as, no householder can lead a traditional SV life without at least one SG moorthy. A household with a set of 12 is verily a Dhivya Desham.

SVs believe the supreme Brahman is an inseparable combination of Dhivya Atma Swaroopam and Dhivya Managala Vigraham, both of which are nityam and infused with ocean of auspicious characteristics -- கல்யாண குணகண மஹார்ணவம் . This supreme Brahman, characterized by the eternal Dhivya Atma Swaroopam and Dhivya Managala Vigraham, takes five avatharas, says Pancharatra Agama, a part of divine SV canon. They are called, (i) Para, (ii) Vyuga, (iii) vibhava, (iv) Antharyami, and (v) archa.

1. Para roopam is the one in Sri vaikuntam, the one that the Nitya Soories and Mukthas are supposed to serve and enjoy eternally.
2. Vibhava comprises of Vasudeva, Sankarshana, Pradyumna, and Aniruddha and they have some esoteric theological roles to play in creation, sustenance, and dissolution.
3. Vibhava refers to the incarnations most people are familiar with. There are some 32 odd such avatharas, of which 10 are well known as Dasa Avathara. Lord Sri Krishna explained the reason for these avatharas in chapter 4.
4. Antharyami, aka, haarta, is a specific roopam the lord takes and resides in the heart of all human beings. This form has four hands, shangu, chakram, etc. The purpose of this avathara is to reveal himself to those who engage in Bhakthi Yoga -- which requires constant and uninterrupted meditation upon this roopam.
5. The fifth type, Archa avathara, refers to properly consecrated vighrahas and Salagramas. In the case of Vighrahas, only at the time of consecration the idol becomes divine. At that time, the Lord is supposed to take a physical form made up of Sudda Satva (different from the material of three gunas we see in the material universe), identical in shape and form to that of the statue, and pervades it completely. From that point onwards, the vighraha is no different from the Iswara in Sri Vaikunta.

For SVs, all the five types are non-different. Yet archa is supposed to be very special. Swami Pillai Lokachariya compares these five categories to water desired by an intensely thirsty person, as follows.

• Para is up in Sri Vaikuntam like water in the clouds -- of not much use to anyone,
• Vyuha is inaccessible like Thirupparkadal,
• Vibhahava are like flood water of river -- long gone
• Antharyami is like water deep down in the ground, requires tremendous effort to get to,
• Archa roopams are like cool waterholes readily available in all temples and homes, for one and all.

So, Swami concludes, like the water in a waterhole for a thirsty man, archa avathara is the best for one tied down by samasara.

Thiruvaradhanai for archa moorthees must be performed everyday. The divinity of Vighraha moorthees will be lost if thiruvaradanam gets interrupted. Salagrama moorthees are somewhat forgiving as the lord is supposed to be ever present in them on his own accord. However, aradhanam for salagrama moorthy must also be not interrupted. In case of saucham, one should have somebody else perform the aradhanai. In case of unavoidable interruption, thirumanjanam of salagrama moorthy in milk is supposed to make up for the lapse, but for Vighrahas a new consecration is needed to restore the divinity.

The thiruvaradhanam for vighrahas must follow strict rules, but salagrama aradhanai can be brief or elaborate, as per desire or convenience. At the very least, one must offer plain cooked or rice, or even just fruits and recite the following two verses from Nachchiyar Thirumozhi.Now, strictly speaking, if cooked food is going to be offered, only a person who is a fully initiated SV (panca samskara) must prepare the food. All vessels and implements must be ritually cleansed, a process called சித்தப் பண்ணுவது. Finally, the SVs are supposed to restrict their intake of food only to the prasdam offered to the Salagramam moorthy during thiruvaradanam. This is the long and short of why SVs are strict about what and where they eat anything.

I offer this explanation without making any value judgment. My own personal position is well known here.

Nithya anushtanams are a must for any type of puja - Vigraha or Saligrama.

I found some interesting links on the subject;

About Saligramam

Saligrama Puja

The SV view is that Vigrahas needs strict adherence to daily puja and a break in such araadhana is not desirable, unlike the case with a Saligramam. I think, there is also another opinion, with Smarthas, that both being the divine embodiment, the emphasis on nithya araadhana is equal for both. Shri tbs could perhaps help me here...

All in all, if one has bhakthi and unflinching determination, it is better to go ahead, with the elders' blessing.

(Thrikala sandhyavandhanam is a must)...

Regards,

all the nithya anushtanam,provides the mind,to acheive a saathivikam gunam,which is extremely crucial,in attaining moksham.thats the theory behind any puja be saligramam or any moorthy swaroopam.if one can understand,that athma is within all,athma puja,is itself a way for moksham,at least in some smarthas ways.

IS there any rule that there can be only one salgramam in one's house. I have 7 of them, but recently while going through the net, i saw an information that one cannot have more than one salagramam? is it true? How should we perform a proper salagrama pooja? and is there any particular time laid?

srivarahe said:

IS there any rule that there can be only one salgramam in one's house. I have 7 of them, but recently while going through the net, i saw an information that one cannot have more than one salagramam? is it true? How should we perform a proper salagrama pooja? and is there any particular time laid?

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The rule is like this, odd is not allowed except one. Even is allowed except 2.

The allowed numbers are 1, 4, 6, ...

More than one is certainly allowed and in fact encouraged. A set of 12 represents a dhivya desam.

You have 7, so, until you get to 8 or 6, you need to house one of them alone and the remaining 4 or more even number separately. Then, during thiruvaradhanam, all upacharam must be offered separately.

Hope this helps....

Salagrama pooja

Dear Sir
thanks for the useful information
regards

Saligrama pooja

All smarthas if they take Panchayathana pooja, the saligrama pooja is also included in that. Saligramam is itself represents sri Mahavishnu, and panchayathana pooja is also includes in nityaanushtana pooja vidhi. Hence we can daily do Saligrama pooja,
seperately for Sri Vaishnavs, and combinedly in panchayatham in Smatrthas.

Maha

Sir., You can have any number of saligramas in even nos. in your house. But compulsarily you have to do abishekam to all saligramas daily.Virada pooja vidhanam by lifco coy; and poojas by Ramakrishna mutt; and book published by Giri trading are all available in vijaya stores and in radhamani stores in raja street coimbatore. and also in giri trading agency near milk coy. bus stop. Learn from your sastrigal purusha sooktham and sree sooktham and while chanting these sooktas you can do abishekam with milk; honey; grapes;(juice) tender coconut water; rose water;sandal wood paste water etc; shodashopachaara pooja can be done easily daily. I am doing daily. Feel free to ask for any doubts.

kgopalan said:

..... You can have any number of saligramas in even nos. in your house.

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I don't know about smarthas, but for SVs the above is absolutely and categorically NOT true. As I stated earlier, odd is not OK except 1 and even is OK except 2. The numbers you can have are 1, 4, 6, ...

But compulsarily you have to do abishekam to all saligramas daily.

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Once again, this may be true among smartha, I really don't know, but among SVs, daily Thirumanjanam (abishekam) is highly recommended, but NOT compulsory.

It is better to not give any information at all than to give wrong information or incomplete information that can lead to wrong conclusions.

Thank you and regards!