The Hare Krsnas - Spiritual Practice - Sadhana Practice

A Home Altar

"I think it best if everyone centers his attention on the Deity in the temple and in that way the temple worship will pull on nicely. Of course, if the temple is unapproachable, or too far... that is different thing, but if the temple is easily accessible then this is the best program."
Srila Prabhupada Letter, May 30, 1969

INDEX
Introducton
Placement of Altar
Setting the Foundation
Begin with Srila Prabhupada
The Sampradaya Acaryas
The Pancha Tattva
Lord Nrsimhadev
Tulasi devi
The Six Goswamis
Srila Prabhupada Murti
Gaura-Nitai Deities
Lord Jagannath Deities
Radha-Krsna Deities
Arati Paraphernalia
Travel and Deity Worship
Worshipping Silas

Introduction

Deity worship is a central activity of sadhana practice. For devotees who can't visit a public temple on a daily basis, establishing a home Deity worship program is recommended. By and large, Deity worship outside of the temple is a personal matter. Our tradition sanctifies an array of different programs, reflecting increasingly elaborate levels of worshipping the various personalities. Whatever form your home Deity worship program takes, when it is conducted properly the Lord very kindly agrees to appear in the devotee's own home, and He accepts the family's worship, making the home into a temple.
Before beginning a program of daily worship in the home, one should carefully consider a number of factors. Here, we will attempt to describe the basics of starting and increasing your program of Deity worship at home. As each spirit soul is a unique individual, devotees have strong personal inclinations towards a certain type of devotional activity. Some may be more inclined towards chanting, writing, or street preaching, while others are inclined to Deity worship. Whatever your personal inclinations, it is important to keep in mind the basic principles of Deity worship.
Begin by introducing a daily program wherein the standards set down by the Acaryas can be properly kept within the scope of daily life. Aside from the fundamentals of cleanliness, regularity, and punctuality, the quality of worship being offered also has to do with the type and frequency of offerings that are made, bathing ceremonies, offering of flowers, etc. Whatever level of worship one introduces, that level of activities should be religiously maintained. It is symptomatic of the mode of passion for one to go forward under the guise of devotional service, introducing an elaborate or extensive program that later has to be abandoned or scaled down. By doing so, one suffers the reactions associated with decreasing the level of worship. It is better to start simply, and maintain what has been started, than to increase suddenly for only a short duration.
In all cases, one must resist the temptation to progress to worship of any Deity form just because it's more pleasing 'decoratively'. One should understand beforehand exactly what they're getting into in terms of commitment and responsibility, and should not be swayed by any aesthetic considerations.
"So far your deity-worship of Lord Jagannatha, don't bother with it for the time being, that is my opinion. Householders can have small altars, and Guru-Gauranga and Jagannatha may be worshipped, but you should not spend a lot of time in this way to try to make the worship "first-class" as you say. You cannot make it first-class. That requires much time and money and men, so better to leave the worshipping of deities very nicely to the temples, and you may go there and worship. A small Guru-Gauranga altar, offer incense and flowers in morning, offer all home-prepared foodstuffs there--that's enough for the time being. Better to spend time chanting and following the other regulative principles and preaching and selling books.
It is not necessary to be a Brahmin to have home altar, but better not to get too much involved in it for now, as one begun, there is no question of decrease, and for two persons to manage this is taking too much time from other important work.
Srila Prabhupada Letter, 02-20-72

Placement of an Altar in the Home

While it is ideal to have a separate temple room in the house, that is often not possible. If the altar is in a public space in the house, you can open the altar for your morning program, leaving it open throughout the morning or until leaving for work. If you're home during the noon meal, you can again open the altar for an offering. It is best to close the altar when you're not present, leaving it open only while devotional activities are going on. The altar shouldn't be left open if there are non-devotional practices taking place within the purview of the entities on the altar.

Setting the Foundation

Once you've chosen where to place the altar, there are endless ways to arrange the altar space. Any cabinet enclosure can be used, as can shelves, nooks, or other safe spaces. Be sure the space is thoroughly cleaned before setting up, and is designed so it can be kept clean on a regular basis. Keep a safe distance between the altar and small children and pets. Altars should be kept indoors, or well protected from the elements. Even indoors, bright sunshine can quickly dull pictures on the altar or wall, so placement is important.
While it is often tempting to use well-loved pieces of fabric or other paraphernalia on an altar, it is recommended that only new, unused items be placed on the altar. For example, fabrics should be clean; offering plates or cups should be new and unused; and items that have been used to worship in other traditions or practices are best avoided.

Begin with Srila Prabhupada

As with all things related to developing our Krsna Consciousness, we should begin with Srila Prabhupada. The most basic of altars may simply include a picture of Srila Prabhupada. Such a picture is considered as good as a murti form of the Spiritual Master. Once you have the Spiritual Master's picture on the altar, you may make all offerings to the picture form. Although one cannot physically bathe, dress or decorate the Spiritual Master's picture form, you can offer a garland or bhoga and perform arati and kirtana before Srila Prabhupada. Detailed instructions on how to offer arati are provided below.
As you increase this level of worship, keep in mind that your offerings should be regular, punctual, and done with a sense of duty and continuity. Once begun, there should be very few circumstances in life that would cause you to stop offering a particular level of worship. It is best to slowly improve or increase based on a genuine spiritual attachment for performing the activities, rather than over-endeavoring with too many activities, thinking you will progress, and then the attachment will come. Really, your attachment has to be there first, then you will want to improve your service. In other words, it's better to change your consciousness first, and let your program of worship increase accordingly.

The Sampradaya Acaryas

Once you have established worship of Srila Prabhupada, the most recent Sampradaya Acarya, you should include pictures of the other recent Sampradaya Acaryas, including Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati, Gaura Kisora das Babaji, and Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura. As a general rule of thumb, the disciple is always situated at the right hand of the spiritual master (i.e., as you're facing the personalities, the guru is to your right, the disciple to your left).

The Pancha Tattva

Next in the progression of Deity worship is the Pancha Tattva, who may also be worshipped in their picture form. The Pancha Tattva should always be placed higher on the altar than the disciplic succession. As with the Spiritual Master's picture, you may make all offerings to the picture form of Pancha Tattva, offering garlands, bhoga, and performing arati and kirtana. Beyond that, you may mentally perform a more elaborate puja.

Lord Nrsimhadev

Following the Pancha Tattva on the altar, you should also include an image of Lord Nrsimhadev. Worship of Lord Nrsimha is prevalent in our Sampradaya. Within the Srimad-Bhagavatam there is an emphasis on Lord Nrsimhadev and the stories of Prahlada Maharaja, who is the personification of the ideal devotee. This was also presented in the teachings of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, reinforced by the fact that while Lord Caitanya was residing in Jagannath Puri for the last 12 years of his life, he regularly went into the Jagannath Temple and made a special point of worshipping Lord Nrsimhadev, who is situated there in a little temple just inside the entrance to the main temple. Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu would sing the same mantras we're singing today about Lord Nrsimhadev. Therefore, Srila Prabhupada introduced worship of Lord Nrsimhadev as part of our daily sadhana program, explaining that we should worship Lord Nrsimhadev because when one is a preacher, one is subjected to all sorts of dangers within this material world. Lord Nrsimhadev is the incarnation who protects the preachers in Krsna Consciousness from being harassed by demoniac forces.
For your altar, you may choose an image of the peaceful version of Lord Nrsimhadev, after his anger was subdued by the pleasing words of Prahlada Maharaja, or one of the more fierce images depicting Lord Nrsimha tearing Hiranyakasipu apart. It depends on which form you most identify with, and one is as bonafide as the other. As you advance from a picture to a Deity form of Lord Nrsimhadev, you likewise increase the level of worship that is expected. Like other Deities, Lord Nrsimha Deities should be bathed, dressed and decorated with jewels, etc., whereas a picture of Lord Nrsimha is worshiped just as a picture of Pancha Tattva.

Tulasi devi

The presence of Tulasi devi in the home is most auspicious, and devotees are encouraged to keep and worship tulasi plants at home. Tulasi-seva, or Tulasi worship, may be done as part of morning or evening arati (or both), by offering her incense, a lamp, a flower, and Tulasi-puja-kirtana. Srimati Tulasi devi may be place on the altar or elsewhere in the room where she will thrive. If not on the altar, however, she should be placed up off the floor, on a special table or pedestal.

The Six Goswamis

While not required as part of a Deity worship program in the home, it is also enlivening to have a picture of the Six Goswamis of Vrindaban on the altar. This picture may be located somewhere off to the side of the predominating personalities, or hung on a wall beside the altar if space is limited.

Srila Prabhupada Murti

Once Pancha Tattva worship is established, you might next wish to add a murti (3-dimensional form) of Srila Prabhupada. This is recommended as a step preceding establishing home worship of Deity forms of the Lord, like Gaura-Nitai deities. When worshipping a murti of Srila Prabhupada, the murti should take a more central place on the altar than Srila Prabhupada's picture. The picture may be integrated as one of the four Sampradaya Acarya pictures. In this configuration, the Pancha Tattva should remain in the highest position of the altar, above the Srila Prabhupada murti. By advancing to this stage of Deity worship, the devotee performs new activities, including bathing and dressing the murti form. Srila Prabhupada should be installed on a vyasasana and be properly dressed, with danda and bead bag. Ideally there should be a covering over the vyasasana, like a canopy, umbrella or other enclosure. Flowers should be offered to the Spiritual Master's feet. Guru-puja should be initiated, and "Sri Guru-Vandana" should be sung. Srila Prabhupada's clothing should be changed daily, following the style of clothing he wore as a sannyasi. Changing of clothes should be done behind a screen or curtain. In the evening remove garlands and water or caranamrta, and if the night is cool, wrap Srila Pabhupada in a warm chadar.

Gaura-Nitai Deities

The next progressive stage of Deity worship is the addition of Gaura-Nitai Deities. Once Gaura-Nitai Deities take residence, you should change the position of the Pancha Tattva picture, which should no longer be specifically worshipped. Their Lordships Gaura-Nitai are now given the most prominent place on the altar.
Gaura-Nitai Deities require an increased level of worship, above those made to a Srila Prabhupada murti. Ideally, the level of worship offered to Gaura-Nitai should include waking the Deities, bathing and dressing, offering bhoga, with arati and kirtana at least once a day, and preferably twice daily. If possible, try to include an offering at lunch time, with a dhupa-arati, then put the Deities to rest. After the evening arati, put the Deities to rest for the night.

"So far as taking care of the Deities and your family simultaneously, you have to do both mutually, but the main importance is Deity worship. Just like a busy housewife always busy in household affairs, yet still she is engaged in dressing herself nicely, combing her hair, etc. So both things go together.
Yes, at least once daily the Deity's clothes must be changed, in the morning. If the Deities are small, as they appear to be from the photograph, then they can be laid down in a bed at night. And they can be given nightgowns to wear before taking rest. That is nice. If there is time and facility then these things can be implemented. So far as bathing is concerned, it requires two hands and one tongue. In your left hand be ringing a bell and simultaneously with your right hand pour water. Chant Hare Krishna, Cintamani, Govinda Jaya Jaya, etc., like that."
Srila Prabhupada Letter, 05-01-71,

See detailed procedures for worshipping Gaura-Nitai Deities below.

Lord Jagannath Deities

Generally, worship is established for Gaura-Nitai Deities before it is offered to Lord Jagannath Deities. The reason for this is that there is less reaction for making any kind of offenses or mistakes when worshipping Gaura-Nitai than with Lord Jagannath Deities. Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu is very forgiving, more so than Lord Jagannath. Similarly, Srila Prabhupada is more forgiving of the neophyte's offenses than Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, which is why we must always begin with the Spiritual Master. Of course, there's a certain quality of mercy one can obtain by getting the benediction of any of these Deities. The mind will dwell on the different qualities, pastimes and paraphernalia that accompany each type of Deity. The whole idea of Deity worship is to absorb the mind. By the mercy of the Spiritual Master, one gets Krsna. We can not approach Krsna directly without the mercy of the Spiritual Master, so the progression of Deity Worship should be done with this principle in mind.
When Lord Jagannath Deities join the altar with Gaura-Nitai they should be placed to one side of Gaura-Nitai, with Subadra in the center, Balarama on her right, and Jagannath on her left (i.e., Lord Jagannath is on your right as you are facing them). Lord Jagannath Deities should be offered the same level of worship you have been offering to the Gaura-Nitai Deities.

Radha-Krsna Deities

The progression of Deity worship reaches its height with the worship of Radha-Krsna Deities. When Radha-Krsna Deities take residence, the level of worship being offered increases significantly, and you must also increase the level of worship for both Gaura-Nitai and Lord Jagannath Deities so they are receiving essentially the same offerings as Radha-Krsna Deities. Establishing this level of Deity worship in the home should only be done by the most serious and sober devotees, who have slowly and progressively advanced from simpler forms, and can be certain of their ability to maintain the required level of worship. Offenses made at this stage of Deity worship are most serious, and there is far greater spiritual risk for those not prepared to engage at this level. For detailed information on worshipping Radha-Krsna Deities, please see the Temple Activities section in the Spiritual Practices wing of the site. While it is fine to have a picture of Radha-Krsna (either a photograph of Deities or a painting), which may be hung on the wall near the altar. The picture should not, however, be kept on the altar, and worship (arati, etc.) should not be performed for the picture. Direct worship is reserved for only Sri Sri Radha-Krsna in their Deity Forms.

Arati Paraphernalia

Whenever possible, arati paraphernalia is kept on a separate table near the altar, but not right on the altar. One should keep the paraphernalia clean and organized at all times, and be sure that everything is available before beginning arati.
There should also be a shelf, or some extra space on the altar so that bhoga can be offered. It should be placed in front of the Deities, so they can see the offering dishes. Whether you are offering worship to a picture or a Deity, they will take prasadam by looking at it. All their senses are interchangeable on the absolute level, so they may eat with the eyes, not just the tongue. Bhoga should be offered using serving dishes, cups, etc., that are only used for offerings. Offering dishes should be cleaned immediately after use, and kept carefully with other paraphernalia.

Travel and Deity Worship

Worship of Deities in the home requires the same level of diligence and responsibility as having a baby. Although complications and difficulties may arise that impede regular service, one should have a great sense of duty to make the necessary arrangements for continuation of Deity worship. If you must travel, you should arrange for a family member to continue regular worship in your place. If that is not possible, another qualified person may do so. Otherwise, the Deities must be left in the care of someone elsewhere who is qualified, or the devotee must take them traveling with him, and offer regular worship along the way.

Worshipping Silas

There is a trend today within the community wherein devotees are replacing or augmenting their worshippable Deities with salagram silas and Govardhan silas. The practice of worshipping silas is often done under the auspices of it being a more brahminical, simpler activity. Personally, I don't agree with that principle, which was not a precedent set or encouraged by Srila Prabhupada. To my knowledge, he did not provide great detail about the quality of daily service to be offered silas, nor the quality of devotion one has to manifest in order to be qualified to worship these types of Deities. Personally, I think it is spiritually risky to move into this territory for any but perhaps the most highly qualified Brahmans. Worshipping a small Deity or a picture of Srila Prabhupada or the Pancha Tattva is far less risky and just as spiritually beneficial as getting into an elaborate form of Deity worship, whether it be Radha-Krsna Deities or salagram silas. However, it is a personal choice, and there are obviously many people who disagree with me.

Offering Arati and Kirtana

Detailed Procedures for Worshipping Gaura-Nitai at Home

Pictures of Home Altars