general inquiries on statues and pictures

[drb]

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Hope somebody can help me out.

1. Is there a limit to number of god statues to be kept in a house? Also is there an height limit?
2. How about pictures?

(I was told that we are not to keep too many).

3. Ganesha, Lakshmi, Siva, Muruga - am I missing anything more to keep?
4. Which way should the deities face? East? (that means should be place on the west side?)

Please help.

drb

 

[kr subramanian]

Dear drb
can I add somemore? How to deal with old photos (torn calendar) defaced photos, broken idols. anybody please also guide?

 

[amala]

I'd like to add as well.

I'm very big on Hanumar and have lots of Hanumar pictures and statues/murthi all over the house and not just in the puja room but in my room, my phone, my screensaver etc. I have been told as a young woman that I'm not supposed to?.

Thank you for any advice.

 

[renuka]

Dear drb
can I add somemore? How to deal with old photos (torn calendar) defaced photos, broken idols. anybody please also guide?

Dear all,
I frame old photos from torn calenders..
I keep even defaced photos in an album.
We will not discard old torn photos of our grandparents isnt it?
When we have a fracture we will see a doctor and get the fracture rectified.
Repair the idol.

Swami Ramakrishna Paramahansa had told to a lady once "if an Idol is broken,it is discarded but if your son in laws hand is fractured would you discard him?"

We should see the Idol as God and not God as an Idol.

 

[srinikam]

Hope somebody can help me out.

1. Is there a limit to number of god statues to be kept in a house? Also is there an height limit?
2. How about pictures?

(I was told that we are not to keep too many).

3. Ganesha, Lakshmi, Siva, Muruga - am I missing anything more to keep?
4. Which way should the deities face? East? (that means should be place on the west side?)

Please help.

drb

Dear Drbji,
To my knowledges these answers which I heard:
1. The Size of the status should be appx. 1" / First level in the Thumb. Higher than this till 6" appx / One musti, need Abhisheka pooja everyday. Higher than 6" need nitya homa.
2. Old photoes can be discarded as it fades away. There is no any detailed description about this. This can be done as we have not done "Prana prathistapana" (Avaahanam) into it.
3. In panchayathana pooja, Aadithya, Ambika, Vishnu, Gananatha & Meheswara are adviced by Sri. Sri. Adi Shankara. In gerenal we follow Kula devatha, Ishta Devathas also.
4. In panchayatana there are five position like shiva panchayathana, vishnu panchayathana, surya panchayathana, gana pachanyathana & devi panchayathana. Based on which god we adhare, will be positioned in the middle & these are explained in the nitya pooja vidhi books.

Pranam.
L.Srinivas

 

[B V RAAGHAVAN]

Namaskarams,
As Mr. Srinikam puts in, the idols height should not be more than 1". There is no limit for keeping photos/pictures. Old photos and pictures canbe discarded in the rivers/sea etc. i.e. where these pictures cannot come into contact with human beings.
For panchayathana pooja, one shuld be initiated by a Learned Guru and it has its own Madi/Aacharam etc. Daily Nivedhanam is a must.
Normally the pooja room/almirah should face east or north.
Hope these will satisfy your requirements
Anbudan
Yours
Raaghavan

 

[drsundaram]

very well said that "we should see idol as God and not God as idol".
Some say we should not keep at home Lord Sani [ Saturn]'s pictures and some particular poses of Hanuman's so also some other deity's in regard to their sitting/standing postures.

 

[drb]

On a related note, I heard that we are not supposed to keep lingams at home. Is that true?

Thanks all so much for helping me out.

 

[renuka]

On a related note, I heard that we are not supposed to keep lingams at home. Is that true?

Thanks all so much for helping me out.

Lingam symbolises Leeyate & Gamyate and the 3 Gunas.
Leeyate( dissolution) Gamyate(goes)
Symbolises the Jagat which goes into dissolution.
How to keep this Lingam out of any home?

 

[SuryaKasyapa]

Lingam symbolises Leeyate & Gamyate and the 3 Gunas.
Leeyate( dissolution) Gamyate(goes)
Symbolises the Jagat which goes into dissolution.
How to keep this Lingam out of any home?

Lingam is "Aroopa" an "swaroopa"
it has form but still it is formless.

Hence it is acceptable to those who worship forms and those who have formless worship.

It is a middle path between the idol worship and totally formless worship.

An idol gets its power on consecration and converging prayer.

It all depends on how the worshipper feels. Idols and pictures and lingams are 'Prateeka" or symbols. Till a person attains the full control concentration without a form , these are all necessary.

I do not feel it is wrong to keep it in house , provided itis taken care of ,commensurate with the respect we give to it. The lingam used to be qith salagrama which the elder devottes used to hav "Thevoosai" (Deva Poojai) in homes.As the new generation wre not able to take care of these due to various reason of space and time, they were deposited at temples and other such palces , and some funds were also given for daily poojas.

Greetings.

 

[kr subramanian]

Pardon me if I am wrong,
One of my friend says that lingam represents creation position and that is why in siva`s temple we are not completing pradikshanam (rounding) but go back anti clockwise after completing 270degree in rotation.
Also in Siva Pooja and Hanumar Pooja (evenif their photos/ calendar) are keptin Poojaroom one has to follow MADI/AAcharam more than that for other deities. Also heard that Vishnu/Krishna is the deity who needs least acharam/madi. Please guide.

 

[kr subramanian]

Dear all,
I frame old photos from torn calenders..
I keep even defaced photos in an album.
We will not discard old torn photos of our grandparents isnt it?
When we have a fracture we will see a doctor and get the fracture rectified.
Repair the idol.

Swami Ramakrishna Paramahansa had told to a lady once "if an Idol is broken,it is discarded but if your son in laws hand is fractured would you discard him?"

We should see the Idol as God and not God as an Idol.

Dear Renukakarthikeyan,
I do not think anybody would like to see a repaired idol in the pooja room. Keeping defaced album is ok. But in Pooja room I think all smiling (POORNA AAROGYA) god/idol gives mental energy to our karma Is it not true?

 

[renuka]

Lingam is "Aroopa" an "swaroopa"
it has form but still it is formless.

Hence it is acceptable to those who worship forms and those who have formless worship.

It is a middle path between the idol worship and totally formless worship.

An idol gets its power on consecration and converging prayer.

It all depends on how the worshipper feels. Idols and pictures and lingams are 'Prateeka" or symbols. Till a person attains the full control concentration without a form , these are all necessary.

I do not feel it is wrong to keep it in house , provided itis taken care of ,commensurate with the respect we give to it. The lingam used to be qith salagrama which the elder devottes used to hav "Thevoosai" (Deva Poojai) in homes.As the new generation wre not able to take care of these due to various reason of space and time, they were deposited at temples and other such palces , and some funds were also given for daily poojas.

Greetings.

Dear SuryaKasyapa Ji,

you indeed are a Dyutiman.
Illuminating everyone with your answers.

renuka

 

[renuka]

Dear Renukakarthikeyan,
I do not think anybody would like to see a repaired idol in the pooja room. Keeping defaced album is ok. But in Pooja room I think all smiling (POORNA AAROGYA) god/idol gives mental energy to our karma Is it not true?

Dear KrSubraJi,

Why should anyone consider a broken idol not Poorna?
God is Sarva Rogya Nirvarine towards us.
Can God actually be not Poorna even if the Idol is broken?

Remember mantra;
Om Purnamadah Purnamidam,
Purnaat Purnamudhacyate
Purnasya Purnamadaaya
Purnamevaavashisyate.

 

[il_guy]

Namaskar,

I have always understood if a murthi we perform puja to breaks, we are to discard it in water. I have been specifically told that we are not to worship broken murthi. I actually was performing puja to a Ganesh murthi that had some fingers broken off, until I asked my purohit and with this answer, I immediately stopped performing puja and acquired a a new image. I now perform puja to an aluminum picture frame.

I actually need to purchase something new with the trunk facing to the right (my right, not Ganesh's) because I've always read left facing trunk is for decoration. I suppose this does not matter much as the moola vigraha in our temple has a left facing trunk. But at one point I also read we are not supposed to have Ganesh as a decoration. So, I do not know. I am sure there are many different opinions on these issues I have talked about. I suppose, as with everything else, it is our bhakti that counts if we are doing the best we can.

 

[kr subramanian]

Dear KrSubraJi,

Why should anyone consider a broken idol not Poorna?
God is Sarva Rogya Nirvarine towards us.
Can God actually be not Poorna even if the Idol is broken?
Dear RenukaJi May be you are taking into account a person in that superior level whereas I am talking of people of lower level who are in first stage seeing idol as god and always thinks god should be full of smile, vigour, power etc etc.

At last it is the mind set which counts. But this is asked as towhat is society`s trhought in this regard.

 

[renuka]

Dear KR SubraJi,

I got your point sir.
Actually many i know even where i stay do not agree with my views.Its just that I would like to see the practical application of our beautiful religion in day to day life practises.
Just trying to see God in everything whether perfect or imperfect.
How long can we view everything at a preliminary level?

 

[drb]

Thank you all for providing me the information.

 

[sreeindia111]

Sir

I add up some more querry

What about yantrams.
Some time back, many magazines
were giving free yantrams alongwith their weeklies.

How long we have to keep this and
what to do after that specified time.

Sreedhar