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Abhishekam
Amarakosam, a Sanskrit dictionary, describes Abhishekam as “abhithaha sincheth ithi abhisechanam” which means that washing out all our sins with the help of divine shower and there by purifying the soul. Some of the abhisekams are listed below: 1. Ganesha abhiskam 2. Laghu rudrabhisekam 3. Mahanyasa rudrabhisekam 4. Pasupatha abhisekam 5. Navagraha abisekam and many more
Homam
Holy offerings to Agni (Fire god) is called homa or havan. It is believed in Hinduism that a human beings life starts with fire, travels with fire and ends with fire. At the time of marriage, father in law will be giving a fire along with his daughter in Kanyadhanam called as srouthagni. The new couple from then on will be worshipping that Agni, the fire god throughout their life. Holy offerings for any gods in the form of havan gives us a result as if we have given the offerings to the gods directly. Some of the homams are listed below: 1. Ganesha Homam. For the List of Items Required Click Here 2. Chandi Homam. For the List of Items Required Click Here 3. Rudra Homam 4. Navagraha homam.For the List of Items Required Click Here and many more
Vratham
Amarakosam describes the word vratham as “visarjayatheethi yaha ithi vrathaha” meaning sacrificing something for any other thing is vratham. It explains as completely concentrating on any particular god leaving the thoughts of all materialistic things is called as vratham. Some of the vrathas are listed below : 1. Vinayaka Vratham 2. Satyanarayana Vratham 3. Varalakshmi Vratham 4. Kedareeswara Vratham 5. Sai Vratham and many more
Shanti Puja
Whenever any planetary positions for an individual misalign, or in some special life events such as birthdays, completion of 60yrs, 70yrs, 83yrs certain shanthi poojas are performed to please the gods. Some of the shanthi poojas are listed below : 1. Navagraha Shanthi 2. Kemadruma Shanthi 3. Ugra Radha Shanthi 4. Bheemaradha Shanthi 5. Sahasra Chandra darshana prapoutra jana shanthi and many more
Parayanam
Whenever any planetary positions for an individual misalign, or in some special life events such as birthdays, completion of 60yrs, 70yrs, 83yrs certain shanthi poojas are performed to please the gods. Some of the shanthi poojas are listed below : 1. Navagraha Shanthi 2. Kemadruma Shanthi 3. Ugra Radha Shanthi 4. Bheemaradha Shanthi 5. Sahasra Chandra darshana prapoutra jana shanthi and many more
Pumsavanam
This means change of sex. Hindus had long ago known the process whereby the sex of the foetus could be changed by performing certain remedies and by administering certain medicines when sex differentiation is about to set in. Ceremonies are actually laid down in the vedas for performance by the father and the mother with a view to give the child in the womb the sex that is desired. These rights are called pumsavana. The ceremony of pumsavanam should be celebrated in the third month when signs of pregnancy are evident. For the list of items required Click Here
Garbhadhanam
Before the actual birth of a child one of the important ceremony is consummation ( garbhadhana ). Garbhadhana has reference to the subsequent deflorations. Almost all the ancient works on muhurtha start from namakarana-the name giving ceremony after the birth of a child – but we start from consummation as it is actually the beginning of the prenatal existence of the child. Sexual union, pregnancy and reproduction of human species are the essentials on which the world exists. There is a sacredness about sexual functions and when moral and spiritual considerations are not respected and brought into play, the result will be most unsatisfactory and all sorts of undesirable progeny would be the products of promiscuous cohabitation.
Seemantham
There is another ceremony named seemantha immediately following pumsavanam, being performed in the 5th or 7th month of pregnancy. This is ordained only in regard to first conceptions. If the time schedule cannot be kept up, it should not be abandoned, but the function must be performed atleast before delivery per the view of sage sankha.
Namakaranam
Namakaranam or naming the child should be usually done on 21st , 23rd , 25th or 27th day. If time schedules or health of the mother doesn’t permits then it can also be done in 3rd month. Generally according to apasthamba maharshi we give 3 names to our child, based on the lunar month a fixed name “maasa nama” will be given, then the second is based on the birth star we get an option of 4 alphabets with which we can name the baby this is also called as “janma namam”, after that is “vyavahara namam” which is the actual name with which we want our child be called. Generally the name to be given to a male child should consists of an even number of letters e.g. rama, Krishna etc while a female child should be given a name containing uneven number of letters e.g. Parvathi, vasavi etc. The name must also be appropriate to the ruling star. For the list of Items Click Here
Cradling
Putting the baby first time into the cradle is also an auspicious event for Hindus. We look for good dates and do this function , while nicely decorating the cradle. The best time for this would be the 21st day after the baby is born.
Annaprasanam
Feeding solid food is another samskara we do to the new born. Let the first feeding on rice be done in the 6th,8th,9th,or 12th months. The most important factor in this function is the month; hence one should not mind even if it is soonya masa (mala masa). Poojas are offered to the kula devathas or ista devatas and rice cooked with milk and jiggery (payasam) will be offered to the gods and feed the same to the baby. For the list of items required Click Here
Karna Vedha
This should be done the 6th 7th or 8th month, either in the forenoon or in the afternoon but never during night. A day ruled by two asterisms or lunar days is not propitious as also the other lunar days usually declared inauspicious. Monday, Wednesdsy, Thursday and Friday are good for this ceremony.
Chowlam
The learned say that Chowlam is a very important karma because it involves the first cutting of hair which means discharge of electrical currents from the child for the first time. The ceremony when properly done is said to prolong the life of the child. It should not be done when the mother of the child is pregnant. Chowlam may be performed in the 3rd or 5th year when Jupiter or venus are free from combustion and when the sun is in the tropic of cancer. The bright fortnight is said to give longevity while the dark fortnight is supposed to affect the health.
Upanayanam
This is a ceremony in which spiritual instructions are given by authorized persons to give spiritual eye to the boy by which his internal vision is brought closer to the universal light or god. With Upanayan samskara one will enter into the first asrama of the four that is Bramhacharya. Upanayanam should be performed in the 5th or the 8th year. If this is not possible, the ceremony should be gone through before the age of 16 in case of brahmins and 20 to 24 in regard to other sects of Hindus. The sun, the moon and Jupiter represent symbolically the father, mother and life-force. Therefore the three planets should be well disposed to the ascendant at the time of upanayanam. The best season is when the sun is in his northern course. The lunar months of magha, Phalguna, Chaitra and vaisakha are good. The 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 10th and 13th lunar days in the bright half and the 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the dark half are held to be auspicious. Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday are propitious and Sunday is ordinary. The upanayanam word literally means another eye or inner eye, “janmano jayathe soodraha! karmano jayathe dwijaha” the sastra says with the upanayana ceremony one is believed as reborn into a new life. Yagnopaveetham is an embodiment of 3 forms of 1 supreme being , Rajo guna is Bramha (the creator) , satvaguna Vishnu ( the retorator) tamoguna shiva (the destroyer) . The knot is called the Brahma Knot the lord who controls these 3 faces of nature. Hence it is one of the very important ceremony in human life. For the list of items required Click Here
Vivaham
The word vivah means “viseshena vahatheethi vivahaha” taking up the brides hand into the grooms in a prescribed process accepting the responsibilities between the two. Marriage is one of the major samskaras of Hindu religion. It also makes the person enter into Grihastasrama. According to the vedas human life will be lead in 4 stages brahmacharya, grihasthu, vanaprasta and sanyasa asramas. Whereas all other 3 asramsas survive upon the second grihastaasrama. The wedding ceremony takes place in the presence of all relatives along with the bride and groom taking some crucial promises for their upcoming together life. For the list of items required please Click Here
Apara Karma
Apara karma the last rites is another important ceremony for Hindus. Once a soul leaves the body certain rituals are performed to the dead person for the soul to rest in peace. Starting from cremation to 12th day, then later once in every month the lunar day when the person passed away, for the first year a 3 day ceremony is performed called “samvatsara vimokam” and from then on once every year. “SRADHAM VA PITRUYAGNYASYATH“ ( katyayana smrithi ) these verses from katyayana smrithi confirms that the last rites called as “sraddam” or also referred to “pitruyagnam” means a yagnam performed to forefathers. It is believed in Hindu dharma that once a soul leaves the body stays in 5 places for the first 12 days. 1. Place where the death happened 2. Place where the deepam first lit near the body 3. Place where the cremation happens the body is burnt 4. In the cloth which is tore out from the white cloth which we use to cover the body 5 A stone which we will use to perform the ritual for the 12 days from the day of death Once the 12 days ceremony is done the soul starts its travel to heaven/hell in which it stays in Bhuvarloka ( vayuloka ) for 12 days for which its one day is 1 month for us on earth the bhuloka. So why we have to do the shraddam once a month for the first 12 months. Later the souls reaches its destination whether it is heaven/hell wehere their one day is one year for us, and as we will have no idea about what karma the dead person has carried with him and how long he/she is going to stay there we have to do the shraddam once every year.
तस्मात् शास्रं प्रमानन्ते।।