What is Puja?

A ritualistic puja is performed to keep us in harmony with the cosmic forces, thereby removing and overcoming the sorrows of life and bringing spiritual advancement. By doing puja, thoughts and vibrations of spiritual forces are created around us. These spiritual forces work to eliminate the negative influences in our life and help surround us with a positive energy which can bring us peace of mind, material prosperity and enable us to more clearly touch the divine, our true nature.

The periods when the results of our past actions, favorable or unfavorable, come to fruition are indicated by planetary positions at the time of our birth. The malefic effects which are destined to befall us can be averted or their effects reduced by the grace of God, sincere prayer, selfless service and performance of specific pujas as recommended in the scriptures. The happiness we create in the lives of other people, and nature as a whole, will give us benefits as well. The body, mind and spirit are purified and harmonized by meditation, acts of devotion, prayers, mantra japa and the pujas we perform.

Object of Puja Worship

The object of the puja ritual is to create and setup thoughts of spiritual forces in and around us. This is best achieved by singing or chanting of some mantra, performing certain actions and making offerings in three defined stages. Each mantra is a magazine of vast spiritual forces.

Kali: The Dark Mother

Kali

The love between the Divine Mother and her human children is a unique relationship. Kali, the Dark Mother is one such deity with whom devotees have a very loving and intimate bond, in spite of her fearful appearance. In this relationship, the worshipper becomes a child and Kali assumes the form of the ever-caring mother.

"O Mother, even a dullard becomes a poet who meditates upon thee raimented with space, three-eyed, creatrix of the three worlds, whose waist is beautiful with a girdle made of numbers of dead men's arms..." (From a Karpuradistotra hymn, translated from Sanskrit by Sir John Woodroffe)

Who is Kali?
Kali is the fearful and ferocious form of the mother goddess Durga. She assumed the form of a powerful goddess and became popular with the composition of the Devi Mahatmya, a text of the 5th - 6th century AD. Here she is depicted as having born from the brow of Goddess Durga during one of her battles with the evil forces. As the legend goes, in the battle, Kali was so much involved in the killing spree that she got carried away and began destroying everything in sight. To stop her, Lord Shiva threw himself under her feet. Shocked at this sight, Kali stuck out her tongue in astonishment, and put an end to her homicidal rampage. Hence the common image of Kali shows her in her mêlée mood, standing with one foot on Shiva's chest, with her enormous tongue stuck out.

The Fearful Symmetry
Kali is represented with perhaps the fiercest features amongst all the world's deities. She has four arms, with a sword in one hand and the head of a demon in another. The other two hands bless her worshippers, and say, "fear not"! She has two dead heads for her earrings, a string of skulls as necklace, and a girdle made of human hands as her clothing. Her tongue protrudes from her mouth, her eyes are red, and her face and breasts are sullied with blood. She stands with one foot on the thigh, and another on the chest of her husband, Shiva.

Awesome Symbols!
Kali's fierce form is strewed with awesome symbols. Her black complexion symbolizes her all-embracing and transcendental nature. Says the Mahanirvana Tantra: "Just as all colors disappear in black, so all names and forms disappear in her". Her nudity is primeval, fundamental, and transparent like Nature — the earth, sea, and sky. Kali is free from the illusory covering, for she is beyond the all maya or "false consciousness." Kali's garland of fifty human heads that stands for the fifty letters in the Sanskrit alphabet, symbolizes infinite knowledge.

Her girdle of severed human hands signifies work and liberation from the cycle of karma. Her white teeth show her inner purity, and her red lolling tongue indicates her omnivorous nature — "her indiscriminate enjoyment of all the world's 'flavors'." Her sword is the destroyer of false consciousness and the eight bonds that bind us.

Her three eyes represent past, present, and future, — the three modes of time — an attribute that lies in the very name Kali ('Kala' in Sanskrit means time). The eminent translator of Tantrik texts, Sir John Woodroffe in Garland of Letters, writes, "Kali is so called because She devours Kala (Time) and then resumes Her own dark formlessness."

Kali's proximity to cremation grounds where the five elements or "Pancha Mahabhuta" come together, and all worldly attachments are absolved, again point to the cycle of birth and death. The reclined Shiva lying prostrate under the feet of Kali suggests that without the power of Kali (Shakti), Shiva is inert.

Forms, Temples, and Devotees
Kali's guises and names are diverse. Shyama, Adya Ma, Tara Ma and Dakshina Kalika, Chamundi are popular forms. Then there is Bhadra Kali, who is gentle, Shyamashana Kali, who lives only in the cremation ground, and so on. The most notable Kali temples are in Eastern India — Dakshineshwar and Kalighat in Kolkata (Calcutta) and Kamakhya in Assam, a seat of tantrik practices. Ramakrishna Paramhamsa, Swami Vivekananda, Vamakhyapa, and Ramprasad are some of the legendary devotees of Kali. One thing was common to these saints — all of them loved the goddess as intimately as they loved their own mother.

"My child, you need not know much in order to please Me.
Only Love Me dearly.
Speak to me, as you would talk to your mother,
if she had taken you in her arms."

Kali Puja Preparation...

For prosperity, material abundance, and spiritual prosperity. To remove troubles that prevent us from starting a spiritual path or business....

Lakshmi Puja Preparation...

Previous Night, think of the Goddess and mentally decide to perform puujaa the next day.  This is the sankalpa. Next day early morning keep the same thoughts of worshipping the Goddess and take a head-bath (if possible an oil-bath). Have some soothing Indian Music (Shehnai or sa.ntuur or sitaar or naadasvaram - preferably any instrumental) going on in the background till the puujaa begins. The music should be pleasing (not too loud) for creating a serene mood. (Of course people should be internally peaceful also!)

Wash Kalasha and fill it with clean water upto 3/4 of it. Cover and place it near the altar. Observe Fast (if possible). Decorate the front door, altar and the place near the altar. Invite your relatives, friends (who have bhakti in the Goddess). Keep all the things for puujaa ready, near the altar.

Prior to this puja, the ceremony is specially decorated with colorful drawings. The puja is offered to a lamp representing the Goddess, placed at the center of these drawings. The puja starts with a worship of the Guru and Ganesha (the removers of obstacles). The central aspect of the puja is the symbolic offering of the five elements of creation to God. Our body is composed from these five elements, ether, air, fire, water and earth. The puja symbolizes the surrender of the devotee to the Lord. Each element is represented by a material symbol, such as flowers, or light etc. These are offered at the foot of the lighted lamp. The desire of the devotee, to offer his or her surrender, is effected by these symbolic offerings. During the entire puja the ceremony resonates with the continuous chanting of the holy names of Lakshmi. The puja ends with the offering of the arati flame (symbolic of consciousness) and sweet pudding (symbolic of union with God) to the devotees.

We perform pujas FOR the spiritual well-being of our FOL Members ...

Pujas are a wonderful way to experience your spiritual devotion to the Mother.  If you would like to have a special puja done in your honor, please fill out the following form and email it to us:

Puja & Video Ordering (Suggested Donation $100 e-gold - $250 currency per Person)

Fill out, cut & paste and email us your puja & video order use the form below. 

• When emailing your order, please fill in the order form. Cut & paste it into an email and send it along with a .jpeg photo of yourself or the person or object of your devotion to folight@yahoo.com.
• An invoice shall be emailed to your return email address for the amount of your pledged contribution.