On Sunday we performed Shri Satyanarayana Puja at home.Most of you know about this puja...but for those who have never heard of this ,here is a brief information.....it is a religious Hindu observance where Lord Satyanarayana an extremely benevolent form of Lord Vishnu is worshiped.It is done on special occasions or during or after times of achievements like marriage,engagements, success in higher educations,beginning a new business or carrier,buying a new vehicle or new house etc.Its an offering of gratitude to the Lord for granting us abundances in all all forms and peace and harmony in life.We perform this puja annually in the Hindu calendar month of Sawan .......just before starting the puja our family priest offers a small portion of prasad to our PUJA-GHAR(worship room....this is my puja ghar where i perform daily puja).
Though the puja ritual are same all over India one sees some regional influences too.I am a Kumauni(uttranchali) married to an Assamese....it was a very different experience for me when for the very first time i attended this puja after my marriage......everything was more or less same except for THE BHOG and BOOT-MOONG PRASAD. Here bhog is prepared mostly by the lady of the house....27 bananas,1.25 kgs of atta(wheat flour),1.25 kg of pure ghee(clarified unsalted butter),1.25 lts of milk,1.25 kg of sugar ....all this in exact measures are used...first bananas are peeled and mashed with the sugar,next atta , milk, ghee are added.....this is mixed till a smooth consistency is achieved ....i love to add lots of dry nuts here.It is not cooked and is distributed after the puja......believe me it is a major attraction among all be elders,young or kids....it tastes out of this world.
Though the puja ritual are same all over India one sees some regional influences too.I am a Kumauni(uttranchali) married to an Assamese....it was a very different experience for me when for the very first time i attended this puja after my marriage......everything was more or less same except for THE BHOG and BOOT-MOONG PRASAD. Here bhog is prepared mostly by the lady of the house....27 bananas,1.25 kgs of atta(wheat flour),1.25 kg of pure ghee(clarified unsalted butter),1.25 lts of milk,1.25 kg of sugar ....all this in exact measures are used...first bananas are peeled and mashed with the sugar,next atta , milk, ghee are added.....this is mixed till a smooth consistency is achieved ....i love to add lots of dry nuts here.It is not cooked and is distributed after the puja......believe me it is a major attraction among all be elders,young or kids....it tastes out of this world.
After distributing it to all the people attending puja and all the neighbours whatever is left is enjoyed by us for two three days....it tastes even better after it gets chilled in refrigerator.In villages of Assam many use peetha-guri i.e. rice powder in place of atta and jaggery in place of sugar but i love this version more.Below is the pic. showing BOOT-MOONG.....it is very common in Assam and Bengal where soaked chickpeas and green lentils is offered as prasad in pujas.After puja is over little salt ,coconut pieces,ginger flakes are added to this...
This is the only picture of the puja yesterday.....Gauri capturede this one as all of us were busy with the puja...even though it is blur i wanted to share this one with you.
The first prasad that you mentioned is used in a bit more diluted form in the Bengali satya narayan puja as well, ithe same ingredients in the same measures are further diluted by uncooked milk and is called shinni, I love this puja just for tyhat prasad!! I have at times tried to make it without the puja too..but the essence of the aggarbattis and the tulsi leaves that drop on it during the puja were missing, so the taste was not exactly the same. I just love your Puja ghar
ReplyDeleteWere you able to worship and eat this way when you lived in America? Was there an Indian community where you lived? Just wondering if Indians in USA continue their customs.
ReplyDelete@ Sujata...thank you.
ReplyDelete@Gigi...yes,we did at my sister-in-law's home at St.Louis...Indian communities in USA have hindu temples too...our priest came from South Indian temple and most of the things needed for puja were easily available in Indian stores....Indians in USA have cultural gatherings and special schools for learning our customs and other traditions....mostly conducted on weekends.
i remember attending few similar poojas when we were in north. In south we dont have much of house poojas and mostly its done in temples, where the poojari does that special pooja( custom made poojas) for us depending on the occasion.
ReplyDeleteThe Prashad was really tasty, especially halwas made of Sooji. Nice to read this.Thanks for sharing. :)
It is nice to know these stuff thru blogging, I am learning the global cultures.. thanks for sharing, mind peeking at my site pls?
ReplyDelete@ZB..thanks.On one occassion i was at my parents home ...my mom suggested me to go for this custom made pooja,which i did in south indian temple..it was Ganesh puja and the experience was a great one.
ReplyDelete@Chubskulit....thanks and welcome to my blog...i just visited your blog and i think its wonderful.
You have got a beautiful pooja ghar. Like you, we also (mother's side - Kannada) do Sathyanarayana pooja before any big function is conducted at home. After the wedding ceremony, the relatives of the girl's side are invited by the boy's side, to their house and conduct this pooja. The prasad is ksheera (rava kesari) with ripe banana.
ReplyDeleteAfter the pooja, the priest recites the story of Sathyanarayana also, everytime.
Fascinating ceremonies in a special worship room. The foods sound delicious. Thanks for giving us foreigners a peek into your culture.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your customs with us. Looks like a lovely way to have a ceremony.
ReplyDelete@Sandhya..the way you described tsheera ,my mouth watered.
ReplyDelete@Lin..i am glad you find our culture interesting.
@Patty...yes,it sure is a lovely way.
Looks Wonderful :) now I want to taste that Banana treat, Yummy!
ReplyDelete(((Hugs)))
Le the Lord grantu and your family abundances in all all forms and peace and harmony in life..U r such a wonderful friend, i am proud K..
ReplyDeleteYuo make it sound very hard for the ladies to do or a very complicated for me to understand. I think I am not schooled in the lady art of cooking. But it does look good to me and I think I would like it. I also like the way you celebrate your religion.
ReplyDelete@Kathy...it is very yummy..want some?
ReplyDelete@Ramesh...thanks for all the good wishes ,thanks for being such a wonderful friend.
@Abe....noooo,no cooking is required here its like mixing a cake ,no big deal,in fact its an honour to get a chance to prepare the bhog.
i agree with @patty, your customs are totally interesting!! i look forward to learning more and more from you!!
ReplyDeleteIt all looks wonderful!
ReplyDeleteReally enjoyed this post!
Thank you!
@Virgo...thank you ,i am glad you find it fascinating.
ReplyDelete@Margie...welcome to my blog.
oooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..........thatatta milk thing..."Shinni" as it is called..i loooove that and i remember during my childhood days these poojas took place often on weekdays and we missed the occasion but the "shinni" was kept in good amount for all the school-goers. :D :D
ReplyDelete@Priya...just had my breakfast,now enjoying leftover shinni as a dessert...yummmmmm
ReplyDeleteYou've got an interesting blog with some nice bit of information :-)
ReplyDeleteWe too use to have regular Satya narayan Puja in our house when we were kids....
ReplyDeleteShinni used to be so popular that we at times requested to prepare that only as a sweet dish (which was not the tradition).
But things have changed a lot.... now we hardly have such pujas here... Only when we go home we get to participate. Otherwise it is a practice that is getting lost rather we are losing it
I'm having such fun learning about your culture through your blog. I'll have to come back later once my family returns to Illinois. It's still so hectic over here.
ReplyDeleteyou have a beautiful Puja Ghar. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteNice site, nice and easy on the eyes and great content too.
ReplyDeleteIf You are Searching Vedic Pandit for puja in Bangalore. then you can contact to North Indian Pandit Bangalore, provide Pandit for any kind of Puja, Anushthan, Griha Shanti Path.
ReplyDelete