Hindu Rituals- Why do we have a prayer room?

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This is the second in the series of Hindu Rituals. I have decided to publish two every week. On Mondays and Thursdays. So today being Thursday here goes... 


2. Why do we have a prayer room?

Most Indian homes have a prayer room or altar. Though in a place like Mumbai, having a separate room for prayers is an unimaginable luxury. Hence most of the homes do with several photos of the GODs they pray to.

A lamp is lit and the Lord worshipped each day.

Other spiritual practices like japa - repetition of the Lord’s name, meditation, paaraayana - reading of the scriptures, prayers, and devotional singing etc are also done here.

Special worship is done on auspicious occasions like birthdays, anniversaries, festivals and the like. Each member of the family - young or old - communes with and worships the Divine here.

The Lord is the entire creation. He is therefore the true owner of the house we live in too. The prayer room is the Master room of the house. We are the earthly occupants of His property. This notion rids us of false pride and possessiveness.

The ideal attitude to take is to regard the Lord as the true owner of our homes and us as caretakers of His home. But if that is rather difficult, we could at least think of Him as a very welcome guest. Just as we would house an important guest in the best comfort, so too we felicitate the Lord’s presence in our homes by having a prayer room or altar, which is, at all times, kept clean and well-decorated.Also the Lord is all pervading. To remind us that He resides in our homes with us, we have prayer rooms. 

Without the grace of the Lord, no task can be successfully or easily accomplished. We invoke His grace by communing with Him in the prayer room each day and on special occasions.
Location: Nerul, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Comments

Raji.appa said…
Well said. The lord is all pervading. He's the owner of the house hence master room for him. Even sitting for a few minutes there calms us down.
1:55 PM
Aksnice said…
The very fact that the Supreme power is the ultimate owner of our house, this thought should be embedded into the minds of humans right from his/her budding age. Contents are very well put periappa.
2:22 PM
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