In this chapter we will
discuss the activities performed from the time you wake in the morning up until
the point you start worshiping the deity. The chapter is broken into two
sections. In the first section we will look at how to prepare yourself for
worship. Beginning with rising in the morning, cleansing the body, dressing,
what type of cloth to wear, how to applying tilaka and sipping water for
purification. Then in the second section of this chapter we will describe how
to prepare the various items of worship that will be offered to the deity
during your daily worship. Also where necessary we will describe what the
different articles offered represent. This book is for devotees worshiping the
deity at home and as such the procedures are simplified. If you are interested
in following more elaborate procedures then you should refer to the temple
worship (Nitya seva) book.
In this section, as throughout the book, we will be quoting from the
books of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, particularly from the Caitanya-caritamrta,
Madhya-lila, chapter 24.
This section of the Caitanya-caritamrta was the first deity worship book
in ISKCON and was called, “The Perfection of Deity Worship.”
You should discuss the qualifications necessary for
receiving a mantra, the perfection of the mantra, the
purification of the mantra, initiation, morning duties, remembrance of
the Supreme Lord, cleanliness and washing the mouth and other parts of the
body.
In the purport to the above
quotation Srila Prabhupada says,
…in the early morning hours (known as brahma-muhurta)
one should get up…
The brahma-muhurta
is generally accepted as the most auspicious time of the day to perform
spiritual practices. During this time of day the world is peaceful and the
influence of the modes of passion and ignorance are less thus enabling us to
focus more on our spiritual practices. The brahma-muhurta begins
approximately one and a half hours before sunrise. Although this may be
difficult for some devotees, due to pressures of work etc., rising early and
regulation are beneficial for the development of spiritual life. If you cannot
rise this early it is still good to rise as early as possible and at the same
time everyday.
In the Bhagavad-gita Lord Krsna says,
yuktahara-viharasya yukta-cesöasya karmasu
yukta-svapnavabodhasya yogo bhavati duhkha-ha
He who is regulated in his
habits of eating, sleeping, recreation and work can mitigate all material pains
by practicing the yoga
system.
Leading a regulated life
helps us to overcome the influence of the modes of material nature and thus be
situated in a position more conducive to developing transcendental
consciousness.
When you waken in the
morning you should chant the name of the Lord. This helps to clear the
consciousness of the influences of sleep or any bad dreams you may have
experienced during the night. You can chant the names of the deities you are
worshiping or the Hare Krsna maha-mantra. In the purport to Caitanya-caritamrta,
Madhya 24.331 Srila Prabhupada says,
Concerning pratah-smrti, remembrance of the
Lord in the morning, in the early morning hours (known as brahma-muhurta)
one should get up and immediately chant the Hare Krsna mantra, or at
least “Krsna, Krsna, Krsna.” In this way, one should remember Krsna. Some slokas
or prayers should also be chanted. By chanting, one immediately becomes
auspicious and transcendental to the infection of material qualities. Actually
one has to chant and remember Lord Krsna twenty-four hours daily, or as much as
possible:
smartavyah satatam visnur vismartavyo na jatucit
sarve vidhi-nisedhah syur etayor eva kinkarah
“Krsna is the origin of
Lord Visnu. He should always be remembered and never forgotten at any time. All
the rules and prohibitions mentioned in the sastras should be the
servants of these two principles.” This is a quotation from the Padma Purana, from the portion called
Brhat-sahasra-nama-stotra.
“You should describe how in the morning one should
regularly brush his teeth, take his
bath,
The word pratah-krtya in the present verse
of the Caitanya-caritamrta means that one should evacuate regularly in
the morning and then cleanse himself by taking a bath. One has to gargle (acamana)
and brush his teeth (danta-dhavana). He should do this either with twigs
or a toothbrush—whatever is available. This will purify the mouth. Then one
should take his bath. Actually householders and vanaprasthas should
bathe two times a day (pratar-madhyahnayoh snanam vanaprastha-grhasthayoh).
A sannyasi should bathe three times
daily, and a brahmacari may take only one bath a day. Whenever one is
not able to bathe in water, he can bathe by chanting the Hare Krsna
mantra.
After waking, evacuating, and appropriate
cleansing, brush your teeth, scrape your tongue and then take bath. Without
taking bath one remains impure and cannot perform deity worship. Everything you
touch before bathing becomes as impure as your body is. Morning bath is compulsory
for all, except those who are ill. In Vedic culture bathing is considered a
sacred act to be accompanied by meditation on the Lord and recitation of
prayers.
·
Do not bathe
naked. Wear a kaupina. This shows
respect to the personality of the water and shows that one recognizes bathing
to be a sacred act. One should be particularly careful to observe this
injunction when bathing in a river or other public place.
·
Grhasthas
should bathe wearing two cloths. (Besides a kaupina,
they wear a second cloth (gamcha),
usually tied around the waist.) Brahmacaris
and sannyasis should wear at least a kaupina when bathing.
·
Do not take
unnecessary baths. Three times a day plus after any occasion of impurity is
sufficient.
·
Do not bathe
in impure water.
·
If you must
evacuate, do so before bathing. Otherwise you will be like the elephant who
completes his bath by throwing dust on his
body.
·
After bathing,
do not shake your hair to dry it and do not shake water from your cloth or
legs.
·
Do not rub oil
on your body after bathing. (Oil on the body is considered impure, and thus if
you require it you should apply it before taking a water bath.)
·
Wring out your
bathing cloth and then dry your body with a separate, dry cloth; wiping
yourself with your bathing cloth will contaminate you again. However, if you
wash and wring out your bathing cloth before drying yourself off with it, you
will not become impure.
·
After bathing,
dry your body with a clean cloth; do not wipe your body with your hands, a
dirty cloth, or the edge of the damp cloth you are wearing. The cloth used for
drying should be washed after every use.
While worshiping the deity
one should wear appropriate Vaisnava dress. Vaisnava dress helps us to identify
ourselves as a servant of Krsna.
A devotee should not wear dirty cloth, especially when cooking or
worshiping the deity. Used cloth that has not been washed and dried again is considered
unclean. Cloth worn while sleeping, passing urine or stool, or having sex is
unclean. Cloth that touches anything impure, such as wine, meat, blood, a dead
body, or a woman in her menstrual period, is also contaminated. Cloth washed by
a public laundry service and cloth that, though washed, has become stale are
also unclean and therefore unfit to wear during deity worship.
While worshiping the deity, you
should not wear the following types of cloth: brightly-colored cloth (for men),
damp cloth, cloth that is too long or too short to be worn properly, stitched
or sewn cloth (for men), torn cloth, oil- or dirt-stained cloth, soiled cloth,
burnt cloth, or cloth chewed by animals or insects. However, you may wear silk
many times before washing it, provided it has not contacted anything impure or
been worn in impure places.
Unbleached, raw matka (ahimsa) silk is the best for puja.
Sheep's wool is said to be always pure, but still, you should not wear ordinary
woolen cloth when worshiping the deity, because wool particles may fall on the
deity's paraphernalia. However, you may wear wool cloth if it is very fine,
"nonshedding" wool, in which case you should reserve these items only
for puja. Synthetic cloth should not
be worn when worshiping the deity.
You should also describe
how one should … … paint one’s body in twelve places with
urdhva-pundra
[tilaka].
Place some water in the palm of the left hand, then taking a piece of gopicandana
(tilaka) in the right hand rub it in the water in the left hand until a
smooth paste has been formed.
The following prayer from the Hari-bhakti-vilasa, quoted in the Caitanya-caritamrta,
Madhya-lila, 20.202, lists the forms
of the Lord to meditate on while applying tilaka.
(om) lalaöe
kesavam dhyayen narayanam athodare
vaksa-sthale madhavam tu govindam kanöha-kupake
visnum ca
daksine kuksau bahau ca madhusudanam
trivikramam kandhare tu vamanam vama-parsvake
sridharam
vama-bahau tu hrsikesam tu kandhare
prsöhe tu padmanabham ca kaöyam damodaram nyaset
tat praksalana
toyam tu vasudeveti murdhani
When one marks the forehead with tilaka, he must
remember Kesava. When one marks the lower abdomen, he must remember Narayana.
For the chest, one should remember Madhava, and when marking the hollow of the
neck one should remember Govinda. Lord Visnu should be remembered while marking
the right side of the belly, and Madhusudana should be remembered when marking
the right arm. Trivikrama should be remembered when marking the right shoulder,
and Vamana should be remembered when marking the left side of the belly.
Sridhara should be remembered while marking the left arm, and Hrsikesa should
be remembered when marking the left shoulder. Padmanabha and Damodara should be
remembered when marking the
back.
While chanting the following mantras and meditating on the Lord,
apply tilaka to the forehead and upper body with the ring finger of your
right hand.
om kesavaya namah – forehead
om narayanaya namah – navel
om madhavaya namah – chest
om govindaya namah – hollow of the neck
om visnave namah – right abdomen
om madhusudanaya namah – right arm
om trivikramaya namah – right shoulder
om vamanaya namah – left abdomen
om sridharaya namah – left arm
om hrsikesaya namah – left shoulder
om padmanabhaya namah – upper back
om damodaraya namah – lower back
Wash the excess tilaka from
your hands with water, and then wipe your sikha
with the palm of your right hand while chanting:
om vasudevaya namah – sikha
Applying tilaka is a spiritual
activity and therefore tilaka should
be applied in a sitting position after have sipped acamana.
Sometimes devotees also like to decorate their bodies with the names of
the Lord or pictures of the Lord’s feet. For this metal stamps that are
purchased in
… as well as how one should stamp one’s body with
the holy names of the Lord or the symbols of the Lord, such as the disc and
club.
“After this, you should describe how one should
decorate his body with
gopicandana,
Acamana, or sipping
water, is a means of purification. As immersing the body in water brings about
physical and subtle cleansing, so taking water infused with mantras into
the body by sipping performs a similar function. Thus where purification is
required but it is inconvenient to bathe, acamana
is prescribed.
The general process of acamana
is as follows: While looking into water cupped in your right hand, chant a mantra directed into that water and then
sip the water.
A devotee should perform acamana
to achieve physical and mental purity before performing spiritual activities
such as applying tilaka, chanting Gayatri and japa,
performing puja and homa, observing a vrata, taking prasada, reading or reciting sastra
or mantras, and meditating.
The place where a devotee performs acamana should be pure—i.e.,
free from hair, bones, ash, or any other impure item.
The water should be cool, fresh, without bubbles or foul odor or
taste, and untouched by fingernails, hair, or any impure item. Rainwater, being
in the mode of passion, should not be used.
Out of respect for a spiritual activity, do not perform acamana
with your head or throat covered; without having your kaupina or cloth tucked in at the back; without first cleaning your
hands and feet; with shoes on; while standing; or while sitting on shoes or
sitting with your knees or feet showing.
One also has to perform his sandhyadi-vandana—that
is, one has to chant his Gayatri mantra three times daily—morning,
One may chant Gayatri at
the three sandhyas, sunrise,
In the previous section we
described how to get yourself ready for worshiping the Lord, now in this
section we will describe the utensils of worship and how to prepare the various
items of worship that will be used, as well as the means of purifying various
items.
Before starting the worship, gather all the required utensils and items.
If you want to offer more than the basic items of worship to your
deities and want descriptions of how to prepare these items or what they
represent, then please refer to the chapters on temple worship.
The conch (sankha) embodies the qualities of power,
purity, and beauty, and it also represents moksa.
Being a constant companion of the Lord, the conch is worshipable. All tirthas in the world reside in the water
within the conch. Just seeing or touching the conch destroys one's sins. The
Lord is generally bathed with water from a conch. The conch is normally placed
on a three-legged stand.
The sound of a bell
embodies all music. If a devotee lacks instruments and kirtana he can simply ring a bell, for that sound in itself is dear
to the Lord. In elaborate worship the bell is worshiped before worshiping the
Lord, as an item of His paraphernalia that is very dear to Him. Many functions
of worship require that one ring a bell with a handle.
The scriptures (sastra)
state that one who, while worshiping the Lord, rings a bell with a symbol of
Garuda or the Lord's cakra on it
attains liberation from birth and death.
A bell with a handle is generally held in the left hand while being
rung. When not being used, the bell should always sit on a plate; this is the
bell's seat (asana). When bathing the
deity and offering food (bhoga), you
should ring the bell. You may ring the bell also when offering other items when
it is practical (i.e., when both hands are not required to offer the items,
such as clothing and ornaments).
Containers for items such
as sandalwood paste, flowers and tulasi
leaves may be made of various substances and have various colors and shapes (a
lotus, for example). One may use vessels made of copper, gold, silver,
bell-metal, stainless steel, clay, stone, wood (such as coconut shells), or
brass. The Varaha Purana states that
the best of all vessels are those made of copper: "[They] are the purest
of the pure, the embodiment of all auspiciousness." While vessels of gold
and silver are certainly pure, a container made of copper is not only pure but
also purifies the water it contains. As the Lord states in the Varaha Purana (quoted in the Hari-bhakti-vilasa):
I am more pleased by containers made of copper than
by those made of gold, silver, or bell-metal.
However, sour substances
such as yogurt and lemon should not be kept in copper containers.
The bathing tray should be copper, brass, or bell-metal. The best type
of bathing tray (snana-patra or snana-vedi) has an opening on one side
with a long lip, allowing the caranamrta
to drain off into a separate receptacle. If the bathing tray has no such drain,
you can empty the bathing tray into the caranamrta
receptacle after bathing and drying the deity.
Holders for incense and lamps (dhupa
and dipa) can be of brass,
bell-metal, silver, copper, and sometimes clay.
The plate upon which food is offered, may be made
of gold, silver, copper, bell-metal, earthenware, or a lotus leaf. Although sastra does not mention it, stainless
steel may also be used. Do not use aluminum.
In some temples the pujaris offer different oils according
to the season. For example, in Vrndavana pujaris
commonly offer ruh khus during
summer, kadamba and rose during the
rainy season, jasmine during autumn, and hina
(myrtle) during winter. Avoid offering synthetic oils, which contain impure
chemicals such as alcohol.
The principal element of
the bath is pure water, with certain restrictions. Do not collect the water at
night, nor touch it with your fingernails. In descending order of quality, the
best water for bathing the deity is
One should bathe the Lord with water in which
nicely scented flowers have been soaking for some
time.
By adding various
ingredients, one may prepare many kinds of water for bathing the deity. You can
also add sandalwood paste to the water. Tulasi should always be in the bathing
water for the Lord.
Brass deities require
regular polishing. This is generally done with a paste made of tilaka and fresh
lemon juice. However, you may also use a mixture of fresh lemon juice and
“fuller’s earth”, (a very fine potter’s clay). Lemon juice should be from fresh
lemons, (fresh limes are also acceptable). The purity of bottled lemon juice is
uncertain therefore it is better to avoid. You may also polish the deities with
a paste made from tamarind pulp and a little water.
To make the paste, add fresh lemon juice to
powdered tilaka, after a few moments
the mixture will bubble. You may apply the tilaka to the body of the deity
directly with your fingers, with a cloth or with cotton wool. Always check the
paste before applying to see that there are no small stones that will scratch
the deity.
The towels for drying the
Lord should be pure, soft cotton. Cotton is better than silk because it is
absorbent and can be washed repeatedly. Do not use synthetics
Cotton flannelette is suitable for this purpose. It remains soft even
after washing many times. It also dries quickly so that if it is washed and
rinsed one day it is dry the next day ready for the worship.
Always wash and dry new cloth before using for your deities.
The Lord should be dressed
in upper and lower cloth that is durable, soft (not scratchy), clean, untorn,
never worn by others, scented, and of variegated colors. The scriptures allow
for various local styles in dressing the Lord, but traditional dressing, like
traditional cooking, is very dear to Him.
All colors may be utilized just suitable to your
scheme.
Synthetic fabric is
allowable for deity dresses, although natural fabrics such as silk and cotton
are best.
The deities should be dressed in clothing suitable to the season-warm
clothing in the cold season, light in the hot season. Dressing deities
according to season is prominent in traditional temples in Vrndavana.
Srila Prabhupada was displeased when devotees failed to dress the
deities in clothing suitable to the weather:
It is not at all good that the deities do not have
warm clothing for the cold
weather.
If fresh tulasi leaves are unavailable, you may
use dry tulasi leaves for offering
food and for placing on the Lord's lotus feet.
(See instructions on worshiping Tulasi and picking her leaves.)
Since precious metals and
precious stones attract thieves, Srila Prabhupada instructed devotees to
decorate deities with synthetic jewellery. However, semi-precious stones and
silver generally may be used, with due consideration for protection of the
deities and Their paraphernalia.
Sandalwood paste is made by
grinding sandalwood on a stone with a little water or rose water. If you are
adding other ingredients to the paste, such as saffron of camphor, add them
after you have made a little paste, then grind them into the paste until they
are completely absorbed into the paste and there are no small pieces left.
Sandalwood paste may be also made by adding a pinch of aguru (aloes), musk, or kunkuma. Finely ground tulasi wood may also be
added.
The Hari-bhakti-vilasa dedicates an entire chapter to the subject of
flowers. Flowers are a very important item in deity worship. Always try to
offer the best flowers possible.
If flowers are unavailable, you may offer leaves (especially tulasi, jambu, mango, amalaki, sami, and tamala leaves) or newly grown grass shoots.
Srila Prabhupada writes:
There is no question of using paper [or] plastic
fruits and flowers for worshiping the deities. If no fresh fruits or flowers
are available, then you can decorate with some fresh leaves. You have seen our
temples; nowhere do we use such things.... We are not after decoration; we are
after devotional service for pleasing
Krsna belongs to the village atmosphere of
Vrndavana, and He is very fond of flowers. As far as possible try to increase
the quantity of
flowers.
Incense may be of many
varieties. It is popular nowadays to offer incense sticks (agarbaööi), since they are convenient to light and offer. Strictly
speaking, one can be reasonably sure that all purchased incense sticks contain
impure substances-chemicals and possibly even animal products. Even "pure
sandalwood" incense is likely to be synthetic. These impurities do not
make such products unofferable, any more than synthetic jewelery is
unofferable. As far as possible try to attain pure incense to offer to the
Lord.
Ghee lamps offered in arati vary widely in shape and size and
traditionally have an odd number of wicks, (more than three). The standard
number of wicks for a full arati is
five.
The technique for making ghee wicks that burn properly-with just the
right amount of ghee, and tapered to a fine point-must be learned from an
expert.
Srila Prabhupada writes:
As far as the eatables are concerned, all items
should be first-class preparations. There should be first-class rice, dal, fruit, sweet rice, vegetables, and
a variety of foods to be sucked, drunk, and chewed. All the eatables offered to
the deities should be
extraordinarily excellent.
The Hari-bhakti-vilasa lists some of the foods that may be offered: bilva, amalaki, dates, coconut, jackfruit, grapes, tala fruit, lotus root, leafy vegetables, cowmilk products, and
items made from grains, ghee, and sugar.
Grains, especially rice, should always be offered with ghee. Rice
without ghee is considered asuric.
The Lord is pleased when offered items made with ghee, sugar, yogurt, guda
(jaggery), and honey; chickpea preparations, dals, soups (wet sabjis),
varieties of cakes, and other items that can be licked, chewed, sucked, or
drunk are all pleasing as well.
One may also offer drinks such as sugarcane juice, yogurt drinks,
sweetened lemon water, water flavored with cinnamon, camphor, or cardamom, and
fruit drinks of various scents and colors.
Many passages in the Caitanya-caritamrta
describe preparations that please Krsna. Here is a sample, describing what Lord
Caitanya's associates would prepare for Him:
They offered [Him] pungent preparations made with
black pepper, sweet-and-sour preparations, ginger, salty preparations, limes,
milk, yogurt, cheese, two or four kinds of spinach, soup made with bitter melon
[sukta], eggplant mixed with nimba flowers, and fried
paöola.
In a letter Srila
Prabhupada described foods in the mode of goodness and how to present them to
the Lord:
Foodstuffs in the modes of goodness are wheat,
rice, pulse (beans, peas), sugar, honey, butter, and all milk preparations,
vegetables, flowers, fruits, grains. So these foods can be offered in any
shape, but prepared in various ways by the intelligence of the
devotees.
In his Caitanya-caritamrta, Srila Prabhupada describes the best type of
rice for deity offerings:
In
A devotee may offer bona
fide foods considered delicacies by the local people or preferred by him or his
family.
In
commenting on a sloka stating that
one may offer his own or local favorites, Sanatana Gosvami writes that this
means that even though people in general may not like a certain food, if a
person prefers it he may offer it. But this refers to foods the scriptures
approves, not those they forbid. Thus if one is fond of a forbidden food, one
cannot offer it to the Lord. And thus one cannot eat it. Also, one should not
offer even permissible foods that are tasteless, unpalatable, inedible, impure
for any reason, or eaten by insects, animals, or people.
If nothing else offerable is available, one may
offer fruit alone. If even fruit is unavailable, one may offer pure water while
meditating on offering elaborate preparations. If even water is unavailable,
one should at least mentally make an offering of food.
Common forbidden foods
include meat, fish, eggs, onions, mushrooms, garlic, masur-dal (red lentils), burned rice, white eggplant, hemp
(marijuana),
citron,
saps from trees (if not boiled first), buffalo- and goat-milk products, and
milk with salt in it.
Also, one should not offer canned or frozen foods to the deity, and it is best
to avoid offering foods containing unhealthy substances such as yeast and white
sugar.
Srila Prabhupada comments:
Frozen means nasty. I never take frozen.... All
rotten, rather the same vegetable, as we have got in
So far the cucumber pickles: As far as possible we
should not offer to the deity things which are prepared by nondevotees. We can
accept from them raw fruits, grains, or similar raw things. So far cooking and
preparing, that should be strictly limited to the initiated devotees. And aside
from this, vinegar is not good; it is tamasic, in the darkness,
nasty food.
Concerning the use of sour cream in the temple, it
should be stopped immediately. Nothing should be offered to the Deities which
is purchased in the stores. Things produced by the karmis should not be offered
to Radha-Krishna. Icecream, if you can prepare, is O.K.,
but not otherwise.
Unpolished rice which looks like brown can be
used... We do not mind polished or unpolished, but
doubly-boiled [siddha rice]
mustn't be used. Doubly-boiled rice is considered impure.
Sunbaked rice (atapa) is all right.
Soya beans and lentils are unofferable.
Regarding purchasing things in the market, these
items are considered as purified when we pay the price for them. That is the
general instruction. But when we know something is adulterated, we should avoid
it. But unknowingly if something is purchased, that is not our fault. Things
which are suspicious, however, should be avoided.
…no, it is not very good to use yeast in preparing
prasadam.
Since it is offensive to
offer anything to Krsna that He will not accept, one should be extremely
cautious not to offer (or eat) anything questionable.
Just as we must select
pure, excellent foods to offer to Krsna, so we must also prepare them purely.
To prepare food for the Lord, one must meticulously observe the rules for
cleanliness and take the utmost care to prepare the food properly.
The consciousness of the cook enters into the food he prepares, and
therefore he should strive to be Krsna conscious while in the kitchen. The
kitchen, where the Lord's food is prepared, is an extension of the deity room,
where He eats. So the same high standard of cleanliness should be maintained in
both places.
Follow the standards
presented here as far as possible.
·
If possible cover your hair so as to avoid any hair falling into a
preparation.
·
Do not wear wool in the kitchen.
·
All clothing must be clean-that is, it must not have been worn in the
bathroom, when eating or sleeping, or outside the temple grounds.
·
You should be freshly showered and wearing tilaka and neckbeads.
·
Wash your hands when first entering the kitchen, and wash them again if
you touch your face, mouth, or hair, or if you sneeze or cough
(having-hopefully-covered your mouth).
·
After assembling the ingredients for cooking, wash all vegetables and
fruits and anything else that can be washed.
·
If something washable falls on the floor or in a sink, wash it off; if
it is unwashable, reject it.
·
The cook should cover all preparations as soon as they are cooked. If an
animal sees a preparation before it is offered, it must be rejected. No one
except the cook and the pujari should
see the unoffered food.
·
Cover the ghee used for frying when it is not in use. Old ghee should be
replaced regularly with fresh ghee.
·
See to it that all ingredients are properly stored in closed containers.
·
The kitchen should be thoroughly cleaned regularly, including inside the
stoves, ovens, and refrigerators.
·
Do not leave unclean saucepans and utensils lying around in the kitchen.
Clean them after they are used (the sooner they are cleaned after use, the
easier they are to clean).
·
No one should eat or drink in the kitchen; nor should anyone use the
sink for spitting into or drinking from.
·
Remove all garbage from the kitchen at least once a day.
·
If you need to store prasada
in the refrigerator store it in such a way that unoffered items will not become
contaminated. I.e. store prasada in
sealed containers.
·
As far as possible restrict conversation to topics about Krsna.
·
Do not play recordings of popular-style music in the kitchen.
Traditional bhajana and kirtana recordings are appropriate.
Deep-frying should be done
in pure ghee, if possible. Ghee used for frying should be regularly replaced.
(Ideally, ghee and other oils should be used only once, since each reheating
reduces their digestibility. An expert cook will use a minimum amount of ghee
for deep-frying and use the remainder for making halava or mixing into rice.) If ghee is not available or cannot be
made, you may use vegetable oil, such as coconut, mustard, sunflower, or peanut
oil.
Every scheduled food
offering is followed by an arati.
Except for kirtana, offering arati is the only regular daily function
of deity worship performed publicly.
There two basic types of arati
offered in ISKCON temples (both described in the section on how to offer arati) but according to your
circumstances and available facility you may offer whatever is practical.
Arati is performed at 1 1/2 hour before sunrise to
awaken the deities. Each offering is made by moving it in 7 big circles,
starting at the Lotus Feet of the Lord, and going clockwise round. First of
all, burning camphor or ghee (5 fires if possible) is offered in this way,
slowly circling them before the Lord. With left hand bell is being rung, and
with right hand the offerings are made by circling. Next burning dhupa is
offered. Then water is offered in a conchshell. Then a nice handkerchief is
offered. Then a nice flower, as a rose. Then the deities are offered a fan,
nice peacock feather fan. And the last item is the blowing of the conch shell
three times.
Throughout arati there is bell ringing, cymbals, mrdanga, gong,
harmonium, etc.
So far your question regarding deity worship,
during arati everything should be offered first to the Guru.
The cloth offered in arati, should be pure cotton or pure
silk.