| Car Puja Guide | |
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How
to Bless Your New Car
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What is a car puja?
Simply put, it's a ceremony to consecrate or bless a new car in the Lord's name
and keep it safe from bad influences.
Protect Your Machines!
Hindus bless
all items and implements that are used in daily life — homes, cars, motorized
vehicles of all types, home appliances, such as mixers, grinders, stoves, TVs,
stereos, etc.
When is this done?
It's done at the inception of the implement, just before using it or as soon
as possible after purchase. When you buy a new car or a home, you do the puja
before driving the car or moving into the new house.
Here, I will try
to explain this puja. However, puja details may vary from pujari to pujari
(Hindu priest).
Step 0: Just before the rituals begin, I wash my brand new car (It's a 2003 Toyota Matrix!) and wipe it clean.
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Step
0
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Step
1
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Step 1: The owner of the car participates in the puja with the pujari, as others watch the proceedings. In the photo (above) I am with the pujari (to my right) and my mom (to my left). The first thing I had to do was accept 'holy water' into my right hand and wash my hands for the puja. This was repeated three times. In temples, it is a rule to accept things into the right hand. I do this by placing my left hand under my right hand.
In these pujas, usually the person, who the puja is being done for, doesn't know what is going on next, unless that person has studied it beforehand. This is normally true, even and especially in Hindu weddings! Hence, they are so chaotic.
Step 2: For three repetitions, I accept rice from the pujari to sprinkle onto the front of the car.
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Step
2
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Step
3
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Step 3: The pujari draws a swastika with the third finger of right hand (an auspicious finger, once someone told me a woman should apply kumkum on the forehead with this finger). This is drawn on the car with turmeric powder mixed with water. It does not stain the car. It can also be drawn with sandalwood paste. The Swastika — born in India over 5,000 years — is an auspicious (good luck) symbol and means "to be well".
Step 4: After the swastika is drawn, I am again given rice, for three repetitions, to bless the swastika by sprinking rice on it. For each sprinkle, I am given mantras to recite.
Step 5: Repeating Step 4, I meditate on Lord Ganesha and recite holy mantras. One set of mantras includes reciting 11 of the 108 names of Lord Ganesha.
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Step
4
& 5
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Step
6
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Step 6: I lit insence sticks. The pujari takes these and circles them around the swastika three times in a clockwise direction, then takes them inside the car around the steering wheel three times in a clockwise direction, reciting mantras.
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Step
7
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Step
7: The pujari installed a small Ganesha idol near the steering
wheel. This is actually not a normal step (The person who wants the puja done
needs to provide this). To install this Ganesha, there was a small puja which
lasted five minutes. It is a small Ganesha which is enclosed in a small plastic
case which can be opened. The flat Ganesha inside is made of silver and is attached
to the plastic case. The pujari opened it, and had me put holy water
inside it, then put rice in it three times. Then he took out the rice and left
three grains in it, closed the plastic case and attached it to the dash board
behind the steering wheel — it should be located where the driver can see
it — with the adhesive which was on the case.
Step 8: Coconut breaking — I purchased
a coconut at the store ahead of time. In this step, the person who owns the
car will break the coconut near the right front tire and sprinkle the coconut
water on the tire. The coconut is kept as prasadam (holy food offering
given to God during pujas) and eaten later.
Step 9: Breaking Lemons and driving three
times — I purchased four lemons, the pujari put one under each tire.
Then, I got into the car and drove it to the right side. There was a roundabout
driveway in front of the temple, which I circled once. This is to rid the vehicle
of any bad influences. Some people drive around three times, and in some temples,
the driver will drive around the temple itself.
What
You Need for this Puja
This
varies slightly for temple to temple, but in general, the things which are needed
are four lemons, one coconut, and money to pay the pujari. Optional is
the idol to install inside the car. The rice and other puja items are provided
by the temple.
How to Set it Up
Call your local Hindu Temple and ask to set up an
appointment. This is not always necessary, but it is a good thing to do so you
don't show up on a day you can't get the pujari's time to do the puja,
which took about 15-20 minutes. In addition to setting up the time, ask about
the fee. In the Syracuse Hindu Mandir it costs $31 dollars. Usually the fee
will end in 1 — so that it is an odd number. Even number amounts are not
considered auspicious.
ABOUT
THE AUTHOR:
Jennifer
Polan (Jayanthi), MSW, from Madras Christian College, India, is currently
working as a community mental health worker at Pathways, Inc. in New York State.
She is an American citizen who has incorporated the Indian and Hindu lifestyle
into daily life since 1997.
