Basic puja samagri

Samagri means the materials of a puja. For almost any home puja the following are enough; a specific puja adds one or two special things.

• Roli (kumkum) and akshat (whole rice)
• Turmeric (haldi) and sandal paste (chandan)
• Fresh flowers and a garland
• Incense sticks (agarbatti) and a dhoop
• A ghee or oil lamp (diya) with wicks and a match
• Camphor (kapoor) for aarti
• Fruits and a sweet for the offering (prasad)
• A clean cloth or asan for the seat
• Clean water in a small pot with a spoon (achamani)
• A bell and, if you have one, a conch

What each is for

• Roli and akshat: the tilak mark and whole rice, offered to show respect; rice must be unbroken.
• Turmeric and sandal: auspicious and fragrant; turmeric is used on the deity and as a mark of auspiciousness.
• Flowers: offered fresh; the specific flowers differ by deity (for example red hibiscus for Ganesha, Hanuman, and Durga, bilva leaves for Shiva, tulsi for Vishnu and Krishna, and lotus for Lakshmi).
• Lamp and incense: light and fragrance; the lamp burns throughout.
• Camphor: burnt during the aarti.
• Fruit and sweet: offered as naivedya and shared as prasad.

What can be left out

If you cannot find an item, a little water and a flower, or even a thought, are accepted in the tradition; it is said that devotion matters more than the list. See also panchamrit and the kalash.

This page describes common practice in plain words. Families, regions and priests differ in the details, and your own family tradition or your priest comes first. Dates and muhurat (auspicious times) change every year: ask a priest or use a trusted panchang. Nothing here promises any result.