SamskarasChoosing a priest and a date
Practical advice for families planning a samskara or puja: how to find a priest, what to ask, how a muhurat is chosen, what it may cost, and how to avoid being cheated.
Most families plan a ceremony with a priest. A few practical points help to make it go well.
- Ask in your community. A priest known to relatives or to the temple trust of your community is safer than one found by advertisement.
- Ask in advance what the priest will do: the steps, the time, the items to be brought, and how long it will take.
- Agree on the dakshina (fee) beforehand, in words, to avoid argument. Offer it with respect.
- The muhurat is chosen from the panchang using the child's or the family's birth details, the lunar day and the star. Ask the priest to give the date a few weeks ahead so that relatives can plan.
- Keep it simple. A ceremony does not have to be expensive. A short ceremony done with sincerity is as valid as a long one in the tradition.
- Language. If the family does not follow Sanskrit, ask the priest to explain each step in your own language.
Be careful of anyone who says that a ceremony must be done at once to avoid a danger or who asks for large sums. See also our puja guides.
These pages describe common practice in plain words. Customs differ by region, community and family, and your own family's tradition and a priest of your community come first. Dates of auspicious times change every year: ask a priest or use a trusted panchang. Nothing here promises any result.