Jun 25, 2023

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Grihapravesh: Enhancing Living Space

A house is seen as a closed space having its own unique energy, just like a living person. By living in a house, we are coming into contact with its current energy. 

With the help of the Grihapravesh Puja mantras and puja samagri, we are purifying the house’s environment and inviting positive energy into the home, to ensure our growth and well-being in the house.

This puja is supported by a branch of scriptures called Vaastu shastra and is intended for balancing out any vastu doshas and imbalances in the five basic elements, and eight directions.

In this article, we will discuss the following two aspects of Grihapravesh Puja:

1. Why is Grihapravesh puja performed?
2. What is the significance of some commonly practiced rituals?

Why is Grihapravesh puja performed?

The house is looked at as a container that has its own energy pattern. Let’s understand the reasons behind performing this puja.

To offer a sense of ‘Prayaschitta’:

We experience a sense of penance or Prayaschitta towards all the plants, insects, and other life forms that have gotten displaced, or killed during the construction of this house. 

The trees that are cut for making furniture go through some pain. The vastu puja helps pacify the negativity caused by this pain.

For us to have a place that we call home, all these life forms have undergone a great sacrifice. 

To balance out the accumulated Karma:

Before we enter a house, several events have already happened:

• The land on which the house stands might have been used for various purposes in the past accumulating its own karmic history
• If one is purchasing an apartment or a house from a real estate builder or company. The company might have done various activities to acquire the land or get the project approvals, etc
• If it’s a house where someone has already stayed, their thoughts, conversations, and karmic footprint are on the space

By renting, buying, or using this house, we are in some way indirectly connected to all that has happened in the past. 

Grihapravesh is a puja designed to handle all these aspects and balance out the karma we might have accumulated by purchasing or getting the house constructed.

To Invoke Divine Energy: 

The five elements, air, water, earth, fire, and space are present in all directions of our living space. 

Each of these elements has its own qualities and influence on a person. An imbalance in these elements impacts the harmony of the home. 

Invoking the adhisthana devatas and Dikpalakas using mantras, balances the elements and creates harmony among them. 

For expressing our gratitude:

We offer our gratitude to Ishwara who has blessed us with a place that we can call a home, where we can stay protected and can pursue our good deeds and spiritual sadhana. 

Holding the god’s idol in our hands while entering the house is a way of expressing our gratitude to our devatas for helping us buy or construct the house.

This moment of entering the house at an auspicious time is called Grihapravesham.

What is the significance of some commonly practiced rituals?

Method of Puja:

Depending on the type of house, the method for Grihapravesh is chosen:

1. Apoorva: This is performed upon the first entry into a newly constructed home.
2. Sapoorva: This is done when an individual enters the home after arriving from a foreign land.
3. Dwandwa: This is done when the individual enters the home after reconstruction or renovation.

Rangoli:

Any diagram or design does not become a rangoli. A pattern has its own energy field, and we want this energy to be positive for us.

Rangoli invites Goddess Lakshmi, who is the symbol of prosperity and wealth. The main gate should be decorated with swastika symbols. 

Toranas:

The main gate is called Simha Dwara and is the face of the Vastu Purusha. The house’s main door must be furnished with toranas consisting of fresh flowers and mango leaves. 

Both mango leaves and neem leaves have the capacity to drive away negative energies and are selected in pujas often

Ash gourd at the entrance:

Ash gourd has high life energy which is why it is put in front of the home. If the ash gourd gets spoilt or starts to weaken and split, it is advised to replace it with a new one (especially during the initial months after moving into a new home). It acts as a counter to ‘nara-drusthi-dosha’.   

In Sanatana Dharma, every thought or emotion is also seen to take an energy form and sometimes does have the intensity to positively or negatively affect another person or family. This puja also with the act of ash gourd etc.. are to be the gatekeepers

Cow and Calf Entry:

The reason for first making a cow enter the house is to resolve any vastu doshas present in the house and to bring peace to the house, called Griha shanti.   

Every life form is equal to the divine and there is no superior or inferior. However, no life form is made the same and each has its special unique properties.
Just like we use specific samagri for specific pujas and outcomes, similarly, Go matha (cow) is used in this occasion.  Rishi darshan has made it possible for us to identify and take up these measures for a smooth living in the home

Boiling milk:

When we enter the kitchen to light up the stove for the first time along with mantras, we are not only lighting a fire but also invoking the deva called Agni, who can burn away all impurities. 

We then invoke the energies of Surya devata, and Chandra devata into the vessel.  

Boiling milk till it boils over the sides, symbolizes the new home being blessed with an abundance of food and prosperity. 

Vastu Purush:

As per Vastu Shastra, a house can be diagrammatically represented with the body of a being. This being is called Vastu Purush. 

Different body parts of this being fall in different directions of the house. 

As per this representation, activities performed in the house at specific areas of the Vastu Purusha’s body should be suitable for that body part. 

For example, activities like puja, meditation, etc are suggested to be done at the head region of Vastu Purusha. 

And as we go towards the lower body, it is suggested to have bedrooms, etc, as these regions are associated with sense pleasures or bhoga.   

That’s why the Griha Pravesh puja is performed in the northeast corner of the house.

The whole world, including the human body, consists of five basic elements: Earth, Water, Fire, Air, and Space. 

Vastu principles depend mainly on the balance and combination of these five elements in the right order and right proportions.

Vastu principles also take into account the cosmic influence of the Sun, its light and heat, the direction of the wind, the Earth’s magnetic field, and the influence of space and various celestial bodies on our planet. 

North and East occupy special positions in Vastu. This is a consequence of the fact that the east is the place where the Sun rises, the source of life on Earth, and the north is the roof of the world and the magnetic pole.

Conclusion

Finally, approach this Puja with the following perspective:

• Gratitude to Ishwara for giving us this place 
• Invoking the Adhisthana Devatas to guide us in our life and to give us more opportunities to help others as a Gruhastha 
• To have a sense of prayaschitta and remind ourselves of how many sacrifices, many life forms, and other people have done, for us to get the space that we are now calling home
• Vow that, we are going to use our time and energy in this space in a positive manner
• Lastly, look at this home, not just as a physical construction, but as a thriving container that is going to help us improve our health, wealth, and spiritual progress