Puja rooms are evolving with a mantra of change

When Bhavna Chaddha, legal head at the Claridges Hotels and Resorts, shifted to her four-BHK flat in Greater Noida six months back, one of her priority areas was having an elegant puja room. She converted the flat’s study into a worship room with the help of an interior designer. Even after six months, she is still developing and adding to the coveted space. It’s as if a pilgrim’s work in progress.Â

Our homes have evolved, and so has the small corner that houses the deities. Even those who don’t perform puja rituals daily are going for exquisite puja cabinets and corners in their flats. For interior designers, the puja room is now as important as the kitchen, if not more.

Not only the puja room, even items used for rituals have undergone a huge change — from a wick that burns from dawn to dusk to havan cups to incense sticks made from temple flowers.Â

And well, at times you might not even find an idol at all in the puja room.

Innovations, a changing psyche and the rise in incomes have changed our puja rooms.

HOW PUJA ROOMS HAVE CHANGED 

Puja rooms or corners in our houses devoted to mandirs, which were traditionally made of metal or wood, have always been at the centre of our lives.

That’s where the silent prayers are made to the household deity before an exam or a job interview. It is also where the family stands together with folded hands singing prayer hymns, especially during the Navratris.

It is the same devotion with which people like the 31-year-old Bhawna Chaddha are setting up new puja rooms, just that they have more trendy and innovative options to choose from now.

“We wanted the theme of an open mandir and a fusion of modern with traditional. We have a wall-mounted, open mandir with a traditional north Indian shikhara, while the shelves have individual lights focusing on the idols,” Bhawna tells IndiaToday.In.

“We are completing the puja room with a lot of love and devotion, and it will take time. We plan to have bells too, like in temples,” adds Bhawna.

Bhawna Chaddha’s open temple has a shikhara and is a work in progress. The idols are of silver.

The modern era has ushered in a shift in how puja rooms are designed. These elegant spaces prioritise functionality while maintaining a serene atmosphere. Wall-mounted shelves or built-in cabinets serve as efficient storage for idols and puja accessories and also add to the overall look of the flat.

Delhi-based interior designer Tarandeep Kaur explains why and how the puja rooms have changed.Â

“People are mostly living in flats and small houses. Ten years back, puja units used to be very typical, like just in a corner somewhere with the seating on the floor. Nowadays, people are making units which are more trendy,” Tarandeep tells IndiaToday.In.Â

“When I was designing mandirs in homes 10 years back, they used to look like a basic wardrobe kind of thing. They were with lesser design elements and more functional. So it used to be a unit in the corner of a room as per Vaastu. Then innovations came into play,” says Tarandeep.Â

“Now we do the cutouts and the mantras are written on the back panel of the temple at home. Then there are LED lights that are added to make it look trendy and attractive,” Tarandeep says.

It has always been a practice to keep five to 10 idols in the puja spaces. But now, Tarandeep says, in some households, people do not even keep idols now.Â

“The deities are printed on acrylic and the sheet is pasted on the back panel. And then there is a light behind. So when you turn on the light, you see the entire figure,” says Tarandeep Kaur, who has been designing homes for almost two decades now.

Social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook have also influenced people to make aesthetic puja rooms in their houses.

“In one of my latest projects, we added small brass bells on the door itself. I think the change is that, from being a simple thing, it has become a fashion for design. The eye-catching point of the area where the mandir is kept. And obviously, it adds to the overall design of the room,” says Tarandeep, explaining why people are increasingly taking the help of interior designers for puja rooms.

The puja corner adds to the overall aesthetic of the house and gives the residents another spot to flaunt. Social media posts and reels are, of course, influencing a lot of that.

Ashish Tyagi, Senior Account Delivery Manager with Glorio Group, wanted a bigger pooja room space as he was moving into a larger house. Tyagi says how could he not devote a bigger room to the God whose blessings helped him move to a bigger house?

PUJA PRODUCTS ARE SEEING INNOVATIVE CHANGES

It isn’t only about the puja room, even the products used in rituals have been touched by innovation.Â

New products are changing the way we perform our puja rituals.Â

Havan or consecrated fire, for example, used to be an elaborate affair earlier. Now, one can perform havan in cups.

People had to arrange several havan samagri (items) for the ancient Vedic ritual that involves burning herbs, resins, and other offerings to purify the environment and promote positivity.

Forget the samagri and even the metal vessel. Now, several agarbatti (incense stick) brands, including Cycle, Phool and Hari Drashan, are offering havan cups.

These small cups are typically handmade from a variety of materials, including cow dung, recycled temple flowers, dried flower petals, neem, sandalwood, camphor and other herbs. The havan samagri comes in a separate packet.Â

All one needs to do is pour the samagri into the havan cup and light it.Â

Even the ubiquitous cotton wicks in the oil lamps haven’t gone untouched by innovation.

We pay scant attention to it, but poorly-made wicks, often made with bleached cotton, result in the oil lamp flame dying out in hours.

To beat this, Om Bhakti, a platform selling puja materials, has come up with cotton wicks that they claim last for at least 12 hours with minimal usage of oil.

“We have developed a cotton wick that can last up to 30 hours and uses less oil too. We have filed a patent request for our cotton wick,” Sridhar Joshi, co-founder of OM Bhakti, tells IndiaToday.In.Â

During Navaratri, when people light diyas all-day, these cotton wicks do a miracle, says Joshi.Â

“If lit before sunrise, lamps with this wick will be on at least till sunset. This is particularly helpful during Navaratri, when the diyas (earthen lamps) should be burned throughout the nine days,” says Joshi.

Catering to our rushed lives, OM Bhakti also has ghee wicks, which saves puja preparation time. The Om Bhakti Ghee Batti is made from “pure cow ghee” and stays in a solid state at room temperature.Â

Then there is also the pancha deepa or deepam oil — a blend of five natural oils for prayer lamps.

Incense sticks are integral to prayer rituals in Hindu households. These incense sticks have also been rolled with innovation now.

Millions of metric tons of floral waste is generated across temples of India every year. After being offered to the Gods, these flowers are discarded.Â

Phool collects these flowers and recycles them into incense sticks and cones.Â

The company now sells dhoop and incense sticks made using flowers used in temples in Ayodhya and Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi.

So, it isn’t just that the puja corner has changed, even everyday products have changed over the years.Â

THE GROWING ONLINE PUJA SAMAGRI MARKET 

Puja samagri, a crucial part of India’s religious and spiritual landscape, has burgeoned into a market worth approximately $2 billion.

Traditionally, puja items were sourced from local artisans and vendors, but the industry has witnessed a seismic shift, driven by urbanisation, globalisation, and the advent of e-commerce.Â

Today, the market for puja samagri spans a vast network of manufacturers, retailers, and online platforms, offering everything from simple diyas (lamps) to elaborately pre-packaged ritual kits.

The industry is currently experiencing a phase of innovation and modernisation. Companies are leveraging technology to cater to the evolving needs of a diverse consumer base. E-commerce firms are making puja products available everywhere.

“This digital shift has particularly benefited the Indian diaspora, enabling them to maintain cultural and religious practices despite geographical distances. Online platforms not only bridge the geographical gaps but also introduce a younger, tech-savvy generation to traditional practices.” says Sridhar Joshi of OM Bhakti.

The puja room, a dedicated space for prayer and rituals which has been a cornerstone of Hindu households for centuries, has evolved. The arrival of innovative products like dawn-to-dusk wicks and havan and dhoop cups and puja kits have changed the way we conduct our puja rituals.

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