Griha Pravesh Puja - Vidhi, Muhurat and Rules

Tradition describes three types: 1. Apoorva - entering a newly built home for the very first time, on freshly acquired land. 2. Sapoorva - re-entering a home after travelling or being away for a long time. 3. Dwandwah (or Dwandwa) - re-entering a home that was repaired, rebuilt or restored after damage. The full puja with Vastu shanti is most important for Apoorva (a brand-new home), while the others may follow a shorter purification.

A good muhurat is considered essential for Griha Pravesh. The muhurat is chosen as per the Panchang, looking at the tithi, nakshatra, day, lagna and the month, and avoiding inauspicious periods such as certain months, eclipses and unfavourable tithis. Some months and nakshatras are traditionally considered especially auspicious for entering a new home. For the right date and time for your home, refer to the Vandnaa Panchang rather than fixing a day at random.

Keep ready: a kalash (copper or brass pot) with water, mango leaves and a coconut on top, an idol or image of Ganesh and Lakshmi, roli, kumkum, haldi, rice (akshat), flowers, incense, a ghee lamp, panchamrit, fresh milk for boiling, navadhanya (nine grains), betel leaves and nuts, sweets, and havan samagri if a havan is done. Also keep a new broom, and rangoli colours to decorate the entrance with auspicious patterns.

A simple traditional vidhi: 1. Clean the home and decorate the entrance with rangoli, a toran of mango leaves and marigold flowers. 2. The couple or head of the family carries the kalash and enters with the right foot first, often led by the woman of the house. 3. Perform Ganesh puja first to remove obstacles, then Lakshmi puja for prosperity. 4. Conduct the Vastu shanti puja and, where done, a havan to purify the home and please the Vastu deity. 5. Boil milk in a new vessel in the kitchen until it rises and overflows, a sign of abundance, then cook a simple sweet dish. 6. Offer bhog, perform aarti, and share prasad and a meal with family and guests.

The kalash filled with water, topped with mango leaves and a coconut, symbolises the divine, abundance and auspicious beginnings; carrying it in is a way of welcoming Lakshmi into the home. Boiling milk until it overflows in the new kitchen is a much-loved ritual that symbolises prosperity, growth and a home that will never lack nourishment. The first meal cooked - often a sweet like kheer - is offered to the deities before the family eats.

Do: perform Griha Pravesh on a Panchang-chosen muhurat, enter with the right foot first, light a lamp that stays on through the day, and keep the kitchen and water flowing as the first signs of life in the home. Dont: move into a home before the puja, hold it during a pregnant woman's restricted months if tradition advises waiting, leave the home empty and dark on the first night, or skip the Vastu shanti for a brand-new house. Spend at least the first night in the home after the puja.