Lakshmi puja on Diwali, step by step: the chowki, the sixteen offerings, the aarti

When

• Lakshmi puja is done in the Pradosh kaal after sunset on 8 November, when the Amavasya tithi and the sthir (fixed) Vrishabha lagna overlap, roughly 6 to 8 pm in most Indian cities. The panchang gives the exact window; the daily WhatsApp message carries it for your city.
• Shops and businesses often do a second puja for the account books (Chopda puja) at the same time or in the late-night Simha lagna.
• Cleaning is finished the day before; the puja space is set in the afternoon so the evening is unhurried.

Setting the chowki

1. 1

   Place

   In the puja room or the north-east of the main room, on a raised chowki with a red or yellow cloth, so that the worshipper faces east or north.

2. 2

   Arrange

   Ganesha on the left as you face the chowki, Lakshmi on the right (his right hand). The kalash to the right of Lakshmi. Kuber's image or a Kuber yantra, and Saraswati if the family keeps her, beside them. The cash box, the account books and the Dhanteras purchase in front.

3. 3

   Rangoli and footprints

   Lakshmi's footprints from the threshold to the chowki, made with rice paste or a stencil. A rangoli at the door. Diyas at every door and window, lit after the puja.

4. 4

   Draw the base

   A small swastik in kumkum on the cloth under each murti, a handful of rice under Lakshmi. Fill the kalash and close it with the leaves and coconut.

The puja, in order

Bathe, wear new or clean clothes, and sit with the family. The person leading holds water for the sankalp; everyone else keeps a flower in hand to offer at the end of each step.

1. 5

   Achaman and sankalp

   Sip water three times from the palm. Then, with water in the right palm, state the resolve: Lakshmi puja on this Diwali, for the welfare and prosperity of the family. Release the water.

2. 6

   Ganesha first

   Every puja begins with him. Tilak, akshat, a flower, a modak or laddoo, and a request that the puja be without obstacle. The Ganesha mantra, or the Ganesha Chalisa's opening if you know it.

3. 7

   Kalash puja

   Apply tilak to the kalash, offer a flower, and invite the waters and the deities to be present in it.

4. 8

   Invocation (avahan)

   Invite Lakshmi to the home with folded hands. A verse from the Shri Sukta, or in plain words: that she stay in this house for the year.

5. 9

   Seat, water, bath (asana, padya, arghya, snana)

   Offer a flower as a seat, water for the feet, water for the hands, then a light abhishek with panchamrit and Gangajal if the murti is metal or stone. For a clay murti or a picture, sprinkle water with a flower instead.

6. 10

   Cloth and ornaments (vastra, abhushana)

   Drape the new cloth or chunri. A small ornament, a flower garland.

7. 11

   Fragrance, flower, lamp, incense (gandha, pushpa, deepa, dhoopa)

   Chandan on the forehead, kumkum, akshat. Flowers and the garland. Light the ghee diya and the dhoop.

8. 12

   Naivedya

   The bhog: kheel and batasha first, then sweets, fruit and dry fruit. Sprinkle water around the plate and offer with the right hand.

9. 13

   Kuber and the books

   Tilak on the cash box and the account books; a flower on each. Kuber's mantra or a prayer that what is earned is earned honestly and kept well.

10. 14

    Lakshmi names or Shri Sukta

    Read the Shri Sukta, the Lakshmi Ashtottara (108 names), or the Lakshmi Chalisa. One of these, not all; read what the family will listen to.

11. 15

    Aarti

    Camphor on the thali, the bell rung, the Lakshmi aarti (Om Jai Lakshmi Mata) sung together. Then the Ganesha aarti.

12. 16

    Pushpanjali and pradakshina

    Everyone offers the flowers held through the puja. Circle the chowki once, or turn in place.

13. 17

    Prasad and the lamps

    Distribute kheel-batasha and sweets. Then light the diyas at every door and window, from the puja diya, and the house is lit for the year.

The short form, fifteen minutes

• Sankalp. Ganesha: tilak, flower, sweet. Kalash: tilak, flower.
• Lakshmi: invite, tilak, flower, cloth, garland, diya, dhoop, naivedya.
• Kuber and the books: tilak and a flower.
• One reading: the Lakshmi Chalisa or twelve names.
• Aarti, prasad, lamps.

After the puja

The diyas stay lit as long as they can be watched. The kalash stays on the chowki overnight; its water goes to a plant the next morning. Clay murtis are immersed after Bhai Dooj; metal ones are wiped and return to the altar. The coin from the kalash goes into the cash box and stays there for the year.

A lamp is left burning through the night in many homes, in the belief that Lakshmi walks the earth on this night looking for lit houses. Use a safe diya on a metal plate, away from curtains.

What usually goes wrong

• Lakshmi on Ganesha's left. She sits at his right hand, which is on your right as you face the chowki.
• Doing the puja late at night after guests leave. The window is the two hours after sunset; the Amavasya muhurat does not wait.
• Buying every item on a shop's list. Sixteen offerings are sixteen gestures, most of them water and a flower; a home that has ghee, a diya, kumkum, rice, flowers and a sweet has everything.
• Crackers before the puja. The puja comes first, the lamps second, everything else after.
• Leaving the kalash coconut to rot. It is broken and eaten the next day or given to the temple.

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