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The pran pratishtha ceremony of the idol at Ayodhya’s Ram temple is being held today (January 22), after several rituals that began on January 16.
While the basic meaning of pran pratishtha — giving life to the idol — is simple enough, the ceremony involves various rituals taken from the Vedas and Puranas, each with its own significance.
So what exactly is pran pratishtha, and how is it carried out? How can the worshipper impart prana, or life, to the worshipped? The answers lie in the strong role nature plays in many Hindu rituals, and the interdependence of the devotee and the divine in the Hindu worldview.
Pran pratistha is the act which transforms an idol into a deity, giving it the capacity to accept prayers and grant boons. For this, the statue has to go through various stages. Here we describe some of the prominent steps. The number of steps involved will depend on the scale of the ceremony.
One of the first stages is a shobha yatra, or a procession of the idol, taken out in the neighbourhood of the temple. For the Ram idol in Ayodhya, the shobha yatra was on January 17. During this yatra, as the idol is greeted and cheered on by onlookers, some of their devotion is transferred into it, imbuing it with divine strength. It is, thus, the devotee who begins the alchemy of turning a statue into God.
Once the idol comes back to the mandap begin the rituals that make up pran pratishtha.
Dr Dipakbhai Jyotishacharya, who runs the Parashar Jyotishalaya in Gujarat’s Vapi, told The Indian Express that pran pratishtha can be held for both chalit moorti (household idols that can be moved about) and sthir moorti (temple idols that once fixed remain so).
Dr. Sunder Narayan Jha, professor at the Department of Veda at the Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri National Sanskrit University, New Delhi, said when the mantra is chanted for pran pratishtha, the prayer is both for the idol to come to life and to be prepared to give up that life. “This is because, in case that particular statue is damaged, another will have to be installed in its place, and life should flow from the damaged idol to the new one,” he explained.
To ready the idol for the pran pratishtha, multiple adhivaas are conducted, in which the idol is submerged in various materials. For one night, the idol is kept in water, which is called jalãdhivãs. Then it is submerged in grain, which is called dhãnyãdhivãs. Jha explained that when an idol is being crafted, it sustains various injuries from the craftsman’s tools. These adhivaas are meant to heal up all such injuries. Dipakbhai explained that the process serves another purpose: “If the idol has a defect, or if the stone is not of a great quality, it will be found out when it is submerged in various materials,” he said.
After this, the idol is given a ritual bath and its abhishek is performed with various materials, depending on the scale of the ceremony. According to the BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha, this rite can involve “108 different types of materials, such as panchamrut, water containing the essence of various fragrant flowers and leaves, water which has been poured over the horns of a cow, and sugar cane juice.”
After the statue has adequately recovered from the stress of its fashioning and has been given its ritual bath comes the time for it to be awakened. Many mantras are chanted, asking for various Gods to come and animate its various parts — Soorya the eyes, Vayu the ears, Chandra the mind, etc.
Then comes the final step, the opening of the statue’s eyes. This ceremony involves putting anjan, somewhat like kohl, around the deity’s eyes, with a gold needle. This process is carried out from behind, as it is believed that if one looks into God’s eyes the moment they open, their brilliance can be too much to take.
“Originally, the anjan was supposed to have been brought back from the Kakood mountain. A black stone found on the mountain is rubbed to create the black powder needed for the ceremony. But since that mountain is now in China, we make do with ghee and honey,” Jha said.
Once the anjan has been applied and the deity’s eyes have opened, it has ‘come to life’ and can now receive devotees.
The process of the pran pratishtha is mentioned in the Vedas and elaborated upon in various Puranas, such as Matsya Puran, Vaman Puran, Narad Puran, etc.
Jha said two divine objects — the Shaligram found in the Gandki river, and the Narmadeshwar, a shivling found in the Narmada river, do not need pran pratishtha, for they carry divinity within them.
According to Dipakbhai, the idol should ideally be brought to life before a temple’s construction is completely finished. Only the garbha griha, or the sanctum sanctorum, needs to be fully ready before pran pratishtha.
