The Lord, Who holds the holy ga~Nga in His matted hair, is delighted by the holy anointment that is done by the devotees. When this was done with sincerity He gave the small child vichAracharuma the great chaNdIsha post (1, 2). The Lord, Who is adorned with bilva leaves on His glittering long hair, also enjoys the fresh leaves and flowers the devotees offer in their fragrance of care. The Lord is so Gracious that when a monkey shed the leaves of bilva tree on a shiva li~Nga below just out of habit, He made the monkey the famous muchukun^dha emperor (3). So are the greatness of flowers and anointment materials. For the good people would be available the flowers and water (puNNIyam cheyvArkkup pUvuNdu n^IruNdu) asserts the sage thirumUlar. We should try to do as much as possible the worship complete with these holy substances and pure love. This page talks about the procedure prescribed in the scriptures as the worship procedure. This could be followed howmuchever possible.
When doing the worship whether at home or at the temple, it is of utmost importance to maintain cleanliness of body and mind. the surroundings should be clean, the worship substances should be clean ad also the body should be clean. Before the worship one should bath and wear clean dry clothes. It is also required to wear the Holy Ash. When going for the worship of the Lord should take something like amointment substances or flowers or food offering or any other offering as a token of the love for the Supreme. These offering should not be taken in the lower part of the body. These offerings could be kept only at clean places. When doing the worship it is advised to be in a proper convenient posture (Asana) so that the concentration would be on the Sweet Lord without physical disturbances.
Pure river water, well water are qualified for the holy anointment of the Lord. The water for holy anointment would be brought by clean people escorted by musicians. The fragrant flowers like pAdhiri, uthpalam, alari, lotus would be put in this water for anointment. Old water should not be used.
The following anointments are done in that order
It is said that
Pure Water fulfils desires Perfumed oil gives comfort Milk gives long life Ghee gives liberated state Curd gives good children Honey gives melodious voice Rice powder frees from debts Sugar cane juice gives good health pa~nchAmR^itam gives wealth, body strength pa~nchagavyam drives off sins Lemon removes fear of death Sugar removes enmity Tender coconut gives enjoyment Cooked Rice(Annam) gives mejestic life Sandal gives Lakshmi's grace nellimuLLi cures diseases sha~NkhAbhiShekam gives good-deedful life Offering gives land lordship thAmbUlam gives comfort
Soft and clean clothes should be used to clad the Lord's form. It is said that the offering of clothes would lead to life in shiva lokam. Sandal mixed with agar, goshtam, saffron, camphor and rose water could be applied to the Lord.
| Day | Ornament |
| Sunday | Ruby |
| Monday | Pearl |
| Tuesday | pavaLam |
| Wednesday | Emerald |
| Thursday | Topaz |
| Friday | Diamond |
| Saturday | indra nIlam |
God's head should be ever decorated with flower. In the morning lotus, purachampU, tulasi, navamallikai (jasmine), n^an^dhiyAvattai, man^thArai, mullai, shaNbakam, punnAgam are the preferred flowers. In the noon white lotus, araLi, purachu, tulasi, n^eydhal, bilvam, shanku pushpam, marudhANi, kovithAram, Oridhaz are best suited. In the evening red lotus, lily, jasmine, jAti mullai, marukkozun^dhu, vettivEr, gajakarNikai, tulasi, bilvam are suggested.
There are eight flowers renowned as aShTa puShpam much preferred for the worship of the Lord. (ettuk kolAmavar chUdum inamalar). They are
Lotus 5 days araLi 3 days bilvam 6 months tulasi 3 months n^eydhal 3 days shaNbakam 1 day viLAmichchai ever (no expiry)
The flowers that were brought in hands, those fell by itself from the plant, dried up ones, those were smelt, those kept in dirty places, materials are not to be offered to the Lord. The patels of the flowers should not be pulled apart while offering. The leaves could be pulled separately and offered.
Lord shiva thAzai viShNu axata (rice), veLLerukku, Umaththai Goddess aRugu, veLLerukku, man^dhAram sun (sUrya) bilvam vignesha tulasi
The main thing in the worship of Lord shiva are the love, focus and dedication. These are the core required things for the worship. But these external things stated in this page could enhance the worship of the Lord. So these could be followed as much as possible.
See Also:
1. chaNdIshAnugraha mUrti
2. chaNdIcha n^AyanAr history
3. muchukun^dha chakravarthy
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