Interview with Lakshmi Devi (Puja Room)

Q1 (INTERVIEWER): So this is room where you worship?

A1 (LAKSHMI DEVI): Yes. We have this Chalisa Sangraha containing the Chalisa (forty line hymns) addressed to all the different gods and goddesses-- Hanuman , Shankar, Durga , Lakshmi , Ganesh , all the deities. On Thursdays we do the Thursday fast and we read aloud the story of Thursday. After the story we do arati . For arati, we soak a cotton or wool wick in clarified butter and light a lamp and show the lamp to the deity. Incense is also burned. The bell is rung at the time we offer food. The offering consists of raisins, coconut, and chuhara. Sweets are also presented as an offering to the picture of the deity as are flowers and garlands. We have pictures of Vishnu , Durga, Krishna and Maihar Devi. The shrine of Maihar Devi is in Nasik (near Bombay ).

Q2 (INTERVIEWER): Why is arati and everything else necessary for the gods?

A2a (LAKSHMI DEVI):: These things please the gods and the gods bless their devotees upon receiving these offerings. They are pleased when we read the Chalisa out loud. The gods relieve us of our suffering and anxiety and they protect us. That's why we do all of this.

A2b (SARASWATI DEVI): We get joy by doing puja .

A2c (LAKSHMI DEVI): We get peace by doing puja .

In the month of Kartik--for the whole month--we light a ghee lamp in front of the tulsi. At the end of the month we perform the ritual wedding of the tulsi. At that time we offer/donate clothes, fruit, flowers and sing wedding songs like Mangal Gati, Sohar and so on.

(About a picture on the wall)

This picture is related to Bhaiya Duj festival that comes after Divali . On that day we fast totally (no food or water) until midday . At midday we found cow dung. We paint this picture on our doorstep with cow dung and then pound it with our feet. One month later the festival of Pidiya occurs. On that day we fast completely the whole day. At night around 6-7 pm we make Khir using rice and jaggery (sugar cane). After making the Khir we extract rice from paddy with our hands. Then we place 32 grains of rice on our right palm and swallow them with the Khir . In this way we finish our fast. On the day of Gobardhan Puja we apply cow dung to the wall and scrape it off on the night of Padiya. Next we apply fresh cow dung to the wall. The one scraped off is dropped into the pond we perform the Dale Chat puja after pounding it with the feet.

On the 7 th day of the month of Sawan we worship our family deity--the seven mothers. Their image is kept in an alcove in a room set aside for them. A room that we never enter without taking a bath first. The image is never taken down from the alcove except on this day. On this day we take it down form the alcove and place them in a basket like thing. The images of all the seven goddesses have coin like things made of gold struck into them.

(their puja method)

First a wooden seat is place on the floor. Next mango leaves are placed on the seat and then the seven mothers are placed on the leaves. They are always connected to each other with a thread running through each of them. On the puja day the old thread is replaced with a new one. Next the seven mothers are worshipped. Clothes are offered to them. Fifteen days prior to this we stop eating or making any fried foods at home. During this time we eat only simple food. If there is even the slightest deviation form the prescribed ritual for this puja then they 9the goddesses) attack the person performing the puja--usually my father or mother-in-law. When we see him or her crying all of a sudden then we know that there was a flaw in the puja . All over India , households have their respective household deities, some god or goddess. They protect the household or family. No outsider is allowed to worship them, nor can the daughters in the family do this puja. Only sons or daughter-in-laws can. Daughters are not even allowed to go to the doorstep of that room at the home of the puja . If I (a daughter-in-law) am having some problem (i.e. menstruating) then I too cannot get any outsider to do the puja . Only I can do it. If there is a death in the family then the puja is postponed for a year.