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Diwali 2017: Lakshmi Puja rituals, muhurat timing and significance
This year Lakshmi Puja is on October 19. Celebrate by offering prayers to Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Ganesha.
Diwali is the festival of lights, but it is also a festival of bringing prosperity in our lives. On October 19, Lakshmi Puja will be celebrated by offering prayers to Goddess Lakshmi. She is also referred to as the Goddess of wealth and prosperity and is worshipped across India. Lakshmi Puja is one of the most important celebrations during Diwali.
Significance: An elaborate puja is performed to usher in a prosperous year. Families dress up in festive finery and new clothes are bought. During the puja, the main door is kept open as a symbol of inviting the Goddess into our homes. A beautiful rangoli made of flowers/ colours and other decorative items adorn the threshold of houses and torans or door hangings are used to enhance the beauty of the entrance. New ventures are initiated on this day and businessmen start the new accounting year by worshipping Goddess Lakshmi.
Rituals: For Lakshmi puja preparations, keep a red cloth on the right side of a raised platform and install idols of Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Ganesha on it after adorning them with silk clothes and jewellery. After this, keep a white cloth on the left to install Navgraha Gods. Prepare nine slots of Akshata (unbroken rice) for installing Navgraha on the white cloth and prepare 16 slots of wheat or wheat flour on the red cloth. One should perform Lakshmi Puja with full rituals as described on Lakshmi Puja Vidhi.
Muhurat: The tithi for Lakshmi puja coincides with Amasya or new moon day. The Diwali date differs every year because the Hindu calendar is different from the Gregorian one. This year the tithi begins on October 19 at 00:13 PM and ends on October 20 at 00:41 PM.
Pradosh Kaal timings - 17:44 to 20:17 PM
Lakshmi Pujan timings - 19:12 to 20:17 PM
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