As Priyanka Chopra's Indian restaurant prepares for grand opening, see pics of 'puja' ceremony held to bless the space

A 'puja' was conducted at Priyanka Chopra's Indian restaurant in New York City, which is set to open its doors to the public this week. See pictures here.

Priyanka Chopra's restaurant in New York, Sona, is all set to be unveiled to the public. Restaurateur Maneesh Goyal on Tuesday shared pictures of a 'puja' ceremony that was conducted ahead of the restaurant's launch.

Conducting a 'puja' was very important for Priyanka Chopra.

Last week, Priyanka had shared a glimpse of the restaurant's interiors, after its official website was launched. Sona is an Indian restaurant that Priyanka described as 'the very embodiment of timeless India and the flavours (she) grew up with'.

In his Instagram post, Maneesh shared pictures of the 'puja', one of which showed Priyanka, her husband Nick Jonas, and others participating in the ceremony, presumably at a different time. He wrote in his caption, "This morning at SONA, we conducted a small puja or blessing ceremony. We’ll be seeing our first guests very soon and it was important to both @priyankachopra and myself that we hold a puja before our doors are officially open. It was so special to gather in this way. Friends & supporters of @sonanewyork from India to London to California joined in."

He continued, "This morning’s ceremony was especially poignant since, in September 2019, we did a similar ceremony to bless the space while it was raw—before we started any construction at all. At that time, we thought we’d be open by the Summer of 2020. Of course, we had no idea what 2020 had in store for us. I give that first blessing a lot of credit for seeing us through…and guiding us as we fought to keep our project alive. And now, a year and half after that first puja, SONA is ready. I am so grateful for all the blessings we have received. Here we go!"

The restaurant's official Instagram account announced that it would open its doors to patrons 'this week'. More videos from the ceremony were shared on the restaurant's account.