Our Prayer Room

Today I went where I had not been before....into unchartered territory. I am talking about our prayer room.


You may have realized that till now, many posts and pics of my home never included our prayer room. The only reason being that it used to be my FIL's domain, his Sanctum Sanctorum, where he spent many many hours praying for the welfare of his children, grandchildren and all our relatives. He got great satisfaction and peace of mind from doing so. He had his specific routine.....morning and evening were when he worshipped for a long time, but throughout the day he would pop in and out of it for small bursts of prayer. So out of respect for this, I refrained from intruding and trying to take arty shots of this very private room. It was his space...he was in charge of it. Everyday he would take a damp cloth and wipe all surfaces down before beginning his rituals. He spent hours distributing the flowers from the garden among the various Gods. Maybe his favorite Gods got the bigger fragrant flowers?


He bought all the various "puja" or prayer items....vermillion powder and sandal paste, "vibhuti" or sacred ash, incense sticks, cotton wicks, oils, lamps, and assorted other paraphernilia. Over the years he had collected religious posters, framed pictures, idols and statues, prayer beads and "rudrakshas" on the religious pilgrimages he took every year. And each time he came back after these trips, my husband and I would help him hang them up, or nail them to the wall, or place them on a shelf....whichever way and wherever he wanted. This wasn't the time or place for design rules to override deep religious faith!


Right up until his stroke last May, he did this....his frail body bent low over the shrine to clean the platform, his gaunt bony soft fingers separating the cotton wicks, lighting the lamp, adorning the idols with red "kum kum" and sandal paste!


But since last May, this prayer room had been sadly neglected. All he could do after his stroke, was sit on a chair outside and get solace from just seeing the room and the idols in a hazy blur. And after he passed away in February, the room has never been used. I'll be honest...I am not religious. I never went in, my role was just to make sure it got swept and mopped everyday. But over the past few days I have been giving it occasional glances, feeling like I ought to go in and do something...just out of respect for him. He would have liked it. For as long as I knew him, he never compelled me to participate, but was always happy when I did. And so today I did.....!


I picked flowers, I wiped, I cleaned, I polished...and I realized why he found it such a peaceful place. With the curtains drawn behind, you're shut away from the hustle and bustle of the outside world...annoying doorbells, traffic noise, cooking smells, yelling from roadside brawls and so on. Even a complete atheist like me found peace and quiet sitting on the prayer rug surrounded by all the Gods and Goddesses watching me. And so today I promised myself (and him) that I would go in every so often and if not pray, keep it neat and tidy with fresh flowers and incense......! This is the least I can do.


So here, for the first time to share with you all....is our prayer room, my FIL's temple in the house!

The room

Close up of the mandap/dais...pasted with patterns of Rangoli

Brass accessories .....a bell, a lamp, and some silver slippers of a God

 His mortar and pestle...a stone mortar and a sandalwood pestle, which when wet and ground against the stone made sandalwood paste, used to anoint the idols

Cotton wicks and incense burners......

 I was so touched to find he had kept this disfigured mud Ganesha (elephant God).....my first attempt at making something with clay 3 years ago. I remember saying how badly it was made, and he kept saying it was wonderful for a first attempt!

 All the prayer beads he had collected draped over the top of the "mandap"

 A brass "Aum" and flowers

Little knick knacks.....

 His "vibhuti/sacred ash" holder

The shelf my husband put up for him, so he could line up all the smaller idols......

If he's watching from above, I know he'll be happy!