# DEITY WORSHIP ## The Necessity of Deity Worship ![[letters/1968/680616_satsvarupa|all such misgivings and even imperceptibly we commit some mistake, He will forgive us.]] —Satsvarupa, 16 June, 1968 --- ![[letters/1968/680919_hansadutta|worship should be practiced by everyone. That cleanses the contaminated body very nicely.]] —* SPL to Hamsaduta, 19 September, 1968 --- ![[letters/1968/681007_hayagriva|I am sure this process, helped by your regular chanting, will kill Mr. Lust, rest assured.]] —Hayagriva, 7 October, 1968 --- ![[letters/1968/681108_hayagriva|“The Deity worship must be continued by everyone. Another secret of success is that when one is very much sexually disturbed, he should think of Lord]] —Hayagriva, 8 November, 1968 --- ![[letters/1968/681214_jadurani|“Deity worship is for such persons who have ample time. The thing is, Deity worship is compulsory, and you can increase if you have got time to do so.]] —Jadurani, 14 December, 1968 --- ![[letters/1968/681227_satyabhama|“... the way of increasing our love of Godhead. Deity worship is the practical demonstration and hearing from the spiritual master is the nourishment of the idea.]] —Satyabhama, 27 December, 1968 --- ![[letters/1970/700410_yamuna|“I hope you are taking care of the Deities with greater attention and teaching your younger Godbrothers and sisters to follow the arcana vidhi. As we open many branches, we shall require many devotees like you to take care of the Deities very nicely.]] —Yamuna, 10 April, 1970 --- ![[letters/1971/711104_visnujana_dasa_maharaja|“For spiritual life chanting Hare Krsna is sufficient but because we are habituated to unclean habits we must have temple worship. Sankirtana will keep everyone's mind clean and surely this quarreling will cease.]] —Visnujana dasa Maharaja, 4 November, 1971 --- ![[letters/1971/711117_himavati|because you are so determined to become fully Krsna conscious, Krsna has given you this opportunity to realize that aim by serving Him directly.]] —Himavati, 17 November, 1971 --- ![[letters/1971/711117_himavati|I think you are the most clever manager, better than your husband, because you are organizing temple routine very nicely for serving the Deities and this will have very good results for everyone.”]] —Himavati, 17 November, 1971 --- ![[letters/1972/720730_arundhati|“I am simply surprised that you want to give up your child to some other persons, even they are also devotees. For you, child-worship is more important than Deity-worship.]] —Arundhati, 30 July, 1972 --- ![[letters/1973/731125_damodara_dasa_prabhu|“I am always very much encouraged when senior devotees like yourself and Rupanuga Maharaja are tending to Their Lordships. This gives me assurity that our high standard will continue. Thank you very much for this, I am sure that Krsna will give yo...]] —Damodara dasa Prabhu, 25 November, 1973 --- ![[letters/1974/741007_gargamuni_swami|We have also established worship of the Deity in our temple so that]] —Vajresvari devi, 7 October, 1974 --- ![[letters/1974/741103_bijay_kumar_kannungo|Krsna consciousness by this worship of the Deity. This is the practical application to what we find stated in the Bhagavad-gita: mana-mana bhava mad-bhakto, mad-yaji mam namaskuru.]] —Lilasakti devi dasi, 3 November, 1974 --- ![[letters/1976/760129_karandhara|“In India the system is that people go to see the Jagannatha Deity. The Deity is not very beautiful from the artistic point of view, but still people attend by the thousands. That sentiment is required.]] —Dr. Wolf, 29 January, 1976 --- ## The Result of Performing Deity Worship ![[letters/1968/680601_upendra|The more you make the Deity of Jagannatha attractively dressed, the more you shall become spiritually attractive]] —Upendra, 1 June, 1968 --- ![[letters/1968/680915_brahmananda|Generally in the conditioned state we are contaminated. But this worshiping system called arcana-vidhi cleanses the polluted heart]] —Brahmananda, 15 September, 1968 --- ![[letters/1968/680922_kirtanananda|the more we are engaged in decorating the Deities, washing the room, the more we are engaged in Deity worship the more we become purified. That is practical.]] —Kīrtanānanda, 22 September, 1968 --- ![[letters/1968/681022_kirtanananda|Decorate the Deity as nicely as possible with nice flowers and dress. You will forget all other false beauty.]] —Kīrtanānanda, 22 October, 1968 --- ![[letters/1969/690118_satsvarupa|“I am glad to hear you that you are helping out in tending the Deities. This is very spiritually beneficial engagement, and along with chanting the required number of rounds of Hare Krsna, Krsna is sure to give you all facilities to perfect your l...]] —Syama dasi, 18 January, 1969 --- ![[letters/1969/690318_himavati|If one attains perfection in Deity worship, that is called arcana-siddhi. Arcana-siddhi means simply by Deity worship one goes back to Godhead immediately after this life.]] —Himavati, 18 March, 1969 --- ![[letters/1969/691027_upendra|“I am pleased also that you are decorating your temple nicely, and the more you decorate the temple beautifully the more your heart]] —Upendra, 27 October, 1969 --- ![[letters/1970/700306_vasudeva|“I am also very pleased to learn that the Deities are now receiving proper service and you are developing a great love for Them. Please continue your sincere service with even greater vigor, and your love will grow increasingly more.]] —Vasudeva, 6 March, 1970 --- ![[letters/1970/700426_himavati|Your first business is to take care of the Deities. Practically you see that everyone is appreciating your Deity worship and Srimati Radharani is smiling,]] —Himavati, 26 April, 1970 --- ![[letters/1970/700527_tamala_krsna|will certify our service unto the Lord. So everywhere we shall see the Deities in such a pleasing mood. As soon as we see the Deities in a different mood we must immediately understand our discrepancies.]] —Tamala, 27 May, 1970 --- ![[letters/1970/700726_yamuna|letter praising your decoration of the Deities. The exact words he has used is that one cannot turn his face once turning towards the Deities.]] —Yamuna, 26 July, 1970 --- ![[letters/1970/701113_karandharaa|will be radiant, it means that the service is going on nicely.]] —Karandhara, 13 November, 1970 --- ![[letters/1971/710615_citralekha|will be beautiful and you will understand Krsna consciousness very distinctly.]] —Citralekha, 15 June, 1971 --- ![[letters/1971/711117_himavati|“If one simply deposits all of his or her loving propensity onto the Deity of Krsna, immediately they are relieved of anxiety due to material sense agitation. This is Krsna consciousness.”]] —Himavati, 17 November, 1971 --- ![[letters/1971/711117_himavati|. It is the sole aim of life to be constantly absorbed in thoughts about Radharani and Krsna, and because you are so determined to become fully Krsna conscious, Krsna has given you this opportunity to realize that aim by serving Him directly.]] —Himavati, 17 November, 1971 --- ![[letters/1972/720621_giriraja|Encourage her to attend the meetings every day, and if you make the Deity worship very, very opulent and gorgeous, she]] —Giriraja, 21 June, 1972 --- ![[letters/1972/720625_kirtanananda|“Your proposal is very nice to make the atmosphere of the Deities very, very opulent, and the temple must be kept always very nice. That]] —Kīrtanānanda, 25 June, 1972 --- ![[letters/1972/720902_lalitananda|“Yes, God is always there in His arca-vigraha form, either as Krsna or Rama or Caitanya, whatever. So He must be offered all respects as if He is there personally present, and if you are always sincerely chanting and following our Krsna consciousn...]] —Lalitananda, 2 September, 1972 --- ![[letters/1972/721231_bali-mardana-mardana-mardana|We may spend anything and everything for the Deity, as long as there is no scarcity, and by that lavish spending to glorify Radha and Krsna, They will become very much pleased upon you and bless you more and more.]] —Bali Mardan, 31 December, 1972 --- ![[letters/1973/730304_trai|brahmanas, that is very good, now engage all of them so that everyone becomes expert. By nicely worshiping the Deities we can be so pure in condition of health, mind and intelligence.”]] —Bhakta dasa, 4 March, 1973 --- ![[letters/1974/740605_nrsimha_caitanya|So, although your temple may not be one of the largest you are excelling in Deity worship. If you can maintain and increase this standard, everything will come successfully.”]] —Nrsimha Caitanya, 5 June, 1974 --- ![[letters/1974/740610_ravindra_svarupa|“I want to thank you a hundred times for the excellent way you are worshiping the Deity there as I can see from the color photographs you have sent.]] —Ravindra Svarupa, 10 June, 1974 --- ![[letters/1974/740726_hladini|I can see that you are very nicely taking care of the Deities, and this is much appreciated by me. Now you stick to this process of worship of the Deity and you will advance more and more]] —Hladini, 26 July, 1974 --- ![[letters/1974/741006_madhavananda|“From the pictures it appears that the Deity worship is going on very nicely. Krsna is very satisfied by His face. He looks very healthy. He is very fond of milk and butter. He is a butter thief. You have now got cows, so offer nicely. I have aske...]] —Madhavananda dasa, 6 October, 1974 --- ![[letters/1975/751110_bahudak|Everything is very bright and brilliant. The Deity is proof of the sincere service. It is the duty of the GBC now to maintain this. Their duty is how to enthuse them and maintain.”]] —Madhudvisa Swami, 10 November, 1975 --- ![[letters/1976/760708_balavanta|“The enclosed photo of the Mississippi farm Deities is very nice, super excellent. The Deity must be very nicely worshiped, dressed, and fed, etc. In so doing you will always be peaceful and enlivened.”]] —Balavanta, 8 July, 1976 --- ![[letters/1976/760711_bishambhar|“I am in due receipt of your letter dated June 26th, 1976 with enclosed photos of the New Delhi temple. So many people are coming to the New Delhi temple because of the nice Deity worship. This is very good. Keep the standard of Deity worship very...]] —Gopala Kṛṣṇa dasa, 11 July, 1976 --- ## Acquiring and Repairing Deities ![[letters/1968/680122_hansadutta|“I quite approve your plan for manufacturing Jagannathas and do some profit out of it for maintenance of our temple.”]] —Hamsaduta 22nd, January, 1968 --- ![[letters/1968/680220_brahmananda|But if this boy is actually a sculptor, he may immediately begin to carve one Radha-Krsna sri murti in wood 24” high.]] —Brahmananda, 20 February, 1968 --- ![[letters/1968/680226_brahmananda|Please find out if this boy Bob has got any knowledge or experience of casting or any such equipment. I want to make one hundred murtis, probably in hard rubber, for our temples.]] —Brahmananda, 26 February, 1968 --- ![[letters/1968/680303_hansadutta_himavati|am also very happy to learn you are a sculpture student; at the present time, I am trying to carve out of wood Sri Radha and Krsna murthi. If you can carve out these Deities, it will be very nice.”]] —Michael O'Leary, 3 March, 1968 --- ![[letters/1968/680313_aniruddha|“Regarding the casting of Sri Radha and Krsna: as soon as the statues are finished, I shall send it for casting, at least one pair. And as soon as you receive these statues, please do the needful.”]] —Aniruddha, 13 March, 1968 --- ![[letters/1968/680807_nathan_baruch|“If you can carve Radha and Krsna murti very nicely, it will be a great service to the Society.]] —Nathan Baruch, 7 August, 1968 --- ![[letters/1968/681101_satsvarupa_jadurani|So far casting in metal or in any other solid material is concerned, if she is able to do it, let her do the job in casting]] —Jadurani, 1 November, 1968 --- ![[letters/1968/681126_upendra|“Also, your carving and painting Lord Jagannatha Deities is very nice; we shall require such Deities in all of our temples.”]] —Candrava1i, 26 November, 1968 --- ![[letters/1968/681224_yamuna|“So far as having the Radha-Krsna murtis carved for Rs. 1,000/-, it is too costly. Continue to negotiate with Jaya Govinda on this matter. Here in Los Angeles, one boy, Nara-Narayana, is planning to attempt murtis in bronze but I do not know that ...]] —Yamuna, December, 1968 --- ![[letters/1969/690123_cidananda|“Regarding casting of Radha and Krsna Deities, I have already instructed you about casting in plaster of Paris. The whole thing is that we wish to have these Deities nicely done]] —Nara-Narayana, 23 January, 1969 --- ![[letters/1969/690207_murari|In New York, Nara-Narayana is going to try again to have brass Deities made from the mold made from the Deities in New York.]] —Murari, 7 February, 1969 --- ![[letters/1969/690715_syamasundara|For Lord Caitanya yellowish marble or white marble should be used. If yellowish golden colored marble is available, that is very nice.]] —Syamasundara, 15 July, 1969 --- ![[letters/1970/700122_rukmini|“Regarding Srimathi Subhadra, the old Deity should not be repaired, but a new Deity should be carved and installed. The old Deity may be wrapped up in some cloth, tied up and weighted with stones, then put in the river. This is the procedure to be...]] —Rukmini, 22 January, 1970 --- ![[letters/1970/701219_naranarayana_and_dinadayadri|“So far as your casting of murtis there during the winter months, that sounds very nice. If you could produce plaster murtis of Lord Caitanya the same size in height as Kartamasi murtis you produced earlier, that would be very nice”]] —Nara-Narayana and Dinadayadri, 19 December, 1970 --- ![[letters/1971/710528_govinda_dasi|“I am so glad to note that Sri Gaura-Nitai Deities are already finished. The color is molten gold or bright yellow resembling golden color but don't apply gold paint. The eyes should be nicely painted. You have got the idea. You have seen many pic...]] —Govinda dasi, 28 May, 1971 --- ![[letters/1971/710805_sri_govinda|All our Jagannatha Deities are locally carved. Any boy who knows carving can carve Jagannatha.]] —Sri Govinda dasa, 5 August, 1971 --- ![[letters/1972/720228_satyabhama|“So far your Jagannatha Deities which have become badly cracked, it is better to replace Them, but if that is not possible then you may repair.”]] —Satyabhama, 28 February, 1972 --- ![[letters/1973/730614_kirtanananda|“The Deities may be immediately repaired and worshiped. Now we must take precaution as you have suggested. You may get some guns and some of the boys may be trained as ksatriyas.]] —Kīrtanānanda Maharaja, 14 June, 1973 --- ![[letters/1974/740105_dhananjaya|“As for Italian marble, if it is cheaper there, why not? Italian marble is known to be very good. I am sending you a photo of the LA Deities. Ask a cost estimation for Deities 40” high and then we can consider. Krsna may be black or white. Radhara...]] —Dhananjaya, 5 January, 1974 --- ![[letters/1974/740509_manager_of_liberty_bank|“Yes, there is no objection to your casting clay forms of Deities into plaster. I understand you are a nice artist in this medium, so make Deities of Gaura-Nitai and send me photographs of the forms. We can discuss this further when I come to Paris.”]] —Madhava devi, 9 May, 1974 --- ![[letters/1975/750101_visalini|“Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated December 12th, 1974 and have noted the contents. You can work on the hair sets while the Deities are taking rest.”]] —Visalini devi, 1 January, 1975 --- ![[letters/1975/750531_hansadutta|“I saw one photo there of Baradraja's doll studio along with the others. You can tell him that we want many Panca-tattva Deities made out of cement or plaster of Paris. They can be made the same size as the LA Gaura-Nitai Deities.”]] —Kalacanda dasa, 31 May, 1975 --- ![[letters/1975/750804_gopala_krsna|“Regarding Adelaide, unless you are sure that the Deity worship will go on nicely, do not install the Deity. Simply have kirtana and keep the Panca-tattva picture, that's all. What are the ingredients of the Lord Caitanya murti? Metal or wood is b...]] —Madhudvisa Swami, 4 August, 1975 --- ![[letters/1975/751127_brsni_prabhu|Better you carve Them from wood. In India the carvers have always used a wood bitter in taste, this keeps the worms from eating it, best is nim wood]] —Brsni dasa, 27 November, 1975 --- ![[letters/1976/761004_balavanta|“Regarding the Lord Jagannatha Deities, if They cannot be worshiped, They should be thrown in the sea.”]] —Balavanta dasa, 4 October, 1976 --- ![[letters/1977/770501_hari-sauri-sauri-sauri|“Regarding the idea of getting 36” nim wood Gaura-Nitai from Calcutta, that is very good. Or if somebody can carve Them locally, that will also be very nice.”]] —Hari-sauri dasa, 1 May, 1977 --- ## Deity Installation ![[letters/1969/690212_satsvarupa|“Regarding your idea of having an installation ceremony for the Deities, it is a very good suggestion, and you may also have the sacrificial fire. The Deities should be bathed with milk,]] —Satsvarupa, 12 February, 1969 --- ![[letters/1969/690805_yamuna|I go there I shall install Them and teach you how to do everything nicely. In the meantime you should not tend these Deities,]] —Yamuna, 5 August, 1969 --- ![[letters/1969/690905_dr._syama_sundardas_brahmacari._syama_sundardas_brahmacari._syama_sundardas_brahmacari|unfortunately you have only one year's lease, so how can you install a life-size Deity there? Therefore, for the time being to install a life-size Deity may not be feasible.]] —Hamsaduta, 5 September, 1969 --- ![[letters/1969/691102_hayagriva_vamanadeva_pradyumna|“You have sent me one plan for constructing a dais for the Deities in which you have placed Radha-Krsna under Lord Jagannatha. Instead of putting it like this, you put Lord Caitanya's sankirtana picture underneath Lord Jagannatha, and make a separ...]] —Hamsaduta, 2 November, 1969 --- ![[letters/1969/691111_srimati|“Regarding worshiping uninstalled Deities, generally this is not done. But you can do aratis with Lord Jagannatha. He is very kind. I hope you are all chanting regularly and keeping in good spirits.”]] —Srimati, 11 November, 1969 --- ![[letters/1969/691209_govinda|will be to install Them in that permanent place. It doesn't matter if it is on rent or purchased; but we must be confident that there]] —Govinda dasi, 9 December, 1969 --- ![[letters/1970/700613_revatinandana|When the Deity is installed it is called niyama-seva. That means the routine seva prescribed after installation you cannot stop.]] —Revatinandana, 13 June, 1970 --- ![[letters/1970/700622_hansadutta|acarya pictures. Unless we have got sufficient experienced devotees we shall not install]] —Hamsaduta, 22 June, 1970 --- ![[letters/1970/700701_damodaraa|If there is scarcity of such qualifies pujaris, each center should be satisfied only by worshiping Panca-tattva of Lord Caitanya by performance of sankirtana.”]] —Damodara, 1 July, 1970 --- ![[letters/1971/710902_sivananda|Deity installation means regular worship without fail and for good.]] —Sivananda, 2 September, 1971 --- ![[letters/1972/720503_rupanuga|Rukmini devi wants to install Caitanya Mahaprabhu, so Caitanya Mahaprabhu can be installed on the right side of Krsna, as you have seen in pictures from our Gaudiya Matha temples.]] —Rupanuga, 3 May, 1972 --- ![[letters/1972/720902_lalitananda|I have no objection if there is carved form of guru on the Guru-Gauranga altar, but one thing is unless that sculptor is very excellent, it should not be attempted.]] —Lalitananda, 2 September, 1972 --- ![[letters/1973/730221_karandhara|“Regarding the installation of Gaura-Nitai Deities, whether it be a GBC man, president, or sannyasi it does not matter. The important thing is that he be a senior qualified man. That is the most important thing.”]] —Karandhara, 21 February, 1973 --- ![[letters/1973/730311_govinda|“Gaura-Nitai Deities may be approved and ordered by the local temple presidents with consultation of the GBC. There should be at least three or four brahmanas available. So there is no need to delay any shipments if these qualifications are met.”]] —Govinda dasi, 11 March, 1973 --- ![[letters/1973/730331_karandhara|“There is no need of adding further Deities. Once installed it cannot be changed. Do not make it childish, too much addition of Deities will encumber us.]] —Karandhara, 31 March, 1973 --- ![[letters/1973/731013_mohanananda|“Regarding the Salagrama Sila, it will be installed along with the other Deities. I shall advise you. I am planning to come to Nairobi on the 19th or 20th of November for your installation program and remain there up to the end of the month when I...]] —Cyavana Swami, 13 October, 1973 --- ![[letters/1973/731211_mahendra|“You should not install the Deities until you have a complete program to see that regulated worship may go on nicely. Until then, simply worship Guru and Gauranga in pictures.”]] —Mahendra, 11 December, 1973 --- ![[letters/1974/740413_vrindaban|“There is no question of installing more than one set of Radha-Krsna Deities. The smaller set of Radha-Krsna Deities may be set on the altar at the feet of the larger ones, as you describe. Until They are not installed.”]] —Bhakta dasa, 13 April, 1974 --- ![[letters/1974/740701_gurudasa]] —Gurudasa, 1 July, 1974 --- ![[letters/1974/740907_batu_gopala|without twenty devotees how you can have Deities? Your men are coming and going so why you are having Deity installation? You must have twenty devotees.]] —Batu Gopala dasa, 7 September, 1974 --- ![[letters/1974/740908_sarvabhauma_putanara_gandharvi|“There in the temple they have got now Jagannatha Deities so let them worship and do it nicely. When you have got practice and twelve brahmana devotees then Radha-Krsna can be installed.”]] —Ksirodakasayi dasa, 8 September, 1974 --- ![[letters/1974/741202_madhudvisa|very good that the Deity is facing East. Yes, the room above the Deity should be kept vacant.]] —Madhudvisa Swami, 2 December, 1974 --- ![[letters/1975/750206_brahmananda|“Regarding your purchasing marble Gaura-Nitai Deities, it is not necessary when you already have brass ones. Simply take care of the ones that you have very nicely. There is no need for buying others.”]] —Sri Govinda dasa, 6 February, 1975 --- ![[letters/1975/750821_rupanuga|“Regarding your questions, no, the large Deity can never be moved, not at all.”]] —Rupanuga dasa, 21 August, 1975 --- ![[letters/1975/750929_gargamuni|installing Deity should be postponed. Do not install, unless we have got our own building and the large Deities. And the Nrsimha Deity should be installed only in a separate temple building. The Deity must have its own temple]] —Hamsaduta dasa, 29 September, 1975 --- ![[letters/1975/751022_tulsi|“You have my consent to go ahead with your plan of pratistha for Sri Sri Radha Krsna arca-vigraha. You may call Them Radha-Banabihari.]] —Yamuna devi dasi, 22 October, 1975 --- ![[letters/1975/751110_bahudak|and I pray to Krsna that, ’I am inviting You to come, so please, because You are seated in their hearts, please give them the intelligence how to serve You so that You may not be inconvenienced.’]] —Jayatirtha dasa and Manjuali dasi, 10 November, 1975 --- ![[letters/1976/760107_madhudvisa|Now you have got Gaura-Nitai Deities so you can go ahead and get Prabhupada and Bhaktisiddhanta Deities immediately. Guru and Gauranga worship is standard for all our temples.”]] —Brsakapi, 7 January, 1976 --- ![[letters/1976/760129_karandhara|So the installation ceremony for such a murti should be similar to that done for other Deities. All temples can have this Deity if they like. But temples which have only]] —Karandhara, 29 January, 1976 --- ![[letters/1976/760421_puranjana|Gaura-Nitai can be established anywhere, and it is simple to worship Them. Simply chant before Their Lordships. He doesn't mind that you have not decorated very nicely, but if you chant and dance, He is very pleased.”]] —Madhudvisa Maharaja, 21 April, 1976 --- ![[letters/1976/760509_trivikrama|in the Hawaii temple, the old set of Panca-tattva Deities may be given to Govinda dasi.]] —temple president and GBC for Hawaii, 9 May, 1976 --- ![[letters/1976/760612_mahamsa|“Concerning the installation ceremonies, it is approved that you get some leading Ramanuja pandits from South India. The Vrndavana pandits were useless. But one thing. Along with the pandits, our men should also join in.”]] —Mahamsa Maharaja, 12 June, 1976 --- ![[letters/1976/761014_sriman_bajaji|“Do not install Gaura-Nitai Deities until sufficient men are there to take proper care of Them.”]] —Yasomatinandana Prabhu, 14 October, 1976 --- ![[letters/1977/770104_balavanta|“When the property is secured, then you can install the Deities. Otherwise, don't take the risk.”]] —Balavanta, 4 January, 1977 --- ![[letters/1977/770113_sudama]] —Sudama, 13 January, 1977 --- ## Cleanliness and Punctuality Standards ![[letters/1969/690220_satsvarupa]] —Satsvarupa, 20 February, 1969 --- ![[letters/1969/690221_hansadutta|“So far as bowing down in Deity worship, before opening the door you should bow down. Then turn on the light and bow down again. There is no restriction on bowing down.]] —Hamsaduta, 21 February, 1969 --- ![[letters/1969/690903_gopala_krsna|when the Deities are installed in the temple, you have to take personal care. Deity worship is very regulative. You have to follow the regulative principles very rigidly.]] —Gopala Kṛṣṇa, 3 September, 1969 --- ![[letters/1969/691120_gaurasundara|Radha-Krsna seva should be done very nicely, and all the members should always be cleansed.]] —Gaurasundara, 20 November, 1969 --- ![[letters/1970/700116_yamuna|“If prasadam is to be honored in the temple room, the curtains may be drawn before the Deities, while the devotees are taking prasadam. The best arrangement is to honor prasadam in a separate room for the purpose, if possible.”]] —Yamuna, 16 January, 1970 --- ![[letters/1970/700124_brahmananda|“Regarding Deity worship, I am very much anxious to know how things are going on, who is taking care of the Deities, whether regular performances are being executed etc. I hesitated to install the Deities when I was in Germany on this account. Any...]] —Kṛṣṇa dasa, 24 January, 1970 --- ![[letters/1970/700227_jagadisa|“There is no harm if the devotees chant in the temple during the time when the Deities are resting. You may have heard that here at LA temple they are holding kirtana and chanting twenty four hours in the temple, and the program is very encouragin...]] —Jagadisa, 27 February, 1970 --- ![[letters/1970/700320_rukmini|The idea is summit cleanliness—that will satisfy Krsna.”]] —Rukmini, 20 March, 1970 --- ![[letters/1970/700417_jayapataka|“To make noise in front of the Deity means talking nonsense or indulging in useless topics of conversation. Chanting of Hare Krsna]] —Jayapataka, 17 April, 1970 --- ![[letters/1970/700420_kancanbala|We shall touch the Deity altar and Deity in very clean condition, after taking bath and washing mouth nicely. Practice washing hands after eating and wash with soap and water after toilet. Cleanliness is next to godliness, so this point should be ...]] —Kancanbala, April, 1970 --- ![[letters/1970/700613_revatinandana|When the Deity is installed it is called niyama-seva. That means the routine seva prescribed after installation you cannot stop.]] —Revatinandana, 13 June, 1970 --- ![[letters/1970/700622_hansadutta|“I am so glad to know that Himavati is taking such nice care of the Deities. I have seen the pictures. It is far improved than before. The more you keep the Deity room and paraphernalia clean, the more your heart becomes cleansed from dirty things.”]] —Hamsaduta, 22 June, 1970 --- ![[letters/1970/700726_yamuna|There is no matter if there is a little change here and there—the real duty is love and devotion.]] —Yamuna, 26 July, 1970 --- ![[letters/1970/700919_karandhara|Irregularity in worshiping Guru and Gauranga can be tolerated, as They are always kind and forgiving, but irregularity in worshiping Lord Jagannatha and Sri Sri Radha-Krsna is not good.”]] —Karandhara, 19 September, 1970 --- ![[letters/1970/701109_tulasi_das|“Please see that the schedule of offering is done regularly without any break. To worship the Deity or to worship Panca-tattva means that there can be no upsetting of the schedule of offerings]] —Tulasi dasa, 9 November, 1970 --- ![[letters/1970/701113_karandharaa|“The Deity worship should be done just in the way it was carried out in my presence. You should see that such a high standard is maintained and that there are no irregularities. Irregularity means breaking the schedule. As you have mentioned those...]] —Karandhara, 13 November, 1970 --- ![[letters/1970/701229_hladinidevi|“Proper Deity worship, with all attention to cleanliness, is of the utmost importance. If you can please the Deity by your sincere service, then your temple will flourish. To be able to personally serve the Deity is a great privilege and such a pe...]] —Hladinidevi, 29 December, 1970 --- ![[letters/1971/710831_ekayani|“Some precautionary measure should be taken to keep bugs from the altar and Deity. You cannot allow them to disturb the Deity. Best is that you try and catch them and throw them out rather than kill them, but if killing them is the only alternativ...]] —Ekayani, 31 August, 1971 --- ![[letters/1971/711117_himavati|“I have always instructed that the standard of arcana worship must be kept very high, because this will insure that every other temple activity will also flourish. So I am relieved to know that now the Deities are in your care. Thank you for this.”]] —Himavati, 17 November, 1971 --- ![[letters/1971/711118_badrnarayana_dasa|the standard of Deity worship must be kept very high in all our ISKCON centers. There should be no question of decrease, only how to increase in the quality and opulence of our arcana offering.]] —Badrnarayana dasa, 18 November, 1971 --- ![[letters/1971/711206_mohanananda|“... our standard of Deity worship must be kept very high. Los Angeles is the standard, so you must make arrangements like that as far as possible.”]] —Mohanananda, 6 December, 1971 --- ![[letters/1971/711209_jayatirtha|“I am very glad the Deity worship is going so nicely. They look very glowing, and that is very satisfying to me. “When I shall go to Los Angeles very soon, I shall take transcendental pleasure in offering my obeisances to Them.”]] —Jayatirtha, 9 9, 1971 --- ![[letters/1972/720216_abhirama|this Deity worship is a very serious program, and it must be kept to the utmost highest standard and never allowed to be neglected.]] —Abhirama, 16 February, 1972 --- ![[letters/1972/720219_upendra|We should not try to diminish our standard of Deity worship once it has reached a certain program, and it is especially nice to wake up Radha and Krsna with full arati with everyone dancing,]] —Upendra, 19 February, 1972 --- ![[letters/1972/720402_labangalatika|Always remember that, cleanliness and promptness are two very important requirements in Diety worship.”]] —Labangalatika, 2 April, 1972 --- ![[letters/1973/730131_sri_govinda|the Deity worship must be completely pure in terms of cleanliness and punctuality, otherwise]] —Sri Govinda dasa, 31 January, 1973 --- ![[letters/1973/730217_govinda|We must be very, very careful as to not commit offenses in worshiping the Deities, so therefore there must be sufficient facilities and brahmanas to worship the Deity.”]] —Govinda dasi, 17 February, 1973 --- ![[letters/1973/731012_ramesvara|“Wherever there are Deities there must be first-class care, arati, bhoga, cleanliness, dressing, regular classes. If this is not possible, then better to travel.”]] —Hamsaduta, 12 October, 1973 --- ![[letters/1974/740510_jagadisa|“You are right when you say Deity worship must be maintained. This is most important. I know Nandarani is expert in Deity care but I think she is working with the children. Your wife is also expert, so she can maintain the sewing and Deity worship...]] —Jagadisa, 10 May, 1974 --- ![[letters/1974/740516_bhimadas|“I have seen films of the Deity worship in Nairobi and it is very gorgeous. Proper Deity worship means to be clean, punctually and nice offerings of foodstuffs. Brahmananda Swami can teach you these things.”]] —Bhimadas, 16 16, 1974 --- ![[letters/1974/740610_ravindra_svarupa|“I want to thank you a hundred times for the excellent way you are worshiping the Deity there as I can see from the color photographs you have sent. From my very childhood I was also worshiping Lord Jagannatha]] —Ravindra Svarupa, 10 June, 1974 --- ![[letters/1974/740813_madhudvisa|According to the smarta-vidhi, women cannot touch Deity during menstrual period but the gosvami-vidhi allows. But it is better not to do it. One thing is that the seva can never be stopped for any reason. This also for the cooking.”]] —Amsu dasa, 13 August, 1974 --- ![[letters/1974/741219_bahudak|You should make sure that there is nice fresh clean dress every morning, nice bathing ceremony every morning, nice offerings of prasadam. You should see that the Deity is tended for and cooked for only]] —Bahudaka, 19 December, 1974 --- ![[letters/1974/741228_kurusrestha|service to your Deities will go on very nicely. You should make it first-class, just like in our Los Angeles and New Vrndavana centers.]] —Kurusrestha, 28 December, 1974 --- ![[letters/1974/741228_jagadisa|Deities are satisfied with bhakti not marble. Therefore try to increase the bhakti.”]] —Jagadisa, 28 December, 1974 --- ![[letters/1975/750531_hansadutta|“Actually, one should not circumambulate when the Deity is open. It is stated in The Nectar of Devotion. I think you can close the doors to the Deity room during Tulasi puja and then open them again afterwards.”]] —Kīrtanānanda Swami, 31 May, 1975 --- ![[letters/1975/750623_laksmimoni|“Generally it is not good for the women with babies to worship the Deity, because a baby means uncleanliness. You have to touch the baby and there is so much dirtiness, so how can you remain sanctified? But if you are doing it nicely, then it is o...]] —Laksmimoni, 23 June, 1975 --- ![[letters/1975/750929_gargamuni|“Only on Sunday can you keep the Deity curtains open throughout the afternoon.”]] —Hamsaduta dasa, 29 September, 1975 --- ![[letters/1976/760504_nityananda|Don't manufacture ideas. What is standard you must follow. Don't make it a farce.”]] —Nityananda, 4 May, 1976 --- ![[letters/1977/770429_brahmananda|“Why do these life members not come on time to see the Deity? Yes, in special cases you can open the curtain for a moment. But they should be instructed next time to come at the correct time to properly respect the Deity. The best thing will be if...]] —Brahmananda, 29 April, 1977 --- ## Dressing, Bathing, Decorating, and Worshiping ![[letters/1967/671207_brahmananda|“Regarding beautifying the temple, we should always know that every place is temporary, but wherever we live we should decorate and beautify it for Krsna, so go on decorating our temple as nicely as possible.”]] —Brahmananda, 7 December, 1967 --- ![[letters/1968/680124_madhusudana|“You do not need to lay down Lord Jagannatha on a bed, by mantra you say, ’My dear Lord, please take rest.’ In temples, there are two sets of Deities, the big set is always on the throne and the smaller set is handled, taken out for a stroll, laid...]] —Rupanuga, January, 1968 --- ![[letters/1970/700210_ekayani|So far putting kohl on the eyes of the Deities that is not required.”]] —Ekayani, 10 February, 1970 --- ![[letters/1968/680607_yamuna|maya. Then it will be successful and actually, this is the process of decorating Jagannatha.]] —Yamuna, June, 1968 --- ![[letters/1968/680824_nandarani]] —Dayananda and Nandarani, 24 August, 1968 --- ![[letters/1968/681114_satsvarupa|He is Krsna. And from our side, if we nicely dress Krsna and nicely feed Him, He is appreciating our service and we are certainly benefited]] —Satsvarupa, 14 November, 1968 --- ![[letters/1968/681121_joy_fulcher|Harsarani, who I understand is cooking very nicely for the love feast. She is a nice decorator of the Deity and a nice cook also for preparing Krsna prasadam.”]] —Joy Fulcher, 21 November, 1968 --- ![[letters/1968/681130_himavati|“Yesterday my Deities were dressed with the clothing you made and it appears so nice.]] —Himavati, 30 November, 1968 --- ![[letters/1968/681212_himavati|“Please convey my thanks to Satyabhama for her nice work in sewing the clothes for my Deities. These Deities will require several more sets of such excellent dresses so Satyabhama or yourself may supply as you are able.”]] —Himavati, 12 December, 1968 --- ![[letters/1968/681214_jadurani|nice dress, decorating the Deity with sweet-smelling flowers, colorful and very opulent dresses, jewels, incense, etc., to make Them very brilliant and attractive, that is real Deity worship.”]] —Jadurani, 14 December, 1968 --- ![[letters/1969/690109_brahmananda|“So far as placing the Radha-Krsna and Lord Jagannatha Deities in special order to one another, there is no set ruling. Simply make the altar look very attractive.”]] —Brahmananda, 9 January, 1969 --- ![[letters/1969/690124_madhusudana|worship is meant for persons who have already developed spontaneous love of God. In the training period we are only worshiping Laksmi-Narayana.]] —Madhusudana, 24 January, 1969 --- ![[letters/1969/690212_satsvarupa|in our present status we cannot worship Radha-Krsna.]] —Satsvarupa, 12 February, 1969 --- ![[letters/1969/690225_indira|Your idea of placing conchshell in the eyes is nice and you may do it.]] —Nara-Narayana, 25 February, 1969 --- ![[letters/1969/690324_kirtanananda|“No, I think it is not proper for Srimati Radharani to have a white nightdress. Best to have a nice color for Her.”]] —Kīrtanānanda, 24 March, 1969 --- ![[letters/1969/690419_upendra|“Regarding Kartikeya's question about worshiping Lord Jagannatha, He should always be worshiped with awe and reverence. Krsna's picture as a naughty child should not be treated by us as a naughty child. We should always worship Krsna as the Suprem...]] —Sudama and Kartikeya, 19 April, 1969 --- ![[letters/1969/690715_syamasundara|these forms should be worshiped. Our Deity worship is not heathenism. If we keep forms of the Lord without worshiping the Deity under regulative principles it will gradually turn into idol worship which is an offense.]] —Syamasundara, 15 July, 1969 --- ![[letters/1969/690813_syamasundara|I shall send you very soon a real photo of the Los Angeles throne, Jagannatha altar and vyasasana. They have done it very nicely and perfectly.]] —Syamasundara, 13 August, 1969 --- ![[letters/1969/691008_dr._sham_sundarji._sham_sundarji._sham_sundarji|We should decorate our temple Deities with first-class ornaments and nice flowers.]] —Kṛṣṇa dasa, 8 October, 1969 --- ![[letters/1969/691120_gargamuni|“Regarding decoration of the Deities, that is very nice. They should always be very attractive so people who come will be attracted.”]] —Gargamuni, 20 November, 1969 --- ![[letters/1970/700116_yamuna|“So far colors that may be offered to the Deities, all colors may be utilized just suitable to your scheme. But black should not be used for the Deities dresses or for temple decorations.]] —Yamuna, 16 January, 1970 --- ![[letters/1970/700316_satsvarupa|. “When the large Deities are installed, the small Deities should be worshiped as vijaya-vigraha which means this pair of Deities may go outside the temple]] —Satsvarupa, 16 March, 1970 --- ![[letters/1970/700401_himavati]] —Himavati, 1 April, 1970 --- ![[letters/1970/700421_satsvarupa|“I am glad to know that you are about to enlarge your altar and throne to accommodate the new Deities]] —Satsvarupa, 21 April, 1970 --- ![[letters/1970/700503_ekayani|“Regarding whether ivory is offerable to Krsna, yes, ivory is pure. Although it is a bone of an animal, still it is as pure as the conchshell shell which is also the bone of an animal.”]] —Ekayani, 3 May, 1970 --- ![[letters/1970/700613_himavati_hansadutta|“I have received your pictures and the Deity's pictures look very nice, but I think you should decorate the Deities with more flowers. Krsna belongs to the village atmosphere of Vrndavana and He is very fond of flowers. I think in Germany the flow...]] —Himavati, 13 June, 1970 --- ![[letters/1970/700613_himavati_hansadutta|the backdrop to the Deities' throne may be painted simply Vrndavana woods—that will be very nice.”]] —Himavati, 13 June, 1970 --- ![[letters/1970/700622_vamanadeva|“Regarding the arrangement of the Deities on the altar, the arrangement here in the Los Angeles temple is: Guru-Gauranga, Radha-Krsna, Jagannatha. Gargamuni has taken some pictures of the temple room and I shall send a copy to you when they are pr...]] —Vamanadeva, 22 June, 1970 --- ![[letters/1971/710116_jagadisa|“I have received the pictures enclosed by you of the very nice altar in your old temple at Beverly Street. It attracts, that is its qualification. So make your new altar at Gerrard Street just as attractive.”]] —Jagadisa, 16 January, 1971 --- ![[letters/1971/710501_laksmimoni|“Deity worship can be learned at not less than ten years by children. Before that they can assist. They can learn how to bow down, how to dance and chant, how to make garlands, clean arati utensils, etc. In this way they can be engaged. These are ...]] —Laksmimoni, 1 May, 1971 --- ![[letters/1971/710501_laksmimoni|So far as bathing is concerned, it requires two hands and one tongue.]] —Laksmimoni, 1 May, 1971 --- ![[letters/1971/710528_govinda_dasi|As I have already told you, ivory jewels, conchshell and cow dung are all pure. Everything is pure when employed in the service of the Lord.]] —Govinda dasi, 28 May, 1971 --- ![[letters/1971/711106_kirtanananda_vrindaban_candra_silavati|Generally sandalwood paste is offered on the forehead, but on other parts of the body is all right. Kumkum powder should be offered on the feet.”]] —Kīrtanānanda Maharaja, 6 November, 1971 --- ![[letters/1971/711226_jayapataka|It should not take longer than one hour to bathe and dress the Deity if one actually knows how it is done. But it may take longer so you may offer the bhoga at 8.00.]] —Jayapataka Maharaja, 26 December, 1971 --- ![[letters/1971/711226_himavati|“Regarding your questions, there is no question of using paper plastic fruits and flowers for worshiping the Deities. If no fresh fruits or flowers are available, then you can decorate with some fresh leaves.]] —Himavati, 26 December, 1971 --- ![[letters/1972/720212_govinda_dasi|“Regarding the Panca-tattva Deities, the pictures you have sent are very nice. Because They live in Bengal, dhoti, shirt and chaddar are the standard dress,]] —Govinda dasi, 12 February, 1972 --- ![[letters/1972/720327_jagadisa|’Dear Sir, it is time for You to come and take your rest now. Please come.’ Then you should chant Gayatri mantra. They may be awakened in the afternoon with the same method]] —Jagadisa, 27 March, 1972 --- ![[letters/1972/720512_bhagavan|Now I want the worship of Sri Sri Radha-Krsna to be very seriously undertaken by you, and try to see They are always satisfied in every way. This is the ultimate in arcana worship,]] —Bhagavan dasa, 12 May, 1972 --- ![[letters/1972/720608_giriraja|“The Deity program must be improved very gorgeously. Flower garlands should be expanded, and all expenditures for the Deities must be expanded without any miserly contemplation.]] —Giriraja, 8 June, 1972 --- ![[letters/1972/720616_tribhuvanatha|gorgeous temple means many flowers, beautiful decorations, and prasadam distribution. Some sort of kirtana must go on continuously.]] —Tribhuvanatha, 16 June, 1972 --- ![[letters/1972/720617_balavanta|thank you very much for the nice flower garland you have sent, and the nice fragrance is very pleasing. Beautiful flowers are compared to Krsna smiling”]] —Balavanta, 17 June, 1972 --- ![[letters/1972/720703_gunagrahi|“Worship of Radha-Krsna Deities is the ultimate pinnacle of Deity worship, and it must be done with the utmost caution and attention to every detail of giving opulent service.]] —Gunagrahi, 3 July, 1972 --- ![[letters/1972/721027_aksayananda|“As for bathing the Deities in milk from time to time, that is not required. The smarta or caste brahmanas they think if someone inattentively touches the Deity it becomes impure, so they bathe. But that is not needed by us, only when they are ins...]] —Kīrtanānanda, 27 October, 1972 --- ![[letters/1972/721118_madhumangala|“So far your question is concerned should the Jagannatha Deity be bathed with water, that is not necessary. They should be washed once in a year, that is sufficient, fifteen days before Rathayatra. That is called snana-yatra ceremony. Otherwise if...]] —Madhumangala, 18 November, 1972 --- ![[letters/1972/721231_dhananjaya|Radha and Krsna are transcendental to such artistic work, They do not depend upon our painting of Them for Their beauty. But They should be painted as nicely as possible if there is at present some deterioration of the painting.]] —Dhananjaya, 31 December, 1972 --- ![[letters/1973/730104_dhruvananda|“You have asked me several questions about the Deity worship in Los Angeles, so I shall answer them one after another: Your first question, shall Srimati Radharani's feet be showing, the answer is no, they should never be seen. Krsna's feet, howev...]] —Dhruvananda, 4 January, 1973 --- ![[letters/1973/730104_dhruvananda|“I do not know when I have said to anyone that Krsna should not wear anything black color, nor I know where I have given any permission to wear black color, but there is no harm if sometimes Krsna dresses something black. Sometimes in Vrndavana th...]] —Dhruvananda, 4 January, 1973 --- ![[letters/1973/730104_dhruvananda|“You may dress Lord Caitanya in the standard way, main thing is do it nicely, don't make it funny. In your Western countries Lord Caitanya should be entirely covered, He should not appear bare-chested.”]] —Dhruvananda, 4 January, 1973 --- ![[letters/1973/730104_dhruvananda|“Why you are pouring water over the head of Radha and Krsna Deities? Big Deities should not be bathed in this way, using water or other things. Rather They are bathed daily by mantra, do you not know these things? Under no circumstances shall we b...]] —Dhruvananda, 4 January, 1973 --- ![[letters/1973/730105_jagadisa|“Yes, that is correct, the Deities should never be bathed with water or something like that. Always bathe Them with the mantra process. Of course the big Deities should be bathed daily! Should not the Supreme Personality of Godhead, if He is recom...]] —Jagadisa, 5 January, 1973 --- ![[letters/1973/730218_gurudasa|“The Deities should be facing east.”]] —Kīrtanānanda, 18 February, 1973 --- ![[letters/1973/730219_kirtika|“The proper method of dressing Jagannatha is as a ksatriya king and there is no limit to the opulence you can give Him.”]] —Kirtika devi dasi, 19 February, 1973 --- ![[letters/1973/730304_trai|The more you can decorate the Deities soberly, not fanatically, the more you become decorated with all honors]] —Bhakta dasa, 4 March, 1973 --- ![[letters/1973/730620_gunagrahi|“Yes, it is all right, Gaura-Nitai may wear turbans as well as crowns. You ask what They may wear in the evening—They can wear different dresses or night clothing just as Krsna is dressed. Make a small symbolical bed and give Them rest in that way...]] —Gunagrahi, 20 June, 1973 --- ![[letters/1974/741016_pusta_krsna|“I see in the photos of Gaura-Nitai They are wearing lungis, but They wear dhotis. You have made it become a lungi.”]] —Pusta Kṛṣṇa Swami, 16 October, 1974 --- ![[letters/1975/750528_anangamanjari|“In your country the Deity should not go without shirt. Gaura-Nitai may wear turbans. Nothing should be offered to Krsna unless it is prepared by the devotees themselves.”]] —Anangamanjari devi, 28 May, 1975 --- ![[letters/1975/751107_madhudvisa|“It is not at all good that the Deities do not have warm clothing for the cold weather. They are still spending so much for construction, spending, spending, but the Deities are not clothed roperly. What is this?”]] —Nitai dasa, 7 November, 1975 --- ![[letters/1975/751110_bahudak|The dresses are made very nicely as it appears from the photographs.]] —Madhudvisa Swami, 10 November, 1975 --- ![[letters/1975/751110_bahudak]] —Jayatirtha dasa and Manjuali dasi, 10 November, 1975 --- ![[letters/1976/760204_danavir|“The Panca-tattva should not have long hair. It should only come to Their shoulders as you have shown in the drawing. Please correct this.”]] —Sukadeva dasa, 4 February, 1976 --- ![[letters/1976/760504_kashinath_mullick|“Concerning the construction of a new temple for Sri Sri Radha Vrndavan Candra, our men can see how the lndian mistris are doing the work there, and they can learn the art. During the construction, the Deities can be moved to some temporary place....]] —Kīrtanānanda Maharaja, 4 May, 1976 --- ![[letters/1976/760607_gargamuni|“For worshiping the Deities in Bombay, including Sita-Rama, there is absolutely no change in worship. Adopt the same method as in our Vrndavana center simply with three pujaris]] —Surabhi, 7 June, 1976 --- ## Cooking and Offerings (see Prasadam) ## Arati ![[letters/1968/680823_kirtanananda_hayagriva|The first arati ceremony is performed as you have seen in Vrndavana, at Radha Damodara temple, early in the morning, before sunrise, at least one and a half hour before sunrise.]] —Kīrtanānanda, 23 August, 1968 --- ![[letters/1968/681118_hayagriva|“Arati is performed at 1 1/2 hour before sunrise to awaken the Deities. Each offering is made by moving it in 7 big circles, starting at the lotus feet of the Lord, and going clockwise round.]] —Hayagriva, 18 November, 1968 --- ![[letters/1969/690125_mr._levine._levine._levine|“...’When making the arati offering, is it proper to meditate on the different parts of the Lord's body?' The answer is that there is no need to meditate in that way. The Lord is actually there with you, and you are seeing all of His parts of the ...]] —Kīrtanānanda, 25 January, 1969 --- ![[letters/1969/690720_gajendra|“Regarding your question about offering camphor in arati, I do not know why you should be having trouble with smoke and soot by this offering.]] —Gajendra, 20 July, 1969 --- ![[letters/1970/700205_hanuman_prasad_poddar|The program of the temple worship is as follows:]] —Hanuman Prasad Poddar, 5 February, 1970 --- ![[letters/1970/700416_satsvarupa|Both mangala-arati and sandhya-arati can be changed according with the sunrise and sunset. We are not concerned with the time but with the sun's movement.]] —Yamuna and Gurudasa, 16 April, 1970 --- ![[letters/1970/700613_himavati_hansadutta|“No, it is not proper that the morning arati is performed with the Deities lying down. The Deities should be awakened with belling, then stand Them, then perform arati. After arati you bathe and change Their clothes. You should wake Them privately...]] —Himavati, 13 June, 1970 --- ![[letters/1971/711106_kirtanananda_vrindaban_candra_silavati|In Vrndavana, dhupa is offered without a flower sometimes, but either way is all right. If a flower can be offered, then that is nice.]] —Kīrtanānanda Maharaja, 6 November, 1971 --- ![[letters/1971/711226_himavati|“Mangala arati must be done in nightgown. After mangala arati, then bathing is done and dressing. Three-thirty is too early for holding mangala arati. The Deities should be given sufficient rest. The standard time is 1 1/2 hours before sunrise, so...]] —Himavati, 26 December, 1971 --- ![[letters/1972/720219_upendra|“Dhupa-arati may be performed in the morning if there is unusually great complaining, but it is better to hold full arati, but quietly, as in Bombay they playa tape-recording]] —Upendra, 19 February, 1972 --- ![[letters/1972/720222_rupanuga|“You are waking up your new Deities too early! Best time is between 4.30 and 5 am, with mangala-arati at 5 am. Although Krsna is Master of sleep, still, we must allow Him sufficient rest for herding cows all day and playing with His cowherd friends.”]] —Rupanuga, 22 February, 1972 --- ![[letters/1972/720528_giriraja|“So far your question regarding Deity worship, during arati everything should be offered first to the guru.”]] —Giriraja, 28 May, 1972 --- ![[letters/1972/720528_gargamuni|“So far your question regarding Deity worship, during arati everything should be offered first to the Guru.”]] —Gargamuni, 28 May, 1972 --- ![[letters/1974/741219_bahudak|You should make sure that there is a nice arati program, six aratis daily at least.]] —Bahudaka, 19 December, 1974 --- ## Pujari Standards ![[letters/1969/691208_kulasekhara|“Regarding your questions about pujari, pujari means who will always be with the Deities. That is pujari.”]] —Kulasekhara, 8 December, 1969 --- ![[letters/1970/700302_yamuna|Gayatri initiation may directly worship the Deities (i.e. bathing, offering bhoga and arati, cooking for the Deities, etc) but she may assist you]] —Yamuna, 2 March, 1970 --- ![[letters/1970/700701_damodaraa|If there is a scarcity of such qualified pujaris, each center should be satisfied only by worshiping Panca-tattva of Lord Caitanya by performance of sankirtana.”]] —Damodara, 1 July, 1970 --- ![[letters/1971/710121_bhavananda|“So far as touching the Deity is concerned, that can be done only by the priest. Only on very special occasions are others allowed to touch the Deity. Touch means to place Tulasi mixed with sandalwood at Krsna's lotus feet.”]] —Bhavananda, 21 January, 1971 --- ![[letters/1971/710325_rsabhadeva|“So long as there is Guru-Gauranga worship, Yamuna Prabhu may act as pujari. Otherwise, one must be initiated to tend the Deity.”]] —Rsabhadeva, 25 March, 1971 --- ![[letters/1971/710411_krsnakanti|“Yes, when I return to LA I shall be glad to visit Seattle. Radha-Krsna Deities may be installed at that time also, provided there are at least four doubly-initiated devotees present who can take proper care of Them.”]] —Krsnakanti, 11 11, 1971 --- ![[letters/1971/710526_satsvarupa|“Requirements for Jagannatha worship is that four qualified brahmanas must be on hand to tend to Lord Jagannatha's needs. Unless there are sufficient men and brahmanas, how can such worship go on?”]] —Satsvarupa, 26 May, 1971 --- ![[letters/1971/710812_giriraja|At least two devotees should take care of the Deities constantly.”]] —Giriraja, 12 August, 1971 --- ![[letters/1971/711118_badrnarayana_dasa|To supervise this essential Krsna conscious activity requires a very fastidious person. One who can remember everything and be very conscientious to prepare everything nicely, be timely, like that.]] —Badrnarayana dasa, 18 November, 1971 --- ![[letters/1972/720305_bhakta_dasa|if there is lack of qualified brahmanas men without sacred thread may be employed to cleanse the floor and other things which do not require their touching or gazing upon the Deity at close quarter.”]] —Bhakta dasa, 5 March, 1972 --- ![[letters/1972/720325_patita_uddharana|I have made it a policy that there must be at least ten initiated]] —Patita Uddharana, 25 March, 1972 --- ![[letters/1972/720502_giriraja|“I have got some reports that the Deities in Bombay are being much neglected. This is most abominable affair. Radha and Krsna should not ever be neglected or left unprotected, so I am wondering what you have done to rectify this situation. I have ...]] —Giriraja, 2 May, 1972 --- ![[letters/1972/720612_gurudasa|“I understand from Yamuna that our Gaurachand Goswami feels still that we are unfit to render service to the Deity, so let him think like that, we don't care]] —Gurudasa, 12 June, 1972 --- ![[letters/1973/730104_dhruvananda|Pujari should operate entirely under the supervision of temple president and GBC, not independently. The greatest danger to our movement will come when we manufacture and create our own process for worshiping the Deities.]] —Dhruvananda, 4 January, 1973 --- ![[letters/1973/730304_trai|“... try to help him. He is a good boy and he will come out again very nicely. But he must marry that girl, we cannot play with sex-life, that is not our business. If he shows he is faithful for three months, then he again can take care of Radha-K...]] —Bhakta dasa, 4 March, 1973 --- ![[letters/1973/730622_makhanlal|We should be prepared to protect the Deities and always expect Krsna's mercy, because we are always dependent on Him and we cannot do anything on our own without Him.”]] —Makhanlal, 22 June, 1973 --- ![[letters/1973/730916_satsvarupa|brahmanas are required. Regarding New Orleans, the book distribution must be established not just the Deity worship. This is very important to our movement, so please arrange this to go on.”]] —Satsvarupa Maharaja, 16 September, 1973 --- ![[letters/1974/740101_mukunda|Who is in charge of the Deity room? It must be secured at night, every window and door must be locked and you must personally see to this.]] —Mukunda, 1 January, 1974 --- ![[letters/1974/740112_kausalya|“Brahmana brahmacaris are very nice for Deity worship.]] —Kīrtanānanda, 12 January, 1974 --- ![[letters/1974/740813_madhudvisa|Gaura-Nitai by women pujaris, we worship Lord Caitanya in His householder life when He was with His wife, and not as a sannyasi.]] —Amsu dasa, 13 August, 1974 --- ![[letters/1976/760106_aksayananda.c._kapur|Brahmana means to be clean—internally by chanting the Lord's glories and externally by regular bathing.”]] —Aksayananda Maharaja, 6 January, 1976 --- ## Festivals for the Deities, and General Celebrations Observed ![[letters/1968/680326_mukunda|“The rakhe-bandhan ceremony observed by you under instruction of___ isn't approved by our Vaisnava rituals. Of course, such ceremony is observed among the Hindu community as a socio-religious convention. But in our Vaisnava community there is no s...]] —Mukunda, 26 March, 1968 --- ![[letters/1968/681202_upendra|“On the disappearance day of my Guru Maharaja, you may hold a meeting to discuss his activities and offer respect to his memory. Practically, this movement is his because it is under his order that I have come to your country.”]] —Upendra, 2 2, 1968 --- ![[letters/1969/690130_jayapataka|“You have asked about the specialness of the month of Karttika, and the answer is that it is a special inducement for persons who are not in Krsna consciousness to perform some devotional service]] —Jayapataka, 30 January, 1969 --- ![[letters/1969/690513_tamala_krsna|“Your next festival will be as follows: Rairaya—on this day the gopis played by making Radharani a queen, and She is seated on a gorgeous throne, and Krsna is made as Her doorman of the palace, so He is standing by the throne room with a sword. So...]] —Tamala Kṛṣṇa, 13 May, 1969 --- ![[letters/1969/690817_mahapurusa|Regarding celebrations of other holidays, they will be described as to how they should be celebrated in future memos to all of the temples. I think by now you must have received instructions how to celebrate Jhulana-yatra festival.”]] —Govinda dasi, 17 August, 1969 --- ![[letters/1969/690908_gargamuni|I think you may introduce the ceremony of strolling the Deities round about the temple. If not every evening, then it can be done at least one day per week at a fixed up time.”]] —Tamala Kṛṣṇa, 8 September, 1969 --- ![[letters/1970/700222_damodara|“I am very pleased to learn how things are going on very well in Washington center and that you are nicely celebrating the various advent days of our great acaryas.”]] —Damodara, 22 February, 1970 --- ![[letters/1970/700517_yamuna|“I am so glad to learn that you are regularly observing the listed holidays in our Caitanya almanac. The roaring kirtana, offering feast to the Deities with special preparations is our simple mode of celebration, and there is no other special prog...]] —Yamuna, 17 May, 1970 --- ![[letters/1971/711120_danavir|“Puspabhiseka means a ceremony to decorate the Deity profusely with flowers, ornaments, cloths. After, there should be lavish feasting and a procession through the streets, so that all the citizens should see how beautiful Krsna appears.”]] —Danavir, 20 November, 1971 --- ![[letters/1972/720121_upendra|“I have had many requests from many students for a list of holidays and festival days. Now we have got a Panjika, so I shall be compiling such a list very soon and I shall send you a copy.”]] —Upendra, 21 January, 1972 --- ![[letters/1972/720902_lalitananda|“Yes, if there is arrangement for swinging the Deities sometimes, that is all right. Anything may be done which will be pleasing to the Lord, and He is often fond of swinging motions.”]] —Lalitananda, 2 September, 1972 --- ![[letters/1973/730104_sama_sammita|But for conducting the sraddha ceremony, that should be done in our temple, and feasting should be arranged in the temple. Afterwards, the prasada should be distributed to friends and relatives. Perform kirtana, give lecture and readings,]] —Kṛṣṇa Gopala, 4 January, 1973 --- ![[letters/1973/730808_satsvarupa|“Observe many festivals, that will keep both public and devotees alive. Temple means festivals and festivals means chanting and distribution of prasadam.”]] —Tamala Kṛṣṇa, 8 August, 1973 --- ![[letters/1974/740427_pusta_krsna|Vaisnava functions we cannot divert our devotees' attention to such participation in so-called religious functions. This has spoiled the Hindu religion into a hodge podge pseudoreligion.]] —Gopala Kṛṣṇa, 27 April, 1974 --- ![[letters/1974/740610_ravindra_svarupa|“I want to thank you a hundred times for the excellent way you are worshiping the Deity there as I can see from the color photographs you have sent. From my very childhood I was also worshiping Lord Jagannatha.]] —Ravindra Svarupa, 10 June, 1974 --- ## Sri Gaura-Purnima ![[letters/1967/670314_brahmanandab]] —Brahmananda, 14 March, 1967 --- ![[letters/1968/680121_janardana|Rayarama's calendar which he has published. The exact day is the 14th March, Thursday, 1968. The procedure is that you should fast from morning to evening (about 7.00) and after that there should be offering to Lord Caitanya and]] —Janardana, 21 January, 1968 --- ![[letters/1968/680307_mahapurusa|“Regarding the observance of Lord Caitanya's Advent Day: No, there is no need for any other devotional songs or chants, simply chant Hare Krsna, with kirtana or beads]] —Mahapurusa, 7 March, 1968 --- ![[letters/1968/680307_mahapurusa|take quotations from the above-mentioned books and have discussions. Fasting should be continued up to evening and then you may have food like on Ekadasi:]] —Mahapurusa, 7 March, 1968 --- ![[letters/1968/680312_balai|we should all observe strict fasting up until moonrise, and at that time, an offering is made to Lord Caitanya of Ekadasi foods,]] —Balai, 12 March, 1968 --- ![[letters/1969/690220_satsvarupa|“Lord Caitanya's advent day is on the 4th of March 1969. On that day you should keep fasting up to the moonrise in the evening, and the whole day may be utilized in]] —Satsvarupa, 20 February, 1969 --- ![[letters/1970/700214_madhudvisa|“In the spring you may lead a very big procession on Lord Caitanya's Birthday. This is a good plan to celebrate this great spring festival out of doors. So make this a very opulent procession with large sankirtana party]] —Madhudvisa, 14 February, 1970 --- ![[letters/1970/700218_sivananda|“Lord Caitanya's appearance day falls on March 22, that is on a Sunday. The devotees should fast until evening when there is a ceremony and offering of a small amount of]] —Kṛṣṇa dasa, 18 February, 1970 --- ![[letters/1970/700221_syamasundara|“But I will suggest one thing—that you can organize a mass sankirtana procession on the advent day of Lord Caitanya,]] —Syamasundara, 21 February, 1970 --- ![[letters/1970/700324_mukunda|In the London streets, introduction of Ratha-yatra procession, as well as Lord Caitanya's birthday ceremony procession, and in the most important part of the city, a Radha-Krsna temple—all these things are a great achievement of your London yatra ...]] —Mukunda, 24 March, 1970 --- ![[letters/1970/700401_mukunda|“I understand that the Lord Caitanya's birthday procession was very, very nice and similarly in San Francisco also they took out a procession in the street, and it is understood that 4,000 to 5,000 people participated. So this is another introduct...]] —==*SPL to Gurudasa, 1 April, 1970 --- ## Chaturmasya ![[letters/1971/710827_himavati|“For your hair you can try a little castor oil. So far the milk fast, if possible you can observe it. But these things are not so important. For preaching work we have to make so many adjustments.”]] —Himavati, 27 August, 1971 --- ![[letters/1975/750804_gopala_krsna|“Yes, it is all right for you to observe Caturmasya if you can manage in the mornings. The Deities should be offered the regular prasada. The Deities are not devotees, They are Lords. But, it is a fact that Lord Caitanya observed, as we find in Ca...]] —Madhudvisa Swami, 4 August, 1975 --- ![[letters/1975/751118_mr._mohan_majundar._mohan_majundar._mohan_majundar|It is very good that you have been observing Caturmasya.]] —Madhudvisa Maharaja, 18 November, 1975 --- ## Diwali Govardhana Puja (Annakuta) Celebrations ![[letters/1967/671017_pradyumna|“On, the last day after Diwali the Vaisnavas observe Annakuta ceremony. This celebration is the day when Lord Krsna lifted the hill and Madhavendra Puri established the temple for Gopala.”]] —Pradyumna, 17 October, 1967 --- ![[letters/1968/681010_sivananda|“Diwali ceremony can be observed in the temple by illuminating hundreds of candles in different parts of the temple and offering special prasada to the Deity.]] —Hamsaduta, 10 October, 1968 --- ![[letters/1969/690705_giriraja|Giriraja is the name of the Govardhana Hill on which Krsna used to tend His cows. In Vrndavana the Govardhana Hill is]] —Giriraja, 5 July, 1969 --- ![[letters/1971/711003_damodara|puja is a bona fide procedure, but such things cannot be held in your country. It requires good space to decorate the imitation hill of rice.]] —Damodara, 3 October, 1971 --- ## Ekadasi ![[letters/1968/680201_madhusudana|“Ekadasi is observed for increasing the strength of devotion.”]] —Madhusudana, 1 February, 1968 --- ![[letters/1968/680713_christopher|“I am glad to learn also that you sometimes fast the whole day and chant. It is a very good idea and you can follow this principle rigidly two days a month, namely the Ekadasi days.”]] —Christopher, 13 July, 1968 --- ![[letters/1969/691027_govinda_dasi|“I have duly received the bananas you sent, and you can send me these dried bananas tons and tons. It is very useful and can be nicely used for our]] —Govinda dasi, 27 October, 1969 --- ![[letters/1970/700429_pradyumna]] —Pradyumna, 29 April, 1970 --- ![[letters/1970/700919_karandhara|Krsna is giving you good sense and intelligence. Take care of your godbrothers and godsisters very carefully.”]] —Karandhara, 19 September, 1970 --- ![[letters/1971/710709_jadurani|“Why just twenty-five rounds? You should chant as many as possible. Real Ekadasi means fasting and chanting and no other business. When one observes fasting the chanting becomes easier. So on Ekadasi other business can be suspended as far as possi...]] —Jadurani, 9 July, 1971 --- ## Sri Rama-Navami ![[letters/1968/680326_mukunda|“Our next ceremony is Lord Ramacandra's birthday on the 7th April. It should be observed in the same way as Lord Caitanya's Appearance Day, namely, fasting up to evening and then accept prasada and all our ceremonies should be performed with conti...]] —Mukunda, 26 March, 1968 --- ![[letters/1968/680328_mahapurusa|far the Advent Day of Lord Ramacandra, it should be celebrated as Lord Caitanya's Birthday was done. Fasting up to evening, and then take prasada, and chant Hare Krsna the whole day, and be engaged in reading and chanting off and on.]] —Mahapurusa, 28 March, 1968 --- ## Rasa-Lila Ceremony ![[letters/1968/681113_upendra|“You can celebrate Rasa-lila by having nice kirtana and prasada distribution; that is our way of celebrating.”]] —Upendra, 13 November, 1968 --- ![[letters/1969/691107_brahmananda|“To celebrate the Rasa-lila ceremony, decorate the Deities very nicely with flowers, as many as possible, also ornaments, garlands, nice light demonstration and much distribution of prasadam.]] —Kṛṣṇa dasa, 7 November, 1969 --- ## Lord Jagannatha (see Ratha-yatra) ## Jhulana-Yatra ![[letters/1973/730105_jagadisa|“There is no objection either to applying the jewels to Their bodies with beeswax or to swinging Them in the public functions in the temple on Sunday, so long there is very nice jhulana or swing being profusely decorated.]] —Jagadisa, 5 January, 1973 --- ![[letters/1969/690801_jayapataka|five days the Deities' clothing should be changed every day, and there should be nice]] —Jayapataka, 1 August, 1969 --- ![[letters/1975/750811_bon_maharaja|“I am very glad to note that you are having the Phulabangla. It will be very popular. Tell me how it was held. That you are expecting 30,000 people for Jhulana-yatra is wonderful. You should distribute liberally prasada. Aksayananda Maharaja will ...]] —Dhananjaya dasa, 11 August, 1975 --- ## Janmastami ![[letters/1967/670815_brahmananda|you asked how to celebrate Radha and Krsna's Birthday. As last year, on Krsna's, with fasting up until midnight, and on Radha's fasting up until noon. Then feasting.]] —Brahmananda, August, 1967 --- ![[letters/1970/700214_madhudvisa|make this a very opulent procession with large sankirtana party and you may also celebrate in this way again with a procession on Janmastami day.]] —Madhudvisa, 14 February, 1970 --- ## Radhastami ![[letters/1967/670815_brahmananda|on Krsna's, fasting up until midnight, and on]] —Brahmananda, August, 1967 --- ## Preaching, Chanting and Deity Worship ![[letters/1968/680201_madhusudana|who worships the Deity with great devotion but doesn't show any devotion to the devotees of the Lord, or doesn't preach Krsna consciousness for the benefit of the general public; he is in the lower stage of devotional service.”]] —Madhusudana, 1 February, 1968 --- ![[letters/1969/690517_rayarama|Outdoor kirtana must be done, even at the cost of suspending all editorial work. That is your first and foremost business. Temple worship is not so important.]] —Rayarama, 17 May, 1969 --- ![[letters/1969/690812_yamuna|The advanced devotee should be very much enthusiastic in preaching the transcendental message of Lord Caitanya, and temple worship should be entrusted to the newcomers or neophytes.”]] —Yamuna dasi, 12 August, 1969 --- ![[letters/1969/690905_dr._syama_sundardas_brahmacari._syama_sundardas_brahmacari._syama_sundardas_brahmacari|“In this age, chanting of Hare Krsna mantra is the prime business of the devotee, and preaching of this Hare Krsna mantra by outdoor sankirtana and propagation of literature is our more important business. Side by side, Deity worship is recommende...]] —Hamsaduta, 5 September, 1969 --- ![[letters/1969/691215_cidananda|“Sankirtana and distributing Back to Godhead and our other literatures is the fieldwork of this movement. Temple worship is secondary.]] —Cidananda, 15 December, 1969 --- ![[letters/1970/700108_sudama|Sankirtana, love feast and selling Back to Godhead are our primary engagements and next temple worship. Temple worship is needed for the inner section.]] —Sudama, 8 January, 1970 --- ![[letters/1970/700210_ekayani|“I am so glad to learn that you are taking very much interest in the Deity worship and such activities must be accompanied with chanting of the holy name regularly. Actually chanting of the holy name regularly is our life and soul, and on the basi...]] —Ekayani, 10 February, 1970 --- ![[letters/1970/700312_citsukhananda|still to keep ourselves pure and sanctified we must observe the rules and regulations of]] —Hamsaduta, 12 March, 1970 --- ![[letters/1970/700315_gurudasa|The temple worship will keep us sanctified and when we shall preach in sanctified pure heart the preaching will be immediately effective.]] —Gurudasa, 15 March, 1970 --- ![[letters/1970/700418_hansadutta|all the wives of our students should be especially trained up for Deity worship and cooking, and when possible they should go on sankirtana]] —==* SPL to Hamsaduta, 18 April, 1970 --- ![[letters/1970/700528_satsvarupa|So the temple worship is necessary for the beginners so that by following the regulative principles such devotees become more and more purified and thus gradually come on the platform to understand Srimad-Bhagavatam.]] —Satsvarupa, 28 May, 1970 --- ![[letters/1970/700701_damodaraa|“I am glad to learn that you are continuing your maha-sankirtana, that is very nice. This is our main business. Temple worship is not so important as sankirtana on the public roads and selling our literatures. Your class schedule is also very nice.”]] —Damodara, 1 July, 1970 --- ![[letters/1971/710404_visnujana_maharaja|Actually we should give more stress in worshiping the incarnation of sound vibration but whenever there is possibility of installing Deities and strictly following the regulations of worship, we shall do this]] —Visnujana Maharaja, 4 April, 1971 --- ![[letters/1971/710924_makhanlal_and_tilaka_devi|Our process is to work on]] —Makhanlal and Tilaka devi, 24 September, 1971 --- ![[letters/1971/711212_kirtanananda|“When our routine work, like chanting, reading books, nice arati, Deity worship, etc., is very nice, then our preaching will have effect. That is the secret.”]] —Kīrtanānanda Maharaja, 12 December, 1971 --- ![[letters/1973/730126_sudama|“You have my sanction to take with you Gaura-Nitai Deities. Carefully worship Them, attending to Them with regular aratis and bhoga offerings. Be very careful to maintain a strict standard of worship, and whenever you arrive at a temple you can pl...]] —Sudama, 26 January, 1973 --- ![[letters/1973/730214_rupanuga|“Regarding your question about taking Gaura-Nitai Deities with you on travelling kirtana, this is not so important. When Caitanya Mahaprabhu was touring India He did not bring His Deity with Him. But if you can make proper arrangement then you may...]] —Rupanuga, 14 February, 1973 --- ![[letters/1973/730323_sudama|you should not take Radha-Krsna traveling, better you take Gaura-Nitai. For serving Gaura-Nitai there is no offense, but if Radha-Krsna is there and there is some discrepancy, then there is great offense]] —Sudama, 23 March, 1973 --- ![[letters/1973/730815_jagadisa|“To install Deities in a moving vehicle is not very good. There is always danger of falling and breaking.]] —Jagadisa, 15 August, 1973 --- ![[letters/1973/730828_sudama|I do not know how practical it is to carry Deities in the truck, by the jarring of the vehicle there may be some damage and also]] —Sudama, 28 August, 1973 --- ![[letters/1973/730904_trai|“My sanction for the Deities in the touring van is still there. But I have heard that sometimes the Deity falls down, so these things are objectionable.]] —Sudama Maharaja, 4 September, 1973 --- ![[letters/1974/740427_pusta_krsna|“As for the Deities of Gaura-Nitai, yes you may take them on travelling sankirtana and worship them. Please keep me informed of your activities.”]] —Pusta Kṛṣṇa Maharaja, 27 April, 1974 --- ![[letters/1974/740907_batu_gopala|“Regarding taking the Deities out on sankirtana as advised by Tamala Krsna Goswami, occasionally the Deities may come and go, however you can let Tamala Krsna Goswami guide you in this connection.”]] —Batu Gopala dasa, 7 September, 1974 --- ![[letters/1975/750102_adi-kesava-kesava-kesava|Deity worship or lecturing in the colleges is just as important as book distribution. So, these things must be done very nicely and at the same time, book distribution should be done. Not that we should do one thing at the sacrifice of another.]] —Adi Kesava dasa, 2 January, 1975 --- ![[letters/1976/760105_satsvarupa|“Gaura-Nitai Deities should not be taken into university classrooms. The professors and students will think we are fanatics. It is better to keep a big Picture of Gaura-Nitai which can be seen by everyone, rather than taking Deities into a classro...]] —Satsvarupa Maharaja, 5 January, 1976 --- ![[letters/1976/761228_kurusrestha|Without book distribution the temple worship standard will also diminish. Therefore both of them should go side by side.]] —Kurusrestha dasa, 28 December, 1976 --- ## Salagrama-Sila ![[letters/1971/711003_karandhara|“A piece of Govardhana Hill cannot be taken from Vrndavana.”]] —Karandhara, 3 October, 1971 --- ![[letters/1974/741123_kirtanananda|“Regarding salagrama sila, forget it. There is no need of installing. Kirtana is the most important thing and book distribution.”]] —Hamsaduta dasa, 23 November, 1974 --- ![[letters/1975/750612_jagannatha-suta-suta-suta|“Regarding naming your Cleveland center, New Govardhana Hill is a very nice name. But as far as worshiping a Govardhana Sila from Govardhana Hill, that we shall see later on.”]] —Batu Gopala dasa, 12 June, 1975 --- ![[letters/1976/761103_sacimata|“Worship salagrama sila nicely, husband and wife. Do not forget to follow strictly the four regulative principles and chant sixteen rounds minimum daily.”]] —Hrsikesananda dasa, 3 November, 1976 --- ## Personal Deity Worship ![[letters/1968/680506_mukunda|it is not improper to keep Them at your home, but it (the home) must be kept with due veneration and respect. If we keep the statue of Krsna in our room, we must know that Krsna is present]] —Mukunda, 6 May, 1968 --- ![[letters/1969/690112_kirtanananda|when you are engaged in the worship of the temple Deities, you may not install separately Deities at your home.”]] —Hamsaduta, 12 January, 1969 --- ![[letters/1969/690124_himavati|“Regarding your keeping private Deities, if you have the time it is all right, but the same energy can be utilized in the temple for decorating, dressing, cleaning, cooking.]] —Himavati, 24 January, 1969 --- ![[letters/1969/690330_satyabhama|I think there is no need for this. Because if you keep Him there, you have to take proper care, with aratis and attention, and thus divert attention from the Deity in the temple,]] —Satyabhama, 30 March, 1969 --- ![[letters/1969/690425_dinesh|Immediately upon receipt of your picture, I had it hung right above my Deity room. Wherever I go I convert one closet into my Deity room, so I shall always be seeing your picture there.”]] —Bibhavati, 25 April, 1969 --- ![[letters/1969/691111_srimati|“Regarding worshiping uninstalled Deities, generally this is not done. But you can do]] —Srimati, 11 November, 1969 --- ![[letters/1970/700315_ekayani|“I am so pleased to know that you are carefully caring for your Deities and that you chant before Them always when at home. So the Lord is very kind upon His sincere devotees, and He will provide more and more opportunities for such a sincere devo...]] —Ekayani, 15 March, 1970 --- ![[letters/1970/700418_jayagovinda|little time to arrange separately for worship. When a householder is not in touch with the temple, then he can have separate worship at home]] —Jaya Govinda, 18 April, 1970 --- ![[letters/1970/700515_tamala_krsna|Krsna has so many forms, and whichever form you worship it is all the same, but you should worship that form which you like the most.”]] —Tamala, 15 May, 1970 --- ![[letters/1970/700621_tamala_krsna|“Regarding your question how to carry your Deities to different places with you, you should of course always carry Them personally if at all possible in a small box or cabinet for the purpose. Then when you come to another temple you may place The...]] —Tamala, 21 June, 1970 --- ![[letters/1970/700708_manager_of_security_pacific_bankb|Lord Caitanya is very kind and He accepts the simplest worship or simply sincere chanting of the holy name of Krsna.”]] —Sridhama, 8 July, 1970 --- ![[letters/1971/711208_patita_uddharana|“Regarding your questions, it is not very good to put ’statues' of Radha-Krsna on a shelf. If They are not worshiped as Deities what is the use of such display? Visitors will get the wrong idea that They are merely decorative figures or idols, tha...]] —Patita Uddharana, 8 December, 1971 --- ![[letters/1972/720414_bhavananda|If the leading men of every city takes this example of installing]] —Bhavananda, 14 April, 1972 --- ![[letters/1973/730306_abhirama|“For worshiping the banyan tree, the representation of Krsna, simply offer a]] —Abhirama, 6 March, 1973 --- ![[letters/1973/730425_name_withheld|I have made it a point that unless one is able to keep to the same standard that is kept here at the temple, he should not worship the Deity separately.]] —(name withheld), 25 April, 1973 --- ![[letters/1974/740501_jayatirtha|“As for the grhasthas worshiping Gaura Nitai Deities, that is only for those who live far away from the temple and cannot attend. Otherwise such worship is redundant. There is already Deity worship going on in the temple and they should attend the...]] —Jayatirtha, 1 May, 1974 --- ![[letters/1974/740501_jayatirtha|“The impression of Lord Caitanya's feet which you have brought from India may be kept in a picture, not that it is worshiped as a Deity. Keep it as picture.”]] —Jayatirtha, 1 May, 1974 --- ![[letters/1974/740609_nandalal|“Regarding your Deity. So long as you are not living separately, you may put your Deity on the regular temple altar, and as they are caring for the Deity and feeding and dressing and cleansing, so the temple]] —Nandalal, 9 June, 1974 --- ![[letters/1974/740808_dayananda|sadhus carry their Deity. They have one chest, and they use the chest on which to put the Deity by opening the doors of the chest.”]] —Tripurari dasa, 8 August, 1974 --- ![[letters/1974/741231_hansadutta|I have instructed them that if they want to do it, they must send me at least 100,000 dollars monthly—not less.”]] —Gurukrpa Svami, 31 December, 1974 --- ![[letters/1975/750215_svarupa_damodara|“Regarding Rudra dasa, he can worship Gaura-Nitai in his home. The most important element for Their worship is the chanting of the Hare Krsna mantra. They can have at least one arati and whatever foodstuffs are prepared can be offered.”]] —Govardhana dasa, 15 February, 1975 --- ![[letters/1975/750807_candradevi._y.g._naik|attached to the Deities above marriage. But, it is not good to live at home because that is where meat is eaten. That will be offensive,]] —Candradevi dasi, 7 August, 1975 --- ![[letters/1976/760421_puranjana|Gaura-Nitai can be established anywhere, and it is simple to worship Them. Simply chant before Their Lordships. He doesn't mind that you have not decorated very nicely, but if you chant and dance, He is very pleased.”]] —Madhudvisa Maharaja, 21 April, 1976 --- ![[letters/1976/760516_gopala_krsna|“As regards to your desire for Sada-bhuja Deity, if you divert your attention to worship, that will not be good. Time is short. You can keep one picture for your darsana.”]] —Yasodanandana Maharaja, 16 May, 1976 --- ![[letters/1976/761015_dr._r.m._dave._r.m._dave._r.m._dave]] —Sacimata Prabhu, 15 October, 1976 --- ![[letters/1977/770113_sudama|you may worship one murti of myself privately in your room.”]] —Sudama, 13 January, 1977 --- ## Miscellaneous instructions ![[letters/1968/680225_karunamayi|it is respectful to circumambulate the temple, keeping your right side to the Deities if possible. You may dance around the temple in this way if you like.”]] —Karunamayi, 25 February, 1968 --- ![[letters/1968/680817_jayananda|understand that the Patels are ready to present silver murti, but we cannot worship, Murali Manohara alone, without being accompanied by His most favorite consort,]] —Jayananda, 17 August, 1968 --- ![[letters/1968/681106_jadurani|“Murti means a worshipable statue.”]] —Jadurani, 6 November, 1968 --- ![[letters/1969/690205_gurudasa|“The picture of Kartamasi which you have sent is very nice. Kartamasi is becoming very popular in every center. That is a good sign.”]] —Gurudasa, 5 February, 1969 --- ![[letters/1969/690425_dinesh|so I am sure Kartamasi is very attractive. Please offer my obeisances to Him.”]] —Govinda dasi and Gaurasundara, 25 April, 1969 --- ![[letters/1969/691011_jagadisa|“Regarding the picture of Lord Caitanya which is outside of your temple, this is not good. We should not place our worshipable Deities as statues in the open atmosphere.”]] —Jagadisa, 11 October, 1969 --- ![[letters/1969/691028_bhurijana|The Foot print of Krsna is all right. You can keep it by the throne and while taking care of the Deities you also wash the Foot, wipe it and put it back.]] —Bhurijana, 28 October, 1969 --- ![[letters/1970/700219_linda|“Regarding your questions about the difference between the picture of]] —Linda, 19 February, 1970 --- ![[letters/1971/710513_satsvarupa|“Also very soon I shall send you one complete set of instructions on worshiping the Deity and you can print in English and distribute. This book shall be named]] —Satsvarupa, 13 May, 1971 --- ![[letters/1971/710501_laksmimoni|“So far as taking care of the Deities and your family simultaneously, you have to do both mutually, but the main importance is Deity worship. Just like a busy housewife always busy in household affairs, yet still she is engaged in dressing herself...]] —Laksmimoni, 1 May, 1971 --- ![[letters/1971/710526_satsvarupa|“Regarding the proposed book Method of Worship, I have not had time to prepare it here. So when I return to USA, and again begin to write my books, my first business will be this.”]] —Satsvarupa, 26 May, 1971 --- ![[letters/1971/710925_saradiya_devi|how the Deity will be kept from being mishandled or kept in a dirty place or even thrown away at the whim of the child? You cannot always check her. Therefore to such a small child the Deity of Lord Jagannatha should not be given]] —Saradiya devi, 25 September, 1971 --- ![[letters/1972/720612_gurudasa|“I understand from Yamuna that our Gaurachand Goswami feels still that we are unfit to render service to the Deity, so let him think like that, we don't care.]] —Gurudasa, 12 June, 1972 --- ![[letters/1972/720628_acyutananda|“To answer your questions, the Deities in London, New York, etc. are not mentioned in Teachings Of Lord Caitanya, the Deities mentioned there were before these Deities were installed. In Caitanya-caritamrta, there it is mentioned that all over the...]] —Acyutananda, 28 June, 1972 --- ![[letters/1972/721214_visvambhara|“Regarding your question, what is the difference between Krsna and the Deity, that is nonsense. There is no difference between Krsna and the Deity. Anyone who sees such difference, he has not understood the philosophy.]] —Visvambhara, 14 December, 1972 --- ![[letters/1973/730304_trai|“... try to help him. He is a good boy and he will come out again very nicely. But he must marry that girl, we cannot play with sex-life, that is not our business. If he shows he is faithful for three months, then he again can take care of Radha-K...]] —Bhakta dasa, 4 March, 1973 --- ![[letters/1974/740424_gurudasa|“Your idea to have Hari Goswami conduct a Deity worship class starting July 1st is a good, welcome idea.]] —Gurudasa, 24 April, 1974 --- ![[letters/1975/751118_mr._mohan_majundar._mohan_majundar._mohan_majundar|to worship Nrsimhadeva requires a separate temple structure, not that Lord Nrsimhadeva can be worshiped in the same temple as Radha-Krsna.]] —Baradraja dasa, 18 November, 1975 --- ![[letters/1975/751212_vishvambar_dayala|Here in Krsna Balarama temple we are hearing the same recording every morning, so if it is good here why not there?”]] —Jayasacinandana dasa, 12 December, 1975 --- ![[letters/1976/760103_ramesvara_prabhu_prabhu|“The new Sixth Canto Bhagavatams are very nice. Yes, actually They are worshipable Deities. Be careful that our books do not appear like Bible printing. Sometimes the Christians also put gold gilding on their books, but people are averse to purcha...]] —Ramesvara, 3 January, 1976 --- ![[letters/1976/760113_jayatirtha|“Please let me know how the mukhut department is going to be managed? “Who is the manager and what is the management scheme?”]] —Aksayananda Maharaja, 13 January, 1976 --- ![[letters/1976/760519_jayapataka|“Concerning the domes, the domes must be over the three Deities. The domes should not be brought to the front of the building. Their place is over the Deities, whether they are visible to the passer-by or not.”]] —Upendra dasa, 19 May, 1976 --- ![[letters/1976/760918_dr._b.n._shukla._b.n._shukla._b.n._shukla|“The Nrsimhadeva Deity should have Hiranyakasipu and Prahlada and should be simple, not very complex.”]] —Tusta Kṛṣṇa, 18 September, 1976 --- --- **[← Back to Śikṣāmṛta](wiki/compile/siksamrita)**