What Goes Inside the Navratri Kalash — Metal, Colour, Size, Contents and Visarjan

The speaker opens by naming the question he is asked: when Ghatasthapana is done in Navratri, what exactly should be put into the Kalash? What generally happens, he says, is that whatever is given at the puja shop is all tipped into the kalash by everyone. And at the time of Visarjan, all those things are simply released in the same way. It is for this reason that he is placing the subject before listeners.

What metal the Kalash should be of is itself a subject, the speaker says, and so is how large it should be. This subject should never be brushed aside. Ordinarily a clay kalash is kept, and that is fine. Among metals, a kalash of brass and copper is kept, and a kalash of bronze is kept. An iron kalash should never be kept. Keep this particularly in mind, he says: very often an iron kalash is sold with yellow colour or red colour applied over the top of it. So take care that an iron kalash is never installed.

As for the pramana of the Kalash — that is, how much its length is — it is reckoned by the fingers of the one who is the head of the house, the principal mukhiya: eight to twelve fingers. From eight fingers up to twelve fingers, the speaker says, the full length from below right up to the top, from the neck upward to the mouth of the whole kalash, is reckoned as twelve. It should not be larger than that, and it should not be smaller than eight fingers. That is the length of the kalash; only a kalash of that much length should be kept. The kalash itself, he adds, you should decorate as much as you wish.

Kalash sthapana is being told in the general way, the speaker says — no vidhi-vidhan, mantras and so on — so that an ordinary person in the house can do it, in bhakti bhav, according to whatever seva-puja is possible there. To perform Ghatasthapana, first take the barley seed that is planted, the Jaware that is sown, and mix it comfortably into the soil. After that, level it evenly and make an ashtadal kamal or the like there, with gulal, haldi and so on. The Kalash is installed on top of that.

First of all, chandan wood is put into the Kalash, the speaker says. Or rather, before even that: if SankalpaA formal ritual resolution spoken aloud before an offering or observance, declaring its intent and dedicating its merit. and so on is something you know, then sankalp is done taking supari, a little rice, AkshatUnbroken raw rice grains, held in hand along with water and flowers while taking a Sankalpa. — rice that is unbroken — and some coins, and these should be put into the kalash. After that it should be filled with water. Only then should the chandan wood be put in. A small piece of chandan, whether the red one or yellow chandan; it should be genuine chandan. That is what is put in first.

After the chandan, what is called haritaki is put in, the speaker says. Supari is put in. A gold or silver coin, whatever one has the means for. Coins of three metals should be put in: gold, silver, copper, brass, or else the ordinary coin that there is — put that one in, put a silver one in, and put a copper one in. Three kinds of coin should be put into the Kalash.

Panchratna, that is five kinds of ratna, is put in, the speaker says. But look, he says: whether what is available at the puja place, at the puja shop, for ten or fifteen rupees, for five rupees, is panchratna or not — that becomes a subject of great doubt there. Since you have to do Navratri pujan every year, have upratna of a sava ratti each made up from a jeweller's shop. It will be made comfortably in fifty to a hundred rupees — that is, in five to six hundred rupees the panchratna is done forever, for a whole lifetime. Have it made up, he says; at a sava ratti each it will also be larger, it will look beautiful, and there will be great satisfaction in your mind that you are performing pujan so well. Put that into the Kalash; the panchratnas should be put in.

Sarvaushadhi should be put in, the speaker says; you will get it at the shop, and good quality sarvaushadhi should be used. Sapta mrittika, which comes with the samagri, is very often put inside the Kalash. But look at this region by region, he says, because it varies. In a great many places it is said that it is to be put inside the kalash, and in a great many places one also reads, and hears and sees, that it is put where the barley is sown. So put it inside or put it outside according to your own practice. In his own view, he says, it should be put outside — that is more appropriate.

After putting in all these things, after all these initial articles have gone in, place panch Pallav on top of the Kalash, or put mango leaves, the speaker says. Five mango pallav may also be put. Panch pallav means the pallav of five different kinds of tree — five sorts of tree. Or else the pallav of the mango tree, in which there should be at least five leaves and at most eleven leaves. Decorate it well with SindoorVermilion powder, used here to draw the inverted triangle Mandala for a Bhairava offering, in place of the Roli-and-Ashtagandha triangle drawn for a Goddess. — what is called marking with sindoor — and then place it.

Next, the speaker says, comes the method of placing the coconut on top of the Kalash. For how the coconut is placed on the kalash, he will make a separate video. This much, he says, extended only to what is to be put into the kalash in kalash sthapana, and how and up to what measure the kalash is to be kept. The vidhi beyond this he will tell in another video — what the vidhi-vidhan of the coconut is, and how the seva-puja should be done.

Putting the items in along with mantras is a separate subject, the speaker says. Here he is telling the general method, so that anyone at all can hear it and do it comfortably and devotionally. If no mantra is known, then take the name of Jagadamba"Mother of the World" — an epithet of the Devi., or recite this mantra — या देवी सर्वभूतेषु शक्ति रूपेण संस्थिता — or recite the mantra which is सर्व मंगल मांगल्य, and while doing so put in each article. Jagadamba will certainly accept it, he says.

A second matter connected with the Kalash, the speaker says, concerns Visarjan. When you perform kalash visarjan and shake it out to do so, keep this in mind. When you give the kalash visarjan in a river, press the mouth of the kalash shut. That is, the coconut that will be above it will be released first, so hold that and keep hold of it. After that, the panchratna inside it, however many coins there are, the chandan wood and so on — all these things should be taken out. The chandan wood, all three coins, the panchratna: take all these things out. Everything else should be left in it, and the kalash will be given visarjan.

All these things should be tied in red cloth and kept, the speaker says. The next time, you can absolutely use these very same things in the Kalash again — the same chandan wood, these same articles. Keep them in a good place in the house, keep them in the place of pujan, do puja, and you can use them again. There is no Dosha in this. You can use them again and again. If you wish, change the chandan wood; but as for the coin, if you are using a gold coin and using a proper panchratna, then you can certainly use it a second time.