Ghanta
Every question on the site tagged Ghanta, each answered from a timestamped source rather than a summary written from memory.
A ritual bell — must be intact metal (never cracked or rung if broken); in Smartha worship the Garuda Ghanta and Nandi Ghanta are the standard domestic bells, while the lion-bearing Simha Ghanta is restricted to specific esoteric lineages. Ringing the Garuda bell presents the Samaveda's vibration to the deity even for a devotee who knows no Vedic chants.
8 notes from our sourcesNotes from our sources
How are musical instruments integral to different deities' worship?
Lord Shiva's worship incorporates the Damaru, Dholak, and cymbals; Goddess Durga holds the bell (Ghanta), whose cosmic sound is described in chapters 9-11 of the Durga Saptashati as destroying demonic forces, and Goddess Chandraghanta is named after this sacred bell sound.
What are the rules for using a bell (Ghanta) in domestic worship?
The bell must be made of intact metal — a cracked or broken bell must never be rung — and the figure atop it signifies its spiritual resonance; in Smartha worship, the Garuda Ghanta and Nandi Ghanta are the two foremost types.
What distinguishes the Garuda, Nandi, and Simha bells, and when should bells not be rung?
The Garuda bell presents the Samaveda's vibration to the deity even for a devotee who knows no Vedic chants; the Simha Ghanta is restricted to specific esoteric lineages; bells are traditionally not rung after 8:00 PM in domestic worship (except in perpetual temple worship), and not rung at all during certain esoteric night rituals like Tara worship.
What does hanging a great bell in a Shiva temple give?
He who hangs in Shiv ji's temple a huge bell furnished with an iron chain — the bell daan that people do, the big bell that rings in a temple, hung on an iron chain — of him it is said that he becomes as strong as the Ghantakarna gana and attains the Shiva loka.
Ghanta Karna is included in the thirteen-syllable sadhana, but is not written down publicly
Asked about Ghanta Karna, he says that this time they had included the Ghanta Karna sadhana too, in the Swarnakarshan Bhairav anushthan that is taking place; afterwards they removed it from the written form. They will still be there, because in the thirteen-syllable sadhana Ghanta Karna Mahavir too will have a place — but they have not written it out expressly there. The reason is that from giving all these names, people begin to demand things connected with them, tell this, tell that; and that they do not want. That is why they do not put it in.
Those sitting in japa, tapa and puja in a temple are not to be disturbed
Nobody teaches these people, he says, that if ten people are sitting in the temple doing japa, tapa and puja, they are not to be disturbed. If we too have to do it, and to do it with bhava, then do it quietly — not deliberately come and start ringing the bell, and all this forced and crooked business. Do not, in the attempt to show yourself a great devotee, commit such indiscipline in a temple; better, he says, that you do not go at all and call Basaha Baba at home.
Swinging a bell and reading the Hanuman Chalisa over an agarbatti is what gets called puja
What sort of puja will they have done, he asks — the puja of swinging a little bell; the puja of lighting an agarbatti and reading the Hanuman Chalisa. To this these people give the name of puja: having read the Hanuman Chalisa and rung the bell they do a very great favour, and say we read the Hanuman Chalisa for ten years and nothing happened to us.
Can a householder keep a conch in the puja, or only a pandit?
There should be a shankh in every home, he answers, and a shankh and a ghanti should be in every single home. And do not keep a small tinkling little bell — keep a good bell that you can hold fully and ring well, one that fills the fist. Keep a shankh too of a kind that you should know how to blow well; everyone should blow the shankh. For women there are prohibitions at different times, because the effect on the body is different at different times; men can always blow it.
No notes match "".