Ghatasthapana
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The Kalash-installation ritual that opens Navratri worship — the Goddess's presence is considered fully invoked only after Ghatasthapana is followed by reciting the Tantrokta Devisuktam.
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Tantrokta Devi Suktam as the heart of the Saptashati
The third hymn is the Tantrokta Devisuktam, fifth chapter of the Durga Saptashati, shlokas 9 to 82, which the speaker calls the heart of Devi devotees and of the Saptashati — do this even if you do nothing else, and if you keep Navratri it is absolutely mandatory: after Ghatasthapana, until it is recited, it is held that Bhagavati has not arrived at all. He says it is also recited together with the Atharvashirsha at the pratishtha of any Yantra, Vigreh or astra and at the establishing of a peetha, because its mere recitation brings the Devi's closeness. It also stands independently within the Saptashati, so it can be recited on its own.
Hymns spoken before the deity appeared — Brahma's Ratri Suktam before Mahamaya emerged from Vishnu's eyes — awaken the deity's complete consciousness
Hymns recited before a deity manifested — such as the Ratri Suktam, recited by Lord Brahma before Goddess Mahamaya/Yogamaya emerged from Vishnu's eyes — carry supreme potency because reciting them awakens the deity's complete consciousness and presence.
How is the Sankalpa taken on Pratipada to begin the Ram Raksha Stotra siddhi?
On the first day (Pratipada), after Kalash Sthapana, take a Sankalpa resolving to attain perfection in the Ram Raksha Stotra for this Navratri, so it delivers its full effect whenever needed for righteous work.
What should someone do who cannot recite the whole Durga Saptashati?
They should do the ordinary paath of the Shri Durga Saptashloki — one paath, or 27, or nine; at the very least nine paaths. Even a person who never does kalash sthapana, keeps no fast and does no vrat should certainly do nine paaths of the Saptashloki at least once through the whole Chaitra Navratri.
Why is the threshold the place for all four?
If you want to do the samyak pujan of all of them in a very particular way, then the pujan of all four will happen on the dehli — because once the kalash sthapana has happened, Bhagavati will be seated within your house, and the mool sthan of these four will at that time remain at the door alone. Having a dehri, having a chaukhat, is extremely necessary; and if you are doing the chaukhat pujan daily in Navratri, then you are satisfying very many shaktis.
Can a prayoga be used directly on a present trouble?
No. To remove the suffering that is in your life, prayoga is not done directly. According to these vidhans, perfect it first, and after that employ it.
Metals a Navratri kalash may be made of
The speaker says a clay Kalash is ordinarily kept and is correct; among metals, brass, copper and bronze are kept. An iron kalash should never be kept. He warns that iron kalashes are very often sold with yellow or red colour applied over them, so one must make sure an iron kalash is never installed.
Colour of a clay Navratri kalash
The speaker says a black-coloured clay Kalash should never be installed. If the kalash is coloured, its colour should always be yellow or red, and only then should it be installed; otherwise a kalash of the ordinary plain natural colour is installed.
Size of the Navratri kalash
The speaker says the measure of the Kalash, its height, is taken from the fingers of the head of the household: eight to twelve fingers, measured from the bottom right up to the mouth of the kalash. It should not be bigger than twelve fingers nor smaller than eight. The kalash may be decorated as much as one likes.
Preparing the barley bed and ashtadal kamal beneath the kalash
The speaker says he is describing Ghatasthapana in the ordinary way, without vidhi-vidhan or mantras, so that a common person can do it at home with devotion. First the barley that is to be sown, the Jaware, is mixed into the soil at leisure; the soil is levelled and an ashtadal kamal or similar figure is drawn on it with gulal, haldi and the like. The Kalash is then installed on top of that.
Order of items placed inside the Navratri kalash
The speaker gives the order of contents of the Kalash. If one knows Sankalpa, it comes first: Supari, a little unbroken rice (Akshat) and some coins are taken, the sankalp is made and they go into the kalash. Then the kalash is filled with water, and then a small piece of real Chandan wood, red or yellow. After that come haritaki, supari, coins of three metals, panchratna, good-quality sarvaushadhi, madhu without fail, and a little well-washed Durva Grass grass. After all these initial items are in, the Pallav go on top.
Panch pallav or mango leaves on top of the kalash
The speaker says that once all the initial items are inside the Kalash, panch Pallav or mango leaves are placed on top. Panch pallav means the leaves of five different kinds of tree; or else a sprig of mango with at least five and at most eleven leaves. The leaves are decorated well with Sindoor, given the sindoor mark, and then placed.
Keeping Navratri for the first time: kalash sthapana on Pratipada and following the local muhurat
The speaker says that in the new samvatsar beginning, every person may do Navratri, even someone doing it for the very first time. Kalash sthapana is done on the day of Pratipada in a shubh muhurat; one may also follow the regional practice — whatever time the learned brahmins and scholars of one's area give — and on that day, as convenient, do the kalash and Ghatasthapana and light the Akhand Jyot. The full method of kalash sthapana, the vidhan of the akhand jyot and the rules of Navratri — what if the lamp goes out, how and when to do havan, which day the paran falls, how the nine-kanya pujan is done, and what a man does if Brahmacharya is broken by a nocturnal emission — he says are already given in separate videos and are not repeated here.
Which mandalas belong to the kalash sthapana of Navratri?
Kalash sthapan should be done at the right time on the first day, he says — the timings will be discussed separately and written out. The mandalas are those of the nine grahas, of the shodash matrikas, of the sixty-four yoginis, of the five kshetrapals, and of the ten digpals.
What if a person cannot draw the mandalas for kalash sthapana?
If you cannot make them, there is no difficulty and no problem. A very ordinary vidhi of kalash sthapana is broadcast on the channel; if you do not know the full vidhi vidhan, do the kalash sthapana by the simple method.
How can all the devatas be invoked without drawing separate mandalas?
Because when the mantra of the kalash is read, it states who is established in the ghata of the kalash and where each devata's place is in its kumbha — everyone comes into it, everyone is invoked. So in that same kalash in which you are invoking Jagadamba, offer akshat and pushpa by name to the navagraha, the shodash matrika and the sixty-four yoginis.
Starting the Navratri navgrah jap: Pratipada, kalash optional, morning best, after guru-Ganapati pujan and the Bhagavati path
The speaker says the jap and pujan begin on the Pratipada of Navratri after Kalash sthapana, Akhand Jyot and so on; but one who does no akhand deep or kalash sthapana and only does puja-path can certainly still do this sadhana. It may be done morning or evening as one's business or job allows, though morning is best. The order on each day: first the kalash sthapana (on Pratipada) and the initial pujan, then guru and Ganesha pujan, then whatever path of Bhagavati one does, and only after that this jap. He says all the mantras (of the nine grahas, their mothers and Bhagavati) are put on one page on screen and will be given in the description or a PDF for copying.
In a marana prayoga the kalash is of iron, without panchratna or a coin, and the yantra is made on an iron vessel
In the Navratri kalash sthapana one puts in panchratna and a piece of metal, whether a copper one or some other coin. When you go into marana prayoga you cannot use that. The form of the deity in the kalash sthapana changes too; there it must be an iron kalash, other metals related to iron, and the yantra made on an iron vessel and established in that.
When should the Ghat Sthapana be done?
Take it between about 5:35 and 7:25 in the morning if you can — the dawn window. Where only the Abhijit muhurta is available, half the day goes in the Kalash Sthapana and the first day's sadhana is somewhat hampered and the body tires. This time the dawn window is available, so it is excellent.
May a worn gemstone ring be put into the Kalash?
No. Once you have worn that gem or ring, then however much you wash it you cannot put it into the Kalash. Do not put it in. If it is new, put it in; if it is not, do not.
For a sava lakh Navarna anushthan, are the navagraha and shodash matrika mandals needed?
To Raju Acharya ji, who asks whether along with ghat sthapana the navagraha mandal and the shodash matrika mandal must be established for the sava lakh japa of the Navarna mantra in Navratri, and whether they must be worshipped daily, he answers that if you are going to do the anushthan of sava lakh then at the very least, if nothing else, certainly light an akhand deepak. As for the mandals: if you do ghat sthapana, do all the puja on that very ghat. There is no need to make separate mandals — do the shodash matrika pujan on the ghat, do the navagraha pujan on the ghat, and do the daily puja on it too, in name only, saying "नवग्रहेभ्यो नमः यथा उपलब्ध उपचारम् समर्पयामि" and offering a single flower; but certainly offer it by name.
If you do ghat sthapana once, are you bound to repeat it?
He says he says it again and again — that from all the education and diksha he has received so far and whatever guru grace he has, he has learnt this: if you do ghat sthapana in any Navratri, then when that Navratri comes again the next year you will have to do ghat sthapana in that one too, and it should be done for five years. The rule is held to be that for five years you will call Bhagavati again and again in that Navratri, and the shaktis of the house stay awakened there. So if you do ghat sthapana in Gupt Navratri, you should do ghat sthapana again and again in that same Gupt Navratri every year. If you do not do it, light an akhand deep.
May the vigraha be lifted from its asana during the nine days?
If you have done kalash sthapana, kindled the akhand jyot and have a shri vigraha placed, then the vigraha is not to be moved for the nine days of the Navratra. If your daily rule is to bathe Bhagavati, ask your guru whether the asana may be shifted; according to the speaker's own knowledge and practice the asana should not be moved. Arrange the abhishek so that they need not be lifted from the asana. Only the first day carries the full formal bath; from the next day on they should not be removed.
Can the deity be invoked and established with rice?
Yes, the speaker tells Hitesh Gauri, the avahan can absolutely be performed with rice and the establishment made; there is no problem in it. But the point that arises here, he says, is that if there are no flowers at all — the complete absence of flowers — then that is a matter for thought.
The Dashami sets in at 10:58, the ghat is moved after that, and the visarjan may be done after 12:00 noon
On the twelfth, after 11:00, the speaker says. The Dashami will set in at 10:58; the ghat is to be moved after that. The visarjan, if such a matter arises, may be done that day after 12:00 noon; otherwise, if in your region the farewell is not done on a Sunday, then leaving Sunday out, do it on Monday. That may also be done.
Can the nine-day fast be kept without ghat sthapana?
Yes, absolutely it can be kept, the speaker says. The seva and puja of Bhagavati can take place even without a ghat.
Can the ghat and the akhand deep be served without fasting?
One does have to keep a fast, at least a little, for the seva of the ghat and the seva of the akhand jyot, the speaker says; their seva will not happen without the fast. Do not do it half-finished. Ask Bhagavati for the strength — Jagadamba, make us capable, so that we keep the fast and serve you in the proper manner. And if you cannot keep the fast, then do the nitya pujan, morning and evening, well and grandly; grace will be obtained in that too. It is not as though grace will not come in that.
Can a daily Chandi paath be done without ghat sthapana?
Someone may do the Chandi paath every day in the Navratra without doing ghat sthapana, the speaker says. Panchopachar pujan, a sakshi lamp and a satvik bali — that is quite all right, and it can be done.
Which way should the coconut on the Navratri kalash be placed?
The speaker reports that a Shankaracharya, citing a granth in which all karmakanda subjects are given, explained what harm follows if the coconut's jata faces backwards, upwards, or is placed inverted, or placed without a purna patra — and gave as the correct vidhi that the coconut should always be placed on the purna patra with its jata, its mouth, its head, turned towards oneself.
Pratyangira's energy strikes the sadhak and the household first, and must be digestible
The speaker says bhav and kriya are two different things: bhakti done from bhav is one path, but in tantra bhav comes later and kriya comes first. When one recites the Mahapratyangira svarup of Bhagavati Bagla, the tattva of the eight shaktis named in Pratyangira falls first on the sadhak's own body, Aura and Sukshma Sharir, and everything depends on whether the sadhak and the family members of the house have the capacity to digest that energy. If no Rudrabhishek of Sadashiva was ever done in that home, no Shivling ever kept, no Shiva pujan, no Shivratri vrat, no kalash sthapana or special puja in Navratri, not even an aarti, and one went straight to Pratyangira upasana out of over-enthusiasm, then the energy that forms will do what it does.
Kalash sthapana, akhand jyot, nine days of pujan and the tenth day's visarjan
The second thing is the whole anushthan: that kalash sthapana should also take place, that the akhand jyot should be had done, and that one's own full nine days of pujan-paath should happen. There is an arrangement for everyone. The sahyog rashi written there should be looked at, and if something similar happens nearby, ask there — it is not for one day; it is an anushthan of the full nine days, ten days, since nine days happen just so and on the tenth day there is the puja of visarjan as well.
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