Context:

  • The pran pratishtha ceremony for the Ayodhya temple will be held on January 22, and various rituals will begin from January 16.
  • While the basic meaning of pran pratishtha means giving life to the idol is simple enough, the ceremony involves various rituals taken from the Vedas and Puranas, each with its own significance.

What is Pran Prathistha?

  • Pran prathistha is the act which transforms an idol into a deity which gives it the capacity to accept prayers and grant boons.
  • For this, the statue has to go through various stages.

Shobha yatra:

  • One of the first stages is a shobha yatra, which means procession of the idol, taken out in the neighbourhood of the temple.
  • For the Ram idol in Ayodhya temple, the shobha yatra is on January 17.
  • Once the idol comes back to the mandap begin the rituals that make up pran pratishtha.

The adhivas:

  • To ready the idol for the pran pratishtha, multiple adhivaas are conducted, in which the idol is submerged in various materials including water and grain.
  • For one night, the idol is kept in water, which is called jalãdhivãs.
  • Then it is submerged in grain, which is called dhãnyãdhivãs.

Ritual bath:

  • After this, the idol is given a ritual bath and its abhishek is performed with various materials, depending on the scale of the ceremony.

Opening of the eyes:

  • The most important ceremony is that of netronmeelan, or the opening of the deity’s eyes.
  • After the statue has adequately recovered from the stress of its fashioning and has been given its ritual bath comes the time for it to be awakened.
  • Many mantras are chanted, asking for various Gods to come and animate its various parts — Soorya the eyes, Vayu the ears, Chandra the mind, etc.
  • Then comes the final step, the opening of the statue’s eyes.
  • This ceremony involves putting anjan, somewhat like kohl, around the deity’s eyes, with a gold needle.