Celebrate Skanda Shasti in Your Home this Year
Skanda Shasti is the occasion on which Lord Skanda is worshipped. Lord Skanda is known by different other names too, such as Karthikey, Muruga, and Subramaniam. He is worshipped on the Shasti of the Shuklapaksha in Kartik month that is October/November.
The Incarnation of Lord Muruga
The Skanda Shasti is a six days celebration that signifies the triumph of Lord Muruga over the demon kings Surapadma and his brothers Tarakasura and Simhamukha. All of them were harassing Gods-like and made them leave their place in heaven. The demons prepared their army and were creating chaos in the whole environment.
Seeing this, all Devas approached Goddess Parvati as Lord Shiva was in deep meditation. Goddess Parvati, then with the help of Kama Deva, was able to break Shiva’s meditation. In anger, Shiva emanated six sparks which were unbearable by any Deva and got merged in the Ganges. The Ganges then threw them in a forest known as Saravana.
Those six sparks turned into six children, which were raised by six different mothers. Later, when Parvati found these children, she turned them into one and named him Karthikey. Hence the incarnation of Karthikey or Lord Muruga happened to kill all the demons and their armies.
Lord Muruga, when got blessed by the weaponry, put an end to evilness, and the battle went on for six days. Since then, the victory of Lord Muruga is celebrated for six whole days, during which devotees also observe Vrat.
Lord Muruga Puja Celebration inHome
Every year thousands of devotees visit different temples of Lord Muruga in Tamil Nadu. This year due to the pandemic, people are not very comfortable in going to public places. So you can also worship Lord Muruga in your home and stay safe against any health risk.
Here we are going to enlighten you to the worship ritual of Lord Muruga, so you can be at home and still get his divine blessings.
Those who want to please Muruga should start the Puja by worshipping Lord Ganesha. Since Ganesha and Karthikey are both brothers, so invoking Lord Ganesha will ensure you a successful Puja.
- Get an idol of Ganesha, Muruga, and the Vel, too (weapon of Lord Muruga).
- Keep Puja items ready such as sandal paste, Kumkum, flowers, and some water.
- Begin with worshipping Lord Ganesha, and ask for his blessings in your life and this Puja. Request him that no obstructions will happen in this Puja.
You can have an idol or an image of Lord Muruga and start by chanting the mantra.
“Om vali devasenasamedha Shri SubrahmanyaSwaaminenamahadhyaayaamii.”
Chant the mantra for his divine blessings
“Om vali devasenasamedha Shri SubrahmanyaSwaaminenamahadhyaayaamii.”
Offer respect to Lord Muruga by chanting “Omaasanamsamarpayaamii.”Sprinkle some water and chant “Om namahaarghyam,” and now sprinkle some more water near the Vel and chant “Om namahapaadhyam.”
After this, chant “Om namahaaachamaniyam” and sprinkle some water. Now you can sprinkle some rose water or simple water and chant “Om oupachaarikasnaanam.”
Complete the water offering ritual by chanting “Om snaanaanandharamaachamaniyam” and sprinkle some water.
Now you can offer turmeric tilak to the image of the Lord and chant “Om vastraarthamakshadaam.”
Now offer Sandal tilak to the Vel while chanting “Om gandhaandhaarayaami.”
While decorating the image with the flowers or the garlands, chant “Om gandhsyoparialankaaranaarthamakshadaam.”
Apply Kumkum tilak and chant “Om haridraakumkumam.”
Light a Diya or Lamp, and you can recite the “Skanda Shasti Kavacham” or the Skanda Purana. Do the Puja of the Lord by lighting camphor and incense sticks.
If you have prepared any food offerings, offer these to the image of Lord, and say the Arti. Be grateful to the Lord and say your prayers. One can conclude the Puja or still sit in front of Lord Muruga’s idol and experience mental peace. You can distribute food offerings among poor and homeless children.
One can perform this Puja for all six days and on the Soorasamharam day as well. Make sure you have all the Puja things handy and create a calm and serene environment to make the space Puja-friendly.
