Nobody is born knowing the vidhi

Fifty guides that assume nothing. What to buy, what to say, how long it takes, and what genuinely does not matter as much as you have been told. Six paths — start any of them at step one.

50 guides6 pathsNo Sanskrit required

◔ IF YOU READ ONE THING

Before you begin

Ten short guides covering every word the other five paths assume you already know.

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50guides · 6 paths

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Before you begin

1What is a puja?The word itself, and what it does not mean.7 min readRead ›2What is a vrat?Not a diet, and not a punishment. What the word means and the forms it takes.6 min readRead ›3What is a tithi?Why a festival lands on a different date each year.7 min readRead ›4What is a muhurat?The window, and why it is computed for your city.8 min readRead ›5What is a mantra?What makes a sound a mantra, and what happens if you say it wrong.7 min readRead ›6What is a sankalp?The sentence said at the start, and what it has to contain.6 min readRead ›7What is aarti?The lamp, the circling, and the point it comes at.5 min readRead ›8What is prasad?What changes when food is offered.6 min readRead ›9What is a katha?The story read aloud, and why it is read aloud.6 min readRead ›10Who is a purohit, and when you need oneMost household pujas do not require one. Here is when they do.9 min readRead ›

Your first puja at home

1Setting up the spaceWhere to sit, which direction, and what goes on the chowki.8 min readRead ›2What to buy the first timeA short list. Everything else can wait.7 min readRead ›3The five-offering formPanchopachara, start to finish, in about ten minutes.8 min readRead ›4Lighting the diyaGhee or oil, how many wicks, and where it stands.6 min readRead ›5Saying the words you cannot pronounceWhat to do when the Sanskrit defeats you. This is not the part that matters.7 min readRead ›6Doing the aartiThe circling, the singing, and the part everyone joins in for.6 min readRead ›7What to do with the offerings afterwardsFlowers, water, food. Where each one goes.6 min readRead ›8How long it should takeTen minutes is a puja. So is an hour.5 min readRead ›

Your first vrat

1Choosing which vrat to keepStart with the one your household already keeps.7 min readRead ›2What you may eatThe forms of fasting, and the one most people actually keep.8 min readRead ›3Breaking the fastThe parana window, and what to eat first.7 min readRead ›4Keeping a vrat while workingA full office day, a commute, and no kitchen.7 min readRead ›5Keeping a vrat when unwellMedication, pregnancy, and the conditions under which you should not fast.8 min readRead ›6Fasting and medicationTiming tablets around a vrat, and when to simply not keep it.7 min readRead ›7Missing a dayWhat actually happens. Less than you have been told.6 min readRead ›8Ending a vrat kept for yearsUdyapan — how a long vrat is concluded.8 min readRead ›

Your first festivals

1Ganesh Chaturthi for beginnersBringing the idol home, the ten days, and the visarjan.9 min readRead ›2Navratri for beginnersNine nights, and what is actually asked of you on each.10 min readRead ›3Diwali for beginnersFive days, four observances, one evening that matters most.9 min readRead ›4Holi for beginnersThe bonfire the night before, and what it is for.8 min readRead ›5Janmashtami for beginnersThe midnight hour, and the fast that precedes it.8 min readRead ›6Raksha Bandhan for beginnersThe thread, and the three stories behind it.8 min readRead ›7Shivaratri for beginnersThe night, the four prahars, and what a beginner can keep.9 min readRead ›8Karwa Chauth for beginnersThe sargi, the day, and the moonrise.9 min readRead ›9Chhath for beginnersFour days, and why it is kept at the water.9 min readRead ›

The texts, in plain language

1What is a Purana?Eighteen of them. What they are, and what they are not.8 min readRead ›2The seven kandasThe Ramayana in the shape it is actually recited.6 min readRead ›3Ramayana and RamcharitmanasTwo texts, two languages, two different centuries.8 min readRead ›4What is the Bhagavad Gita?Seven hundred verses, and where they sit.8 min readRead ›5What is a stotra?Praise, recited. And why it is not the same as scripture.7 min readRead ›6Hanuman Chalisa — what it isBeloved, recited daily, and written in the sixteenth century.7 min readRead ›7The four VedasThe oldest layer, and what almost nobody recites at home.9 min readRead ›8Shruti and SmritiThe distinction that decides how much weight a text carries.8 min readRead ›

Doing it in a small home

1Puja in a rented flatNo shelf, no room, no permanent setup.7 min readRead ›2Without a puja roomA cupboard, a windowsill, a corner of a desk.6 min readRead ›3Without a murtiA photograph, a supari, or nothing at all.7 min readRead ›4With small childrenShort, loud, and interrupted. Still a puja.6 min readRead ›5When you live aloneNothing in the vidhi requires a second person.6 min readRead ›6When the household disagreesTwo families, two ways, one kitchen.8 min readRead ›7Doing it in another countryNo market, no river, and the wrong hemisphere.8 min readRead ›

HOW WE DECIDE WHAT IS TRUE

Every badge on this page means something specific

Dharma, Pratha or Bhranti — with a confidence score you can check. If we cannot name the text a reader could open, we do not make the claim.

Read our editorial method ›

DHARMA

Named in a text you could open yourself.

PRATHA

Regional or family custom. Real — not scripture.

BHRANTI

A misconception. Corrected in every guide it appears in.