A Zone of Serenity ( Tour of Pooja Room)

Hope you all have melted the tough vibes of a crazy work week and now treating yourself with some Easter fun around. Spring has been brutally slow this year but some warm days surely threw signs of Spring coming out of the gate. No matter how much crushed we feel or be in a gibbering state of impatience, we have to keep the games going until it actually arrives. For now, let's "rain check" the thought of Spring and continue to a pure spiritual bliss post.

An affable vibe was nurturing ever since a thought of sharing this post came to my mind. Finally today, I am steering you through a zone of serenity, a place in our home where we connect to the perpetual supremacy GOD - Our Pooja Room (A Home Temple).  It is a dedicated space in our home where we pray every day and stay a while to communicate to our “KRISHNA”. Though I strongly believe, all may become immaterial if you fail to give the pureness of your heart and soul to him.

Travelling back in times reminds me that in our early phase of new life, we had apportioned a shelf in our home to feel his presence with us. When we began to build a life in Canada, due to the space constraints, we had just a card board carton from grocery store recycled as a temple in one corner of the home. Before a bigger leap to a new house, a thought was pre-settled to create a separate room for GOD considering our rituals on every festival. We purposefully moved laundry room in the basement and allocated that room as God's mandir. And now, this new home being our third home in Canada was endorsed with a very special space keeping in mind for him. Our library/den in the structural plan is converted into our pooja room. 

Bearing in mind Krishna's “Bal Gopal” form, we comprehend him as the youngest and the cutest family member who needs all our attention and pampering. My every single morning start in that room with a ritual of dressing that li’l Krishna and offering “Prasad” to him.  

Aesthetically alluring  and traditionally designed (especially stained glass and brass bell) doors were only dreamy possibilities being far away from the homeland. Thoughts were racing and exploring for beyond ordinary and exceptional doors rather than usual French glass doors for our temple room. Even after tons of clicking and calling, my mind was refusing to entertain the idea of failure for those doors. At one casual dining place, my eyes caught wind of their glass door, something similar to what I was exactly looking for. Next day, something compelled me to drive back to that restaurant and get the contact number for the glass company. And here we are, now these powerful addition of glass doors brilliantly suite the temple room.

The classy, sophisticated piece of art work, Pichhwai, is the welcoming element in the room reciting stirring sagas of Krishna.  It not only adorns as the backdrop of the temple, it depicts Lord Krishna being in different moods, doing leelas with gopis near banks of Yamuna River and by the Kadamba trees.  An accurate age of this pichhwai is tough to predict but it was all out of action and on the fritz. An antique treasure trove piece is a merit of Aj’s travel find.

The aftermath of this piece is a bond of our chemistry as he completely trusts my instinctive penchants while exploring thru his travel, knowing the fact that any of his hunts will find a room in our home pretty pleasantly with my own touch ;) I accomplished its perfect look by capping off with some details of lace embroidery and adding some pearl and mirror work along with hanging loops on my last visit to India. The new discovery of picchwai was more pleasurable than expected and now it grants a stunning impact in the place.    

Time to time, I rearrange things in the pooja room as well. Likewise, I go shopping in my own home and alter the look with few brass pieces pulled from another room to get a new look in a different spot.

The TV console,  a secret storage of devotional items, fits perfectly well in that corner. Tons of accessories and spiritual books brightly conceal in this armoire.   

At the advent of any religious function, pooja room beautifies in the mood rendering to the celebrations. On "Janmashtmi"  we welcome "Krishna" in his rocking cradle, at the arrival of Ganesh Chaturthi, we pay our homage to an eco-friendly clay model of Ganesha and prior to onset of glitzing Diwali, the room and our hearts get illuminated with tons of bright diyas and glittery rangoli. You may catch the glimpse of our "Annakoot" celebration in the same room. The perfect size of the room welcomes many guests on these religious gatherings in our home.

The opposite wall of our temple is decked up with our daughter's beautiful creations and few cherished memories of collected of gifted Ganeshas. You may glimpse at the post of the collage wall right here.

Now this area sets as a perfect platform to ease off our hurly-burly in life where we get torn away from gadgets and spend much needed peaceful time. Interceding with God, before we get paraded through the chores of daily life, not only brightens the day but charges positive vibes and energy to fuel rest of the day. 

I do hope with bits and pieces of my Living Room, Kitchen and now this Pooja Room, you could steal some inspirations. Stay tuned on passion page of face book and let me hear your thoughts until we meet again, toodles!

Here is the link of my youtube channel for DIY stencil wall art. Virtual tour of our temple room is up on the IGTV on Instagram here.

DIY STENCIL WALL ART