Last Updated on October 30, 2024 by Tejaswini

The Shravan Month (5th Aug – 3rd Sept 2024 – Amavasyant) is dedicated to the worship of Bhagwan Shankar. You can gain real prosperity in life if you do his pujas sincerely in this month. And in this year the Shravan month is bringing a rare energy combination. The Shravan month falls in the Chaturmaas (17th Jul – 12th Nov 2024) which is full of Dharmic Utsavs/ festivals.

(Watch the video here)

The Shravan Shukla Trayodashi is on a Saturday. That is the proper Pradosh will occur in Shravan month on 17^th Aug 2024. This is a rare magnification of positive energy. Shravan and Pradosh together amplifying the power. Thus doing pujas of the Bhagwan Shankar on this day can immensely amplify good fortune in your life.

Pradosh combination generally occurs 3-4 times in a year. Thus in this year, the Pradosh in Shravan is a rare opportunity which we all must utilise. The Pradosh puja primarily helps in increasing intelligence. And everyone needs intelligence. For the students, intelligence is necessary for a good education. For the regular householder, intelligence is the foundation of every kind of material success. And for the spiritual aspirant, the Buddhi is the access to the Vijnyanmaykosh. This layer of the subtle body is the royal route to Self Realization. And Saturday is the day of Bhagwan Shani, Saturn. So doing pujas on this day will automatically reduce the intensity of your karmic load.

Pujas on Pradosh can as elaborate as you wish. You can do fasts, or eat just satvik foods, or engage Brahmins to do the pujas, read stories of Bhagwan Shankar, read the specific Vrat Kathas of that festival (these are available in all Karma kaand books), etc as per your capacity. But there is one basic activity which is compulsory on this day. On this day we worship the Nandi, the Bull, the vehicle of Bhagwan Shankar along with the Bhagwan.

So here is the simplest puja routine that you can follow. I have given two options, one for puja at home and one for puja in temple. For pujas at home, you will need a Shivlingam with a Nandi in your home puja ghar. If you do not have these moortis then you have to go to a temple which has the Shivlingam and Nandi.

And a third option for those who are travelling or otherwise unable to do either of these two options.

Option 1 – Puja at Home.

The time for the Pradosh puja is the evening – Sandhyakaal, – about 23 mins before and after sunset. So you have to get ready in time. First wash your face, hands and feet or have a full bath. Wear fresh clothes etc. Then enter the puja room.

1. First sprinkle clean water or water from the Devi Ganga, (if you have it) around you and request her to cleanse everything with her energy. 

2. Light a small deepak, a lamp. You can use either oil or ghee in the lamp. 

3. Light incense – Buy dhoop if it is available. It looks like a black dough like lump. Roll a small piece of the dhoop in your palms, and as you do this mentally recite the Mahamrutyunjai mantra. Once the dhoop gets warmed up, fashion it into a stick like shape and light it. 

4. Offer prayers to your Kuldevata or Istadevata or Guru dev or if you do not have any of these, then pray to Bhagwan Ganpati for help, protection and blessings. These prayers can be in Sanskrit if you know the shloks or you can say it in the language of your choice. A few lines to acknowledge their presence in your life and seek their blessings.

5. Then think of Bhagwan Shankar with devotion and request him to accept your puja. If you have any specific intentions /sankalp you can tell these to the deity. (As a rule – one must always request – Shakti, Buddhi and Samruddhi, strength, intelligence and prosperity. And the permanent blessings from the deity.)

6. Visualise him in as much detail as you wish. Eg – on Mt Kailas, white as snow with a blue throat, typical Rudraksh garlands, tiger skin, snakes on the body, Trishul, Devi Ganga in his hair etc. Or Devi Parvati sitting on his left lap and his sons, Bhagwan Kartikeya and Bhagwan Ganpati sitting on his right lap. Or dancing the Tandav. Or seated in Dhyan. Whatever appeals to your mind, visualise the image. And Nandi sitting in front of him.

7. Take a small plate and place a few unbroken rice grains /Akshata in this. (You will be doing the Abhishek of the deity in this plate, so check the size and the volume of liquid you will be using.) Place it in front of you. Now do namaskar to the Shivlingam and Nandi. Place them on the plate. This is the main step of the puja so be mindful. 

8. Slowly pour – pure water, Ganga water, pure sugarcane juice, raw milk of desi cow, panchamrut (mix of raw milk, curds, ghee, honey and cane sugar), etc whatever is available with you on the Shivlingam and the Nandi moorti. As you are doing this Abhishek, recite the Shivpradosh stotra or the Shivtandav stotra or both. If you do not have these stotra by heart then you can play them in the background and try to follow the words. If you cannot do even this then recite ‘Om Namah Shivaya’. Finally do the Abhishek with clean water so that the milk etc gets washed off. (The stotras will take about 10 -15 mins. So if your Abhishek is done before the stotras end, then do the next steps while continuing to listen/ recite the stotra.)

9. Place the Shivlingam and the Nandi moorti back in their place in the puja ghar. Apply fragrance especially jasmine essential oil if you have it, Bhasma/ ash, sandalwood, saffron, etc whatever is available. Offer Bael leaves, flowers, bhang leaves, etc whatever you have. If you do not have any of these things then at least offer some unbroken rice grains as a substitute for all these items. Visualise all these being accepted by the Bhagwan. (If you wish, you can recite the Shiv Manas puja stotra or play it and follow the words.)

10. Keep a bowl of panchamrut or fruits or kheer or any sweet dish that you can make at home or at least some sugar crystals for the deity as a naivedyam to eat.

11. Then light a small piece of camphor as an Arti. If you know any Arti of Bhagwan Shankar you can recite this. Or you can recite ‘Om Namah Shivaya’ at least 3 times. 

12. Then do namaskar to the Bhagwan Shankar and Nandi. Visualise them looking at you with gentleness, love and giving you all blessings/ ashirwad. If you wish, you can do your mantra/ Dhyan etc so as to absorb the energy generated by your puja. Then after you are done, thank the deities for their energy and request forgiveness for any mistakes. If you have any specific prayers you can say them again. 

(If you are doing the puja alone, then all this mantra, etc is to be recited mentally. But if you are doing this together as a family, then all can recite the Stotra, Mantra and Arti aloud together. Also, you can ring a bell, blow the conch, play the cymbals etc if you have these things with you.)

13. Finally, the panchamrut, fruits, sugar crystals etc which you had offered as Naivedyam to the deity should be distributed and eaten by everyone as a Prasad. Then, with your fingers, apply a drop of the used Abhishek water in the plate to your forehead as his blessing. Dispose this Abhishek liquid in the tulsi plant planter or some place where people won’t step on it. 

This much is the core of the Pradosh puja. The simplest and effective Pradosh puja which you can do at home, by yourself. And it will take about 20mins. You can add more steps as per your inclination/ resources if you want to.

Option 2 – Puja in a temple.

All temples which have a Shivlingam also have a moorti of the Nandi. The moorti of the Nandi is generally in the courtyard. And the Shivlingam is in the sanctum sanctorum /garbhagruha.

1. If the temple allows the devotees to do the pujas on the Shivlingam and Nandi then you can do the Abhishek yourself. Try to generally follow the sequence of actions as given above. Many of the steps are done mentally, some are visualizations, some are reciting Mantra/ Stotra mentally. And some are physical actions. See what you can manage in the temple, but follow the rules of the temple. In any case, keep a strong sense of devotion and dedication to the deity. 
2. If the temple does not allow devotees to perform pujas directly on the moortis. Then arrange all the offerings nicely in a Pooja plate. The lamp, the incense, the flowers, fruits, the Abhishek water/milk in small vessel, etc, whatever you have decided to offer to the deity. Give this plate to the priest, who will offer it to the deity on your behalf. And you can do your mental pujas, mental recitations, etc while standing in front of the deities. 

Option 3 – Not able to do either of the two as above.

The time of the Pradosh puja is in the evening. So it is possible that you are travelling or unable to do the puja at home or go to the temple. So if you are genuinely unable to do the puja, then, wherever you are, follow the steps in your mind. Visualise the actions mentally. Offer everything to the deity in your mind. Listen to the recordings of the Shiv pradosh stotra, the Shiv tandav stotra and the Shiv manas puja stotra as you travel. But if you are driving or safety is a concern then just recite ‘Om Namah Shivaya’ in your mind a few times. Sanatan Dharma is extremely liberal. The only condition is that you sincerely connect to the deity. So, even remembering the deity with pure devotion is sufficient.

Now, in brief the allegory /story linked to the Pradosh – the Samudra Manthan

The Dev and Asur churned the Ocean of the Essence of Nectar to attain Immortality. During this process, several auspicious beings emerged from the ocean. And then the ocean spewed out a dangerous poison, called Halaahal or Kaalkoot. This poison would have destroyed creation itself, so Bhagwan Shankar held it in his cupped hands/ anjali and drank it himself. But as he was drinking it, one drop of the poison fell from his lips. This tiny drop was also capable of destroying everything. But before it could fall on the earth, Nandi jumped up and drank it. His faith in the Bhagwan Shankar saved him from annihilation. Later everyone did pujas of Nandi for his selfless and timely action. And Bhagwan Shankar was so happy that he danced the Tandav, standing on Nandi. This happened on a Saturday Pradosh. 

Thus on this day, we worship the image of Bhagwan Shankar dancing the Tandav standing on the Nandi. 

In any case, do not miss this Shravan Pradosh energy. Karma kaand is infinite so there can be unlimited pujas, anushtans etc but even if you do this simplest puja it will give you the same merit, punya, Shreyas if you do it mindfully, with single focussed intention /Sankalp. This Shravan Pradosh is a rare energy and everyone must make use of this. Request the blessings of the Bhagwan Shankar for prosperity etc and specifically for intelligence. And as the core story behind this puja is the Samudra Manthan, do request him to remove negative karmic debts from your life. 

Dr. Tejaswini Arvind Patil