How to Perform Puja to Krishna

Last Updated: December 27, 2022

Offering puja to Lord Krishna is a very good devotional practice to please the Lord and to advance spiritually, it helps to develop a personal relationship with the Divine, to acquire Universal Knowledge and positive energy, to control and discipline the mind, to show our love to God and to awaken love of God.

Lord Krishna is a Universal Deity, and a paripurna avatar (full and complete incarnation of God). In the Hindu religion, He is considered an avatar of Lord Mahavishnu, (the sustainer of the Universe and protector of Dharma). He is mainly worshipped in the ancient Bhakti yoga, Karma Yoga and Jnana yoga systems, devotional religions, hindu sampradayas, in multiple vedic and tantrik traditions like Sri Vidya, and also related religions like Jainism, Buddhism, New Age and new religious movements.

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Doing a full puja

1
Take a bath before performing the puja and mark your forehead with ashtagandha (sandalwood) or gopi chandan (mud of Vrindavan).
2
Place a white cotton cloth on a clean table or surface. You need to put a Lord Krishna murti or image at the center of the altar in a large deep container. Arrange a puja plate with water to sprinkle, kumkum powder, sandalwood paste, incense, aarti lamp and flowers.

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3
Arrange another plate with sattvic foods and fruit, water to drink and more flowers. Take a ghee (clarified butter) or sesame oil deepam (lamp) and place it there, unlit.
4
When all is set up, you do achaman by taking a spoon with your left hand, dripping some water on your right hand and saying "Om achyutaya namaha" and drink it quietly. Take more water and say "Om anantaya namaha" and drink. Last mantra "Om Govindaya namaha" and drink, then put water on both hands and dry them.^{[1]
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5
Chant the brahma samhita and other mantras and shlokas from the Vedas, Puranas and Upanishads while bathing the Deity with milk, ghee, orange juice, flowers and simple water. Dry the murti and put that bowl aside. Place the food, flowers, water and ghee diya next to Him after abhishekam (the bath)
6
Apply sandalwood paste on Lord Krishna's idol. Begin chanting the prayer shubham karoti kalyanam and light the diya. Then say gurur brahma gurur vishnu.... then, you chant any Krishna bhajan that you like and offer an incense stick 7 times in a circular clockwise motion. Then the arti lamp with 1 or 5 wicks, and then offer the chamara wisk to scare flies, so that Lord would be comfortable.
7
Place a little kumkum at Lord Krishna's feet and then to your forehead as a tilak and distribute the prasada kumkum to devotees around. The offered kumkum has been accepted and blessed by the Lord and applying it to others acts as a medium to transmit Lord Krishna's blessings. Tilak is also used to purify and sanctify the body and to open /stimulate and protect the adnya chakra. Blow the conch shell to finish the worship ceremony and ask forgiveness for mistakes during the archana, wrongdoings or forgetting something during puja. You can leave there the offerings of fruits, water, naivedyas, flowers and rice for some time for God to enjoy and later eat them as prasad or you can later immerse them in flowing water or distribute to other people. Now you can sashtang pranaam to God
8
You can do japa meditation with "Hare krishna" or OM NAMO BHAGAVATE VASUDEVAYA^{[2]
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Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Simplest daily puja.

1
Offer a flower, ghee lamp and incense along with a prayer or gratitude. Put fruit or water in altar daily.

Community Q&A

Question

Instead of a conch shell, can I use a bell?

Read4ever

Community Answer

While a conch shell is preferred, a bell can still be used. Remember, it is not about what you do, but if you mean it in your heart and soul.
Question

I have not taken initiation, can I offer fruit and water to Lord Krishna with 5 mantras prayers?

Community Answer

Yes, you still can, Lord Krishna will be happy with your offering.
Question

Lord Krishna had many wives, so should a couple worship him?

Shibesh Dhungana

Community Answer

Absolutely. Lord Krishna is a incarnation of Lord Vishnu, hence he can be worshiped by a couple.

Warnings

Be humble, compassionate and repeat often, or at least say mantra daily without puja. Never ask for anything bad to God.... or will come back to you!!! Always be positive and loving in nature.

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