Sunday, February 22, 2015

Satyanarayana Pooja and the Deity

Courtesy:Sri.S.Ramaswamy

Satyanarayana Pooja and the Deity.





Lord Satyanarayana, the chief deity of this Pooja is an extremely benevolent form of Lord Vishnu. "Satya" means Truth or Dharma and "Narayana" is another name for Vishnu. During this Pooja, people worship Lord Satyanarayana by reciting his story – Satyanarayan Katha. This story was originally narrated by Lord Vishnu himself to the Sage Narada for the benefit of mankind. The devotees customarily undergo fasting (Satyanarayana vratam) while performing this Pooja.



The Pooja starts with a prayer to Lord Ganesha, the remover of all obstacles, followed by the Pooja for the 9 planets, the Navagrahas. Following these, Lord Satyanarayana is invoked by chanting mantras and performing Archana using flowers. In the form of Prasad many varieties of food are offered.

Recommended Timings for Satyanarayana Pooja

This Pooja can be done on Pournami (Full Moon day). It can also be done on auspicious Horas.

Satyanarayana Pooja will replenish the lives of:

  • People who yearn for prosperity in their lives
  • Women who wish for a happy and contented life
  • Business men who want to make huge profits
  • People who are suffering from financial crunches
  • Childless Couples who are yearning for a progeny
  • People who wish for the well being of their families 

Sapatha is a sweet Semolina pudding which is prepared as prasad for Sathyanarayana puja. We at home prepare Sheera from Semolina but we donot add bananas and milk , the two special ingredients of Sapatha. A little background on the Puja itself is due.

Satyanarayana Puja is a ritual performed by Hindus before/on any major occasion like marriage, house warming ceremony etc. It can also be performed on any day for any reason. The Satyanarayana Puja is unique in that it does not require a priest to perform. The Satyanarayana Puja is usually done on the Poornima day of every month (the day of the full moon). It is also done on special occasions and during times of achievements as an offering of gratitude to the Lord. These occasions include marriage, graduation, and the purchase of a new home to name a few.

The puja starts by a prayer to Lord Ganesha, the elephant God and remover of all obstacles that may occur as a result of incorrectly performing the puja. This is done by chanting all the names of Lord Ganesha and offering prasad (a food offering, usually consisting of one of Lord Ganesha's favorite foods – modak, a sugar and coconut mixture, or [lhadu]) and the showering of flower petals. Refer wickey.

What you need to have:

- Wheat semolina (Thin) –  1  Cup

- Pure ghee – 1  Cup

- Milk –   2 and 1/2 Cups

- 5 Bananas – 250 grams

- Sugar – 1 Cup

Ingredients of Sapatha(Prasad)

Ingredients of Sapatha(prasadam)

What you do with what you have:

1. Place a thick bottomed bowl on medium flame with the above mentioned quantity of ghee. On melting add semolina and fry it till you get a pleasant aroma as you fry for upma.

2. Meanwhile heat milk and bring it to boil. Add boiling milk slowly to the fried Semolina and stir it well in such a way that there are no lumps. Make sure that semolina is cooked well. If Semolina is not cooked some more milk can be added and cooked properly.

3. Add Banana pieces to the cooked semolina and stir it for a while on a low flame till it is cooked for about 3-5 minutes depending upon the quantity one prepares.

4. Add sugar to it and stir it well till the dish releases ghee on the side of the bowl as shown in the image below. Do not drain it and it will seep into it gradually. It should be done on a low flame only. Offer it to the almighty and distribute it as prasad to the gathering.

Ready to serve prasad (Sapath)

Ready to serve Sapatha(Puja prasad)

What to remember:

1. Fry semolina in ghee so that it is not raw.

2. Add warm/hot milk only so that there are no lumps. The quantity of milk depends upon the thickness of the semolina. If semolina is not cooked , the dish will turn hard.

3. Cook it on medium/low flame only. For this prasad only 5 ingredients is as per the rituals. The flavour of this dish is unique and awesome. Hence please do not add any dry fruits , Cardamom, saffron etc.

How long it takes: 45 Minutes

Serves 30-40 people.

Complete Puja Items List for Satyanarayan Vrat

1.Haldi (Turmeric powder) 1/4 cup
2.Kumkum 1/4 cup
3.Chandan powder (sandalwood powder) 1 packet
4.Dhoop Sticks 1 packet
5.Deepam(lamps) 2 (optional) with 2 wicks
6.Oil and Wicks as desired for Deep
7.Camphor 1 packet
8.Panchamrutam little (mixture of Milk, Curd, Honey, Ghee and sugar)
9.Blouse Pieces 2 Preferably Red, Orange and yellow
10.White Towel One for Mandap
11.Rice 1 kg For Mandap and Kalash
12.Mango Leaves A twig with 5 leaves for kalasham (optional)
13.Jaggery piece small piece for Naivedyam for Ganesh
14.Akshitas 1 cup uncooked Dry Rice Grains mixed with Haldi and 2-3 drops of Ghee(yellow uncooked rice)
15.Betel Nuts 40 For Navagraha pooja
16.Dry dates 40 For Navagraha pooja
17.Quarter coins 40 10$ worth For Navagraha pooja
18.Pan(Betel nut) Leaves 50 For Navagraha pooja, Ashtadikpalaka puja and Kalash
19.Coconuts 6 minimum (5 for 5 Sai Baba Swami Mahima Stories and 1 for Kalash)
20.Flower Garlands 2 for Satyanarayan Swami and Baba Photos
21.Flowers as desired for Puja
22.Fruits as desired Preferably 5 types for Naivedyam including Bananas
23.Kalash 1(optional) Copper or Silver Metal Preferably.
24.Tumblers(copper/silver) 2 for Aachimanyam
25.Spoons( copper/silver) 2 for Aachimanyam
26.Medium Sized Trays 4 for Puja Setup and Naivedyam
27.Peda as desired Prasad for Baba
28.Halwa Prasad 2 cups for Naivedyam
29.Shirdi Sai Baba Photo 1
30.SatyaNarayana Swami Photo 1
31.Agarbatti stand and Aarti Stand for Dhoop and Camphor Lighting
32.Small Bell for Puja 1
33.Match Box



Satya means "truth" and narayana means "The highest being" so Satyanarayan means
 "The highest being who is an embodiment of Truth". The Satyanarayana Vratam and Puja are very popular in Andhra Pradesh India. There is also a temple for Sri Satyanarayana Swamy at Annavaram, near Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh where this vratam is performed every day.


This puja is first mentioned in Skanda Purana, Reva Kanda by Suta Puranik to the rishis in Naimisharanya. The details are part of the Katha/"Story" that is usually read along with the puja.

This puja is usually performed on the Purnima day of every month. It is also performed on special occasions and during times of achievements as an offering of gratitude to the Lord. These occasions could include marriage, graduation, start of a new job, and the purchase of a new home to name a few. In addition, the performance of this most auspicious puja generally confers a child to couples trying to start a family.

The Satyanarayan puja can be performed on any day except on New-Moon. It is not a puja confined to any festivities, but Purnima (full moon day) is considered specifically auspicious for this puja. Performing this puja in the evening is considered more appropriate. However one can perform this puja in the morning as well.

This puja is simple and can be performed by anyone and does not require a priest to perform it. The complete Satyanarayana Puja is now available at our site in multiple Indian scripts (Thanks toAksharamukha transliterator). Please see the links below for the pdf file of your choice:

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