Kanthi

The kanthi is a double stranded beaded necklace made of Tulsi. This is a significant symbol of our sampraday.

The origin of the kanthi dates back to the time of Ramanand Swami and his guru Ramanuj Acharya. Ramanand Swami was the first to adorn a double stranded necklace made of Tulsi.

Lord has instructed His followers, in the Shikshapatri Sloka 41, to wear a double stranded kanthi to symbolise Krishna and Radha. The bottom of the kanthi should reach the heart, the place in which God resides.

Tilak Chandlo

The tilak is the name of the 'U' shape and the chandlo is the circular dot between the tilak. It is said to represents the shape of the lotus feet of Lord Swaminarayan.

The tilak mark should be made on the forehead, chest and both the upper arms, using Gopichandan, which is found on the banks of the Lake Gopi in Dwarika).

The chandlo is made from red powder (kum kum or saffron), which symbolises Laxmiji (Goddess of Prosperity) living in the heart of Lord Swaminarayan.

Without the tilak chandlo, God does not accept any religious activity, it is like the password to your heavenly account where all your bhakti is written. . It protects you from worldly bondage, whilst maintaining the body as holy as the temple of God. It atones all your sins of that day.

Mala

The mala is threaded with 108 beads and one larger bead refered to as the 'Mer' named after the divine Mount Meru. It is principally used as a counter whilst reciting the names of God. Almighty God Supreme has thousands of names, the main names are shortlisted into 108, hence 108 beads.

According to scriptures, the solar system revolves around Mount Meru, therefore when doing Mala, when we reach the Mer, we touch it and return in the opposite direction but do not cross it.

When doing mala, one should keep the index fingure away from the mala, as it is deemed impure, this is why it is left on its own. The mala is concealed using a Gaumukhi, this avoids the mala becoming impure by touching the feet or ground.

Nitya Pooja

Nitya means daily and pooja means to worship God. Therefore Pooja performed every day is known as Nitya-Pooja.

The scriptures say that we are more peaceful after we arise from a good nights sleep and more fresher after a bath, and for this reason we are able to concentrate longer on what we do. This is why devotees should do pooja at this time.

"All my disciples should get up daily before sunrise offer prayers to Lord Shree Krishna and then go to answer the call of nature. Thereafter sitting in one place they shall brush their teeth, bathe in clean water and then wear one washed cloth around the waist and one around the upper part of the body. Then they shall sit in a clean place, on a clean suitable cloth, untouched by others, and facing north or east and shall perform achaman (Shikshapatri Slokas 49 -51)"

The clothes used for pooja should be fresh, clean and be kept separate from those worn during the day. For performing pooja, a devotee should sit on floor (on a clean cloth), facing north or east.

The first part of performing pooja is achamana, sipping water using one's palm three times, this purifys the soul. Then one should apply tilak and chandlo as prescribed in Shikshapatri.

"All males shall mark their forehead with a tilak having a chandlo in the centre. All married women shall make only a chandlo of kumkum on their forehead. Widows shall not mark their forehead with either tilak or chandlo. All my disciples shall then meditate upon Lord Shree Krishna and mentally offer Him sandalwood, flowers etc (Shikshapatri Slokas 52-53).

You only really need one murti for performing pooja and that is of Almighty God Supreme, Lord Swaminarayan. Manasi-pooja should then be performed, and the recital of Ahavan Mantra to invite the Lord to take residence in your murti.

The devotee should then perform tapa-mala, chanting the name of Lord whilst standing on the left leg and the right leg should be crossed over onto the left knee. Women should perform tapa mala whilst standing upright on both feet.

<<Nilkanth Varni Tapa murti>>

Pradakshina, walking clockwise around the murtis, should be then performed whilst doing mala. Pradakshina is done so that one can do darshan around the whole of the Lords body.

The Shikshapatri should then be read. If one cannot read the Shikshaparti, then they should worship the Shikshapatri. Finally, the recital of Visarjan mantra, returns Lord to His abode.

Nitya pooja brings devotees closer to Lord Swaminarayan.

Temple

"All my followers shall go to temples of Lord Shree Krishna every evening and shall loudly sing kirtans in praise of Him and His qualities" (Shikshapatri Slokas 63).

Lord is ever present in the murtis at temples. Lord Swaminarayan Himself stated that He resides in four places being temples, scriptures, acharyas and saints. For this reason if no other one should attend temple as often as possible.

The temple is sacred, many saints including Acharyas have done darshan there. The atmosphere is pure and calm. One can worship peacefully and can from a resilient bond with God because there are fewer distractions.

There are evils in every corner of our world and we are sure to come into contact with many of these unknowingly and by going to the temple in the evening we able to, through meditation, wash the sins away.

Our minds are easily swayed and therefore Lord Swaminarayan has stated in the Shikshapatri that one should take immediate action on any acts of dharma.

Darshan

Darshan is a form of worship. Darshan should be done with one mind, the ultimate aim of darshan, is to see the image of Lord wherever you are. At the temple when doing darshan, you should block out everything except the image of God and his beauty. Darshan should not be performed for any form of personal gain.

For males darshan should be done lying down with seven parts of the body (eyes, forehead, mouth, hands, chest, knees and feet) touching the ground. The eighth and most important part, the mind, should be focused upon God. The hands should be crossed so that the right hand touches Gods right foot and the left hand touches the left foot. Darshan should be comprised of a minimum of 6 repetitions, the final darshan asking for forgiveness from Lord.

Females should perform darshan and dedicate themselves to God. They should touch their arms, head, eyes, mouth and mind to the floor in reverence to the lotus feet of Lord Swaminarayan.

"One shall never go empty handed to a guru, deity or a king. One shall never commit a breach of trust and shall never praise oneself (Shikshapatri Sloka 37)"

When going for darshan of God one should not go empty handed. A small gift should always be offered to God, be it fruit, flowers or money.

Aarti

Aarti is a religious ceremony performed to gain darshan and blessing of God. It has two distinct sections. One is the movement of the ghee lamp, this motion is to cover the whole of Lord's body with light so that devotees can do dharsahn of the whole body, the second is the special prayer, composed by Muktanand Swami, sung with the accompaniment of musical instruments.

When Muktanand Swmai realised that Lord Swaminarayan was Almighty God Supreme he spontaneously composed the Aarti.

The person performing the aarti must be physically and mentally pure and clean.

In shikharbandh mandirs aarti is performed five times a day. The five aartis are:

· Mangla aarti- performed before sunrise
· Shangar aarti - performed after God has adorned His clothes
· Rajbhog aarti - performed after the noon offering of food
· Sandhya aarti - performed at dusk before sunset
· Shayan aarti - performed before God rests for the night

In dev mandirs, aarti is performed in the morning and evening only.

Vandu and Chesta Pad

When Lord Swaminarayan was present on earth, the saints and satsangis of our sampraday were always with Him. Assemblies were held as and when Lord desired,.

The saints became used to having Lord Swaminarayan in their lives. But once Lord had left His mortal body, the saints and satsangis could not bear the separation, the pain was unbearable. They had lost direction in their lives.

Gopalanand Swami requested Premanand Swami to compile the Chesta Pad, which would and does vividly describe Lord Swaminarayan's daily routine and habits.

The Vandu Pad had been complied by Premanand Swami, before the Lord's passing, for the purpose of meditation on the 14th day of the dark half of the month of Maha VS 1880. The Vandu Pad describe the beauty and appearance of Lord Swaminarayan.

After Lord Swaminarayan left His mortal body and returned to Akshardham, the Vandu and Chesta Pads were recited on a daily basis in the evenings. It allowed all the saints and satsangis to meditate and remember Lord Swaminarayan as if He was sat infront of them.

The Vandu and Chesta Pads are a superb piece of poetry. It enabled saints and satsangis to focus their distressed minds on the divine murti of Lord Swaminarayan in all His glory and splendour. The tradition of reciting these Pads has remained an important part of the evening ceremony at temples of the Swaminarayan Sampraday.