Satyanarayan Pooja - 2013

Satyanarayana Pooja is a ritual performed by the Hindu community. Most people perform it during special occasions like wedding, thread ceremonies, house warming etc but it can be performed anytime during the year.

We have been doing it once every year for over a decade now. The priest starts with Lord Ganesha Pooja followed by Navagraha Pooja consisting of Surya, Chandra, Shukra, Shani, Rahu, Ketu, Budha, Guru, and Angaaraka. Navagraha dhanya (9 kinds of grains) are used -- Rice, Toor dal, Wheat, Chana dal (Bengal gram), Urad dal (Black gram), Val, Til (Black sesame seeds), Green Moong Dal (Green gram) and Kulithu (Horsegram).

The priest then starts the Sri Satyanarayana pooja. "Panchamrit" is made with sugar, ghee (clarified butter), milk, yogurt and honey. He narrates the Satyanarayan Katha (story), which we always request in English so that all kids understand the reason behind the pooja.

"Sapaath", which is the prasad,  is traditionally home made early in the morning after shower, before eating or drinking and first offered to the Lord during the Satyanarayan Pooja. Sapaath is made with butter, cream of wheat, sugar, milk and banana's.

The pooja is concluded with Arti. Panchamrit and Sapaath is distributed to all the attendees.

We had about 175 close friends and family members throughout the whole day for pooja and prasad. Although, most of the cooking is traditionally done on the day of the pooja, I cooked most of the food on the previous day with the exception of White rice, Dalitoy, Doodpak,and Sapaath. By the Grace of God, the weather turned out to be great and the day went very smoothly. With the list of invitees increasing every year, we try to invite in groups at different times through out the day. I was hoping to take pictures of the food on the day of the pooja to post on my blog but the day got extremely busy. This year, I had very little left over which was just enough to plate the next afternoon. More details on menu and cooking for a crowd can be found here.

Clockwise: Tendle Batate Upkari, Pickle, Khaman Dhokla, Val-Val, Jalebi, Chana Gashi, Matar Paneer, White Rice with Dalitoy, Lemon Rice (Center). 
Not pictured: Tomato Rasam, Roti, Papad, Phanna Tak and Doodpak.