Ganesh Chaturthi 1000 Fruit Yagya
August 20-29, Kanchipuram

Ganesha is the remover of obstacles and thus plays a major role in our enjoyment of life through material and spiritual success. Ganesh (or Vinayaka) Chaturthi celebrates his birthday and it is felt that at this time he is most receptive to prayers and yagya offerings.

This is our most festive and elaborate Ganesha yagya with offerings of 1000 sweet modaka treats and 1000 offerings of fresh fruit from August 20th through the 29th, which is the day of Ganesh Chaturthi.

The purpose of yagyas is to promote the enjoyment of a satisfying and enlightened life. Ganesha is the foundation of that process because he removes the obstacles caused by our own bad karmas. As such, he is the ideal match with Lakshmi who brings us the experience of abundance in all forms.

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50 Priest Lakshmi Yagya
August 29, Pune

A pundit once explained to me that yagyas are like knocking on the door of the divine waiting for our desire to be fulfilled. After 10 days of Ganesha yagyas, we are concluding with a huge Lakshmi yagya, because we desire what she offers; fulfillment and abundance in all forms.

The largest single day Lakshmi yagya that we have ever performed will take place on the 29th, under the guidance of Samir Khanwalker, our chief priest in Pune who comes from many generations of priests. The mantras and procedure for this particular yagya comes from his family tradition.

All 50 priests have been carefully selected and trained for this yagya. If participation levels allow, we intend to perform this yagya every month, potentially increasing the number of priests to 100.

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Maha Narayana Upanishad, Enlightenment Yagya
August 20-29, Kanchipuram

Seetharama Sastry, our chief priest for all Puja.net activities, recommended that the time would be ideal to perform the rare Maha Narayana Yagya in conjunction with the Ganesha and Lakshmi yagyas this month. This special yagya is performed specifically to support and stimulate progress towards enlightenment.

The yagya mantras come from the Taittiriya Aranyaka and is also known as the Maha Narayana Upanishad, part of the Yajur veda. Of course, as with all yagyas, you don't have to know the details in order to benefit from its performance. The value of this yagyas lies in subtly removing the bad karmas (obstacles) to our spiritual growth. Over time, we just enjoy the benefits.

The yagya will consist of the priests reciting the entire Maha Narayana Upanishad every day for the duration of the yagya. On the last day the mantras will be recited one last time, along with offerings of ghee made into the sacred yagya fire.