Samagri × Puja — The Moment Guide
You have thirty materials. You have a hundred ritual moments through the year. This chapter is the map.
Satyanarayan puja samagri includes: panchamrit, tulsi leaves, banana, seasonal fruits, dry fruits, wheat flour for sheera prasad, betel leaves and nuts, haldi-kumkum-akshata, chandan, agarbatti, camphor, ghee diya, cotton wicks, coconut, flowers, mauli, and a kalash with mango leaves and coconut on top.
Published · Updated · Chaitanya Global Research Team
Festival guides: date, samagri checklist and vidhi for Diwali 2026 (8 Nov) · Karwa Chauth 2026 (29 Oct)
Volumes 1 and 2 of this Grantha each closed with a moment guide — a matrix that mapped every household ritual moment to the correct form of smoke (Volume 1) and the correct fragrance family (Volume 2). This chapter is the third companion. It maps every household ritual moment to the correct samagri combination — which materials, in which quantities, for which puja.
Where the smoke and fragrance moment guides fit on two pages, the samagri moment guide is larger — because samagri is more varied. A daily morning aarti uses eight or ten materials; a festival puja uses twenty; a wedding uses fifty. This chapter organises the household's samagri needs into a legible reference the household can carry through the year.
The daily minimum
For daily morning aarti (any household, any tradition, any deity focus), the minimum samagri assembly:
Powders (small katoris):
- Haldi — a pinch
- Kumkum — a pinch
- Akshata (whole rice, plain or yellow-tinted) — a small heap
- Chandan powder — a small pinch (or fresh paste prepared on the stone slab)
Liquids:
- Fresh water in the panchapatra (with a drop of gangajal added)
Fragrance:
- One lit agarbatti in the stand
- 2-3 bhimseni camphor crystals on the arti-daan ready for aarti climax
Fire:
- One lit ghee-diya
Fresh offering:
- 2-3 fresh flowers (marigold, jasmine, or seasonal — whatever is available)
- 2-3 tulsi leaves (essential for Vishnu / Krishna focus)
Optional daily additions:
- A small handful of akshata for the aarti-sprinkling
- A small drop of attar for the deity's forehead (advanced practice)
- A small bell for ringing at aarti climax
Total daily assembly time: ~5-8 minutes. Total daily material cost: ~₹20-40.
This is the minimum daily observance. Every household with a mandir can maintain this level of ritual with the samagri stock a Chapter 12 starter kit would provide.
Weekly special pujas
Beyond daily aarti, most households observe one weekly special puja aligned with the household's deity focus:
Monday — Shiva puja. Add: bilva (bel patra) leaves (11 or 21), extra ghee for abhishekam, additional bhimseni camphor, fresh flowers (particularly white — champa, jasmine).
Tuesday — Hanuman / Ganesha puja. Add: durva grass (21 or 108 sprigs for Ganesha; sindoor-tinted oil for Hanuman), gud (jaggery) or ladoo prasad, red flowers (marigold, hibiscus).
Wednesday — Ganesha puja (secondary). Same as Tuesday if Ganesha-focused.
Thursday — Guru / Vishnu / Sai Baba puja. Add: tulsi (full sprigs, not just leaves), yellow flowers, panchamrit, gud or besan ladoo prasad.
Friday — Lakshmi / Devi puja. Add: red kumkum (extra), red flowers (rose, hibiscus, red marigold), kheer or sweet prasad, lotus if available, silver coin for the offering plate.
Saturday — Shani / Hanuman puja. Add: black til, sesame oil for the diya (in place of ghee), black-blue-navy flowers if available, urad dal offering.
Sunday — Surya (sun) puja. Add: red flowers, red sandalwood if available, wheat grains, gud, water offering (arghya) to the sun at sunrise.
Ekadashi (11th day of lunar fortnight) — Vishnu-focused fasting day. Reduced or fasting-appropriate samagri; extra tulsi; no grains for households observing strict Ekadashi vrat.
Amavasya (new moon). Loban and Earthy Resinous fragrance appropriate; specific ancestor-honouring offerings if the household observes shraddha on amavasyas.
Purnima (full moon). Satyanarayan puja is traditionally performed on full moon days — see the specific samagri list below.
Festival samagri
The major festivals require specific expanded samagri lists. A reference summary:
Ganesh Chaturthi (August-September). Modak preparation (rice flour, coconut, gud), 21 or 108 durva sprigs, red flowers, red sandalwood, sindoor, coconut, banana leaves for the offering, dhoop, camphor, extra panchamrit.
Navratri (October). Nine days, each dedicated to a Devi form. Specific colour flowers each day (red, yellow, green, grey, orange, white, red, sky-blue, purple — the classical Navratri colours), akshata, kumkum, kheer or halwa prasad, coconut, red chunari cloth for offering, small brass kalash for the Devi.
Dussehra (10th day of Navratri). Similar to Navratri plus a specific weapon-offering ritual (ayudha puja) with turmeric applied to tools and instruments the household uses; particular attention to tools of livelihood.
Diwali (October-November). Lakshmi puja is the centrepiece — red flowers, kheer, coins (silver or gold if available), red chunari, extra ghee for the many diyas lit through the house, camphor, gangajal, dry fruits (particularly generous portion for Diwali), specifically wheat grains and rice at the entrance for prosperity symbolism.
Karva Chauth (October-November, married-women fasting festival). Sindoor, red bangles, mehendi, water offering (arghya) at moonrise, sweets (particularly gud + til), fresh flowers, mirror and sieve for the traditional moon-viewing ritual.
Makar Sankranti (14 January). Til-gud laddus, black til for offering, freshly-harvested seasonal grains (wheat), sesame oil for the diya, sunrise offering to Surya.
Maha Shivratri (February-March). Bilva leaves (extra, 108 or 1008), milk for abhishekam (large quantity), gangajal, bhang (traditional in some regions, respectfully offered), datura flowers if available, extra bhimseni camphor, dhatura fruit, coconut water, black til.
Ram Navami (March-April). Tulsi, sweet prasad (particularly panjeeri — a wheat-flour and ghee sweet), yellow flowers, akshata, kheer, coconut.
Krishna Janmashtami (August-September). Butter (fresh unsalted), misri, tulsi (extensive), panchamrit (elaborate preparation), sweet prasad (kheer, laddu), yellow flowers, silver crib for the Bal Krishna murti, small silver spoon and cup for the birth-moment offerings.
Life-cycle samskaras
Beyond daily, weekly, monthly, and annual ritual, the household samagri needs expand dramatically for the sixteen classical samskaras (life-cycle rituals) that mark birth, initiation, marriage, and death.
Grihapravesh (house entry). Complete pooja kit + havan dravya + gangajal + coconut for breaking at threshold + guggul loban for room-by-room cleansing (Vol 1 Ch 5) + specific mangal-kalash setup.
Wedding rituals. The largest samagri consumer — extending across engagement, mehendi, haldi (yellow-turmeric-anointment ceremony), sangeet, wedding proper, reception. Multiple households buying samagri simultaneously; costs run into thousands to tens of thousands.
Naming ceremony (namkaran). Basic pooja samagri + specific herbs for the child + honey and gold (touched to the tongue in the traditional first-taste ritual) + specific mantra materials.
Upanayan (sacred thread ceremony). Basic pooja + specific initiation-thread materials (kush grass, deer skin substitute, wooden staff) + havan dravya + gayatri-mantra materials.
Antyeshti (final rites). Serious samagri needs — kush grass (essential), til (black), rice pinda materials, ghee, sandalwood chips, camphor, gangajal, specific mantra materials.
The moment × samagri matrix
The compact reference — every major ritual moment and its distinctive samagri additions beyond the daily minimum:
| Moment | Distinctive samagri additions |
|---|---|
| Monday (Shiva) | Bilva 11-21, milk abhishekam, extra ghee, white flowers |
| Tuesday (Hanuman/Ganesha) | Durva 21-108, red flowers, gud laddu, sindoor oil |
| Wednesday (Ganesha) | Durva sprigs, gud, red flowers |
| Thursday (Vishnu/Sai) | Tulsi full sprigs, yellow flowers, panchamrit, besan ladoo |
| Friday (Lakshmi/Devi) | Red kumkum extra, rose/hibiscus, kheer, lotus, silver coin |
| Saturday (Shani) | Black til, sesame oil for diya, black-navy flowers, urad |
| Sunday (Surya) | Red flowers, wheat grains, gud, sunrise arghya |
| Ekadashi | Tulsi extra, fasting samagri (no grains for strict observers) |
| Amavasya | Loban, ancestor-honouring materials, black til for shraddha |
| Purnima | Satyanarayan puja materials, wheat, ghee, kheer, panjiri |
| Ganesh Chaturthi | Modak, durva 108, red flowers, sindoor, coconut, banana leaves |
| Navratri (9 days) | Colour-specific flowers per day, akshata, kumkum, red chunari |
| Dussehra | Ayudha puja materials, turmeric-anointment of tools |
| Diwali | Lakshmi puja materials, ghee (large), coins, red chunari, dry fruits |
| Karva Chauth | Sindoor, mehendi, sieve and mirror, sweets, moonrise arghya |
| Makar Sankranti | Til-gud laddu, black til, sesame oil diya, wheat |
| Maha Shivratri | Bilva 108-1008, milk (large), gangajal, camphor extra, coconut water |
| Ram Navami | Tulsi, panjeeri, yellow flowers, akshata, coconut |
| Janmashtami | Butter, misri, tulsi extensive, panchamrit elaborate, silver crib |
| Grihapravesh | Complete puja + havan + gangajal + coconut + guggul cleansing |
| Wedding | Complete expanded samagri across multiple ceremonies |
| Namkaran | Basic puja + child-specific herbs + honey + gold touch |
| Upanayan | Initiation-thread + kush + havan dravya + Gayatri materials |
| Antyeshti | Kush essential, til (black), pinda rice, sandalwood, gangajal |
Twenty-four moments. Every one mapped. This is the household samagri playbook for the full ritual year.
“A hundred moments across the year. Thirty materials on the household shelf. This chapter is the map that lets you match one to the other, every time.”
Published by the house of Chaitanya · www.chaitanya.global
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