Introduction

Kalasa pujan or ghatasthapanā pujā is an important and primary practice in sanātana dharma. Every Sanātani or Hindu worships the kalasa or ghata in every festival, religious occasion, and rites. Ghatastapanā is done in both celebrating the festivities of happiness, rituals in sorrow, or in commencing a social activity.  In Hinduism, some symbolize ‘kalasa’ or ‘Ghata’ as Mother Laxmi; the goddess of wealth, prosperity, and good luck, and some symbolize it as Lord Ganesh; the god of knowledge and remover of obstacles. It is believed that without kalasa pujan or Ghatastapanā at the beginning of any noble work or festival, that would remain incomplete and lead to negative consequences.  

The kalasa pujan is done as an absolute unit, so we can say this ‘Purna Kalasa’. In Rig Veda, the purna kalasa represents abundance and fulfillment of life. We must have known several stories regarding the kalasa like devatās getting ‘Amrit Kalasa’ in ‘Samudra Manthan’, the churning of the ocean; king Dasharatha getting the ‘Charu Kalasa’ while doing ‘putrakāmesti yajna’ and so on. But what is the significance of kalasa pujan or ghatastapanā in every religious ritual? Let us discuss.

Symbolism In The Kalash Pujan Rituals

One ancient Odiā saint-poet sang; “Rādhekrishna Rādhekrishna Rādhekrishna ratare, Ketedine chhādibu tu mātipinda ghata re”, which can be translated as, “Oh man, please chant the name of Rādhekrishna, who knows when you may have to leave this pot or ghata that is made up of soil.” Here, the body is compared with a pot made up of soil, and hence, in actuality,  the kalasa pujan or ghatastapanā is like worshipping the consciousness named Rādhekrishna or the pair of Purusha and Prakriti inside the microcosm i.e. pinda or body. 

Kalash And Its Other Sacred Constituents

Tirtha Jal And Food Grains 

The kalasa or pot is made of soil, brass metal, or copper metal that indicates earth material or prithvi tattva. Here, our body is compared with a pot of soil since it is made from food that in turn comes from the soil via plants; hence the kalasa represents our physical body. We fill the pot with water. Sometimes grains such as paddy, wheat, etc. are also added to the pot. This is the vital energy in our physical body. Here, water symbolizes prāna, as in the Satapath Brāhmana it is said, apo vai prānāh, which means the water verily is life-force. So we worship the prāna or life-force in the body. 

Consciousness first manifests in the form of life-force in a material or physical body.  This prāna in a body comes from Mahāprāna, that is the first manifestation of Paramātmā or Almighty, who is ’Pure Existence’ as per Prashnopanishad (6:4), sa prānamasrujatah …. So, symbolically the water for kalasa is collected from a holy place, tirtha jal. This also signifies that though the vital prāna is rajas in nature, it must have an essence of sattva guna. It should always be moving towards mahāprana, like the river moves to merge with the ocean. This is also called “Varuna pujā”, the worshiping of the deva of water. 

As water is the source of life; so we fill the ghata or pot with water. We put coconut on the top of the pot. This indicates the head of the human body. The water inside the coconut indicates the cerebral fluid substance in the human brain and the pulp of the coconut is brain material. The stem of the coconut symbolizes the human spine. We can also consider it as the bridge between the conscious world and the subconscious mind. 

The kalasa looks like a yogi sitting in a cross-legged posture with the head, neck, and body straight. At the base, the sand mixed with paddy or wheat is compared to a sitting posture. Legs are the organs of actions of Manipurak, the mostly subconscious mind center. These grains also symbolize the seeds that are ready to germinate from our subconscious; these are imprints of our karma from the past, or previous samskāras in our mind-stuff, Chitta. The sand particles symbolize the Chitta. 

The Three-Eyed Coconut

The coconut has three eyes; two eyes are visible but blind, and the third eye is hidden through which the sprout comes out. Our two visible eyes are blind, which only can view the outer or manifested world. Through the third eye or knowledge eye, one can see the realms of the subtle and causal world and finally realize the true self. This states that our real-life journey starts when our knowledge eye is activated. Hence the kalasa pujan is also done to activate our consciousness and inner knowledge. 

Pancha Pallava And Kalava

We put either five mango leaves or five different kinds of leaves, pancha pallava, which indicates our five sense organs i.e. organs of smell, taste, vision, touch, and sound. We tie three rounds of a mixed color thread at the neck of the pot. This colored thread indicates trigunātmikā māyā or three-faceted illusions. It only can break through the activation of inner consciousness and knowledge. 

Coins/Gold And Panch Ratna

We put a coin or gold inside the pot which indicates our life material at Mulādhāra. This is the seat of our material world consciousness. We put a beetle nut on the top of the coin. This is compared to linga mulam at the level of Swādhisthāna, representing the seat of love, affection, emotion, sex, human relations, love for pets, etc. The elevated portion from the base corresponds to Manipuraka, mind with contrasting characters; the middle bump of the pot corresponds to Anāhata, the ego center. The neck portion is considered Vishuddha chakra, our state of bliss. We put red sindur in the middle of the two eyes of the coconut. This symbolizes the Ājnā chakra, the seat of individual consciousness. The top of the coconut symbolizes Sahasrāra chakra, the Shiva consciousness state.  

We put five jewels or Pancha Ratna which represents five ‘Yamas’. Yama is the first limb of yoga as described by Rishi Patanjali. Yoga of Patanjali has eight limbs: yama, niyama, āsana, prānāyāma pratyāhāra, dhāranā, dhyāna and samādhi. Yama is also known as ‘restrain’. Further, Yama is five, viz. ahimsā (non-violence), satya (truthfulness), āsteya (nonstealing), brahmacharya (sexual restrain), and aparigraha (living with minimum needs). These are the five jewels that every human must practice. We put a rice bowl below the coconut on the mouth of the pot. It symbolizes the manifested life energy. 

Sarbaushadhi And Soil

A good body needs medicine to survive; so we put sarbausadhi, different medicinal herbs. We put kusha grass (a special grass used in all Hindu pujā) as the symbol of purity of our lives, a process of pavitrikarana.  We put soil collected from seven different places i.e. soil from the stable of horses, stable of elephants, cowshed, anthill, the soil where two rivers join or sangama, from a pond, from a palace door of a king. These represent the features of vigor, wealth, nutrition, community spirit, cooperation, calmness, and recognition in human life. 

Swastika, Durba Dal, Tulsi Bel Patra And Fruits

We draw a swastika symbol in the body of the pot. The swastika is the symbol of prosperity and good fortune. Hence it indicates the auspiciousness, mangala, in our lives.  When we keep our hands on our chest crossed, it forms a swastika. So these are our retrained hands. We are allowed to work in a restrained manner so that our actions don’t encroach upon the rights of others. We offer durbā dal, Bermuda grass, which represents the softness or komalatā in our lives. We offer flowers on the kalasa, those represent the blossoming mind. Similarly, offering tulsi (holy basil), bilva patra (bel leaf), barakoli patra (green ber leaves) represent different aspects or virtue of our lives. We offer fruits as the result of our actions. Covering the kalasa with a red cloth symbolizes modesty with the honor of our lives. 

Invoking The Brahmanda

As we invoke Brahmā at the base, Rudra at the neck, and Vishnu at the face of the kalasa, we thus worship three aspects of creation, dissolution, and sustenance. We also invoke seven seas, seven landmasses, four Vedas (Rig, Sāma, Yajur, and Atharvana) and Gāyatri, sāvitri, shānti, and pusti. Also, we invoke seven rivers: Gangā, Yamunā, Godāvari, Saraswati, Narmadā, Sindhu, and Kāveri. We also invoke tirtharaj Prayāgraj and all the tirthas (sacred places of pilgrims). This is for the realization of our pinda, microcosm as a miniature form of brahmānda, macrocosm. 

Conclusion

As said above, the kalasa looks like a yogi sitting in a padmāsana with a head, neck, and body. In the Bhagavat-Gitā (6:1), it is said that “The true renunciate and the true yogi are those who perform dutiful actions without desiring their fruits, not those who eschew self-offering, act with ego-motivation nor those who (in the name of renunciation) eschew action by simply renouncing fire.” Hence the kalasa pujan symbolizes the fulfillment of life through duties, inoculation of virtues, and renunciation leading to knowledge. 

Before doing a noble work, worshipping the Almighty or the devas in any kind of festival, we should worship our own self, ātman, first, and should dedicate the fruit of noble work to the Supreme, paramātmā. While doing religious rites, celebrating happiness and auspicious occasions, and even in the death rites, the kalasa pujan is done to know the reality of life and the world, and worshipping the consciousness inside this microcosm.

 

References

1. Giri, Swami Nityananda, Author of Kriyayoga- The Science of Life-force, from unpublished manuscripts. 
2. Giri, Swami Nityananda, 2013: Kriyayoga- The Science of Life-force, Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, pages 390.
3. Mishra, Pt. Lalbihari: Nityakarma Pujaprakash, Gita Press, Gorakhpur.