Vehicle pooja or vahana puja can be performed six days a week. Saturday is usually avoided. Here is a brief idea on how to perform vehicle puja. The step by step guide and procedure might vary slightly in some regions. Please note that new car puja is usually held in a temple by a pujari. But it is now common for people to perform the puja at home.
Vehicle Puja Items
- Karpur - camphor
- Nariyal – Coconut
- Flower garland
- Kalash
- Jaggery or any sweet
- Sindhoor
- Ghee and Diya
- Water
How To Perform Vehicle Pooja?
- The vehicle should be parked facing north, northeast or east for puja.
- Fill the kalash with water. Put chandan, perfume, a coin, small piece of supari and betel leaves. Keep it in front of the vehicle.
- Using three mango leaves the water should be sprinkled on the vehicle. Best is water of a holy river. If not available you can use water in which Tulsi leaves were put overnight.
- Mix ghee and sindhoor and make swastika mark on the vehicle.
- Put garland on the vehicle after making the swastika mark.
- A diya light using cow ghee should be waved around the vehicle. Chant the mantra 'Om Namo Bhagavate Shakti Rudraya Maruti Namah' seven times.
- After this perform Karpoor aarti.
- The water in the kalash should now be thrown the left and right side of the vehicle.
- Keep the sweet on the vehicle and later give it to a cow.
- Break the coconut in front of the vehicle.
- In some regions the vehicle is decorated with banana leaves. Some people break ash gourd or safed bopada. All these are signs of auspiciousness.