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prana-pratishtha

प्राणप्रतिष्ठा prana-pratishtha

'Establishing the life-breath'; the rite that installs the deity's living presence in a consecrated image (murti).

Where this term appears

  • What is a Hindu Temple? Temples

    The rite is prana-pratishtha , "the establishing of the life-breath." Through mantra (sacred sound-formulas), through nyasa (the ritual placing of divine power onto the image and the body), through yantra (geom…

  • What is Puja? Worship

    In a temple, the image becomes a dwelling through a specific rite: prana-pratishtha , which means "the establishing of the life-breath." Consider what this looks like as an actual event.

  • Anatomy of a Hindu Temple: Gopuram to Garbhagriha Temples

    And when the image is carved and set in place, it is brought to life by the rite that matters most, the prana-pratishtha , the "establishing of the life-breath".

  • What are Mudras? Lineages

    In the rite of prana-pratishtha , the "establishing of the breath," a priest uses mantra and mudra to transfer breath, life, and the senses into the murti , the image, so that a shaped stone becomes a living pr…

  • What is Ganesh Chaturthi? Worship

    Through a rite called prana pratishtha , the breath-installation, the worshipper asks the deity to be present in the clay.

  • Aniconic Forms: Shaligrama and Yantra Deities

    And so, unlike a carved murti , which must be ceremonially woken by the rite of prana-pratishtha , the shaligrama needs no consecration at all.

  • What is a Murti? Deities

    The central rite is prana-pratishtha , the "establishing of the life-breath," performed with avahana , invocation: in an elaborate ceremony set out in the Agama and Pancharatra texts, the priests ceremonially i…

  • 'Idol worship' is a mistranslation Journal

    The rite is called prana-pratishtha , which means the establishing of the life-breath.

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