Creating a Serene Space: Pooja Room Designs for Every Home
Introduction
According to Vastu experts, every house should have a dedicated space for a pooja room. In modern apartments with limited space, it can be difficult to have an entire room for a mandir. However, one can create a wall pooja corner, which will help create a calm and positive environment. Auspicious materials such as wood and marble can be used to design a home temple. Opt for a pooja room design for your apartment, which works best for small homes. Check these middle class Indian style pooja room designs that reflect simplicity and elegance.
What is a Pooja Room?
A pooja room is a sacred space that has the idols of deities. It is the place where a family prays together, which is a source of positive energies. According to Vastu Shastra, the northeast or the Ishan Kon is the ideal direction to build a mandir. A pooja room has one or multiple idols. Other items that are a must in the pooja room are an incense burner, a bell, a diya, and a small jar to hold Dakshina (money offerings). The homeowner can decide on the number of deities – which can be kept in standing or sitting positions.
Importance of a Pooja Room in an Indian Household
The main purpose of having a pooja room is to offer prayers to the deities so that they can bless us with good luck, wealth, and prosperity in life. It is a place where our family members and friends can gather to celebrate special occasions. These rooms can also be used for self-prayer or meditation and for general relaxation.
Pooja Room Designs Inspired by Temple Architecture
Indian temple architecture has always fascinated us. To bring it home, you can take some elements from Indian temple architecture to design your pooja room. Make the entrance grand with a couple of sculpted columns in wood or marble. One of the interesting pooja room ideas is adding a pendant light for a temple-like feel. Design the ceiling so that it resembles a dome.
Mandir Design with Auspicious Quotes
To add a contemporary touch to your pooja room, add classical Sanskrit verses or shlokas on a large canvas or etched on glass, as a backdrop. Use calligraphy to write the shlokas to give your prayer room design a classic appeal.
Pooja Room Designs in Marble
Marble is a popular choice for prayer room design in homes. If you have a big home where you can make space for a separate pooja room, there could be no better option than marble pooja room designs. Although it will involve considerable maintenance and expense, it is long-lasting and you do not have to worry about termites. Marble, when used for the pooja room design, matches with all kinds of décor and flooring. Your pooja room will not only look rich and elegant, but it is also considered ideal for those who are looking for small pooja room designs.
Small Traditional Pooja Room Designs for South Indian Homes
South Indian pooja rooms use a lot of wood with carvings and the idols are mostly in brass. Idols and images are both kept on the altar. The mandir can be made from wood and set against the wall. The idols can be placed on the shelf of the mandir, thus, leaving enough space around for flowers and diyas. South Indian design includes doors for the mandir which are shut during the afternoon. You can have a backdrop with ‘Om’ either embossed or printed. A brass bell adds to the divine atmosphere.
Temple Style Puja Unit
The temple-style puja unit is a compact but elegant way to store your ritual items. This unit attached to the wall of your small pooja room features a cabinet completely closed at the top, with three sliding doors that open up to reveal all of your sacred items. The cabinet also features an attached shelf for additional storage space. This compact design is perfect for any home with limited space or an aesthetic that does not demand a lot of floor space.
Pooja Room Design: Wooden Mandir
Wooden mandirs go well with all types of interior finishes and décor themes. Nowadays, there are readymade pooja room units available in different materials. Such pooja rooms add grandness to space. However, wooden décor needs proper care and maintenance. You have to be cautious when lighting candles and diyas in the room. Apart from this, wood adds versatility and warmth to the pooja room. If you do not have enough space, you can opt for small pooja room designs. For large homes, instead of getting a new wooden mandir design made at home, you can refurbish old wood or look for second-hand stores where you can find an affordable wooden mandir design, which could be refinished as per your choice.
Modern Puja Room Design
For a contemporary puja room design, you can convert a part of the wall or the entire wall into a pooja space. Create niches in the wall, about six inches to eight inches in depth. Each niche can have an idol/image. Ensure that you have a spotlight for each niche, so that the idol is lit. You can place diyas or flowers in front of the idol in this small mandir design.
Small Pooja Room Designs for Indian Homes
Small mandirs are ideal for apartments and small homes, which do not have space for a separate pooja room. These mandirs are readily available in the market or can be made to order. Most of the apartments may not have ample space for a pooja room. The striking feature of middle class Indian style pooja room designs is having a compact and minimal pooja unit. One can design a plywood pooja unit and shelf on the wall. You can design a small mandir by just adding shelves into the wall. The shelves of these Indian style pooja room designs could be either marble or glass or wood or any material you prefer. Each shelf can have a different dimension or have three shelves – one for the main deity and one on either side for the diyas.
Wall-Mounted Mandir
For really small apartments or studio apartments, wall-mounted mandirs are the best options. You can save a lot of floor space with this and you can install it in any corner in a minimal space. These units are also available as pooja cabinet designs for storing puja samagri. When selecting wall-mounted units, you can go for open shelves or closed cabinets based on your preference. Wooden cabinets with glass doors are an excellent option for the puja room. They are an ideal choice for middle class Indian style pooja room designs that focus on saving space while creating a serene puja corner.
Compact Cabinet Attached to the Wall
The compact cabinet attached to the wall is one of the most popular designs for small pooja rooms. It is a single room that contains all the essential items for the pooja. The compact cabinet can be made of any material, but nowadays it is mostly used in wood and glass. It has a separate prayer room attached to it so that people can pray there. The compact cabinet can be placed anywhere in your house, but we recommend placing it at least ten feet away from any other furniture or decoration in your house so that your guests don’t feel crowded during their stay.
Corner Mandir Design
When planning for living room puja designs, in a traditional Indian style as seen in middle class homes, you can select a floor space for the pooja unit or pick a wall corner for placing the mandir or home temple. Cement wardrobes are quite common in Indian homes. They provide space-saving small pooja room designs in apartments that cannot accommodate an exclusive pooja room.
A Separate Prayer Room
If you are looking for a space where you can pray without bothering anyone else, consider going with one of these designs. It is possible to turn a single room in your home into a worshipping area if you have a large space in your house. If you would like to personalize your worshipping space, hang some framed idols, deities, lamps, and diyas. Keep this space elegant. It should not be cluttered.
Mandir Wall Décor Ideas
If you have a separate pooja room at your home, you can choose an attractive mandir backdrop that can enhance the overall look of the space. A wall-sized background décor with such pooja room designs for home can add exclusivity to your room. These wall décor backgrounds are available in various sizes and color combinations that could be selected, keeping in mind the interiors. You have unlimited options when it comes to the interior design for pooja room wall units.
Cement Pooja Mandir Designs for Home
A well-designed cement shelf can be an ideal spot for mandir designs for small flats. These wall cupboards serve as a storage solution and a prayer area in the house. You can combine it with materials like wood for an elegant appearance.
Pooja Room Door Designs
If you have a separate pooja room, you can add doors that can provide more privacy. While there are a lot of options for pooja room door designs, the most practical option would be door designs with glass and wood.
Glass Door: With wood and glass, you get partial visibility but enough privacy. You should ideally pick a glass door design if the pooja room is part of your living room or other common areas of your home.
Wood and Glass Door: The combination of wood and glass panes offers visibility to the pooja room while also creating an illusion of space. One can see the deities during all times. Such pooja room door designs, with wood and glass, are ideal for the corners in your home.
White Wood Doors: White wood doors with glass fitted into the topmost grooves, is a trending design these days. A pooja room door design such as this, allows you to see through the glass areas while offering sturdy wooden frames. Add doors for eye-catching traditional charm. You can make your religious corner a replica of a village temple by adding a wooden door. It will be a clear demarcation and lend a spiritual touch too. Wooden doors can have a carving of your choice.
How to Decorate Your Pooja Room
For your pooja room to stand out, you can customize the frame of the shrine. Adding a golden or silver frame for images of Gods lends a rich look. Make the space simple and easy to clean, with enough space for diyas, silverware, and flowers.
Use Bright-Colored Paints: Use bright colors for the pooja room, such as white, light yellow, or orange. You can also pick pastel shades of these colors, as it will make the space look open, airy, and peaceful.
Use Only Whites: To add to the purity, you can use only white or shades of white to design and decorate the pooja room – white marble, white doors, and a white backdrop.
Add Jaali Work: You can add a decorative element by using jaali work. The jaali work can be fitted into the door frame or as a backdrop.
Choose an Attractive Door Design: Ensure that the pooja room’s door is distinguishable from other rooms. You can pick a sturdy wooden door with carvings, or a transparent glass door.
Make the Entrance Welcoming: You can make the pooja room entrance more decorative by drawing a rangoli or using a rangoli sticker. You can also keep a tall vase on each side of the door and put a toran over the door frame. Always prefer marigold flowers, as they are considered auspicious. You can place an urli in front of the pooja room with fresh flowers daily. Add two jharokas on each side for an ethnic look. If possible, paint the place where one steps in in a bright yellow to demarcate the sacred space.
Keep Colorful Cushions and Stools for Sitting: Add some low, wooden stools or comfortable cushions of different shapes, for sitting around the puja unit design. You can pick beautiful colors and mirror-designed cushion covers for decorating your room.
Add Different Kinds of Lights to Keep the Space Illuminated: Since it is advisable to keep the pooja room always illuminated, you can use different kinds of décor lights for this purpose. You can install a chandelier or other overhead lighting. You can also use beautiful string lights, to decorate the room. Place brass lamps, which can also be used as diyas, on either side of the mandap.
Place Flowers and Plants: Fresh flowers and natural green plants are the best items to keep in a pooja room, as they add to the auspiciousness of the space. However, if you are keeping a natural plant, make sure that it gets enough sunlight.
Use Lace or Drapes to Highlight Walls and Windows: If there is a window in the room, try putting colorful drapes to make the room look peaceful and calm. You can also put beautiful drapes on the mandap if there are no doors. Usually, people draw a curtain across the pooja area during the night or during an eclipse. Add a touch of metallic sheen in the pooja room, with golden photo frames, gold leafing on the dome, decorative brass metal diyas, or brass flower baskets. Golden yellow color lends opulence and positive vibes. One can also choose silver pooja accessories to enhance the pooja room’s décor.
How to Choose a Perfect Mandir for Your Home
Before deciding on a perfect pooja room design or mandir for your home, consider the following points:
Space Available for Design Implementation: If not a separate pooja room, try to place your mandir in a secluded place, which has a little privacy and you can concentrate easily.
Budget: Always keep a separate budget for the pooja room/mandir, so that you do not spend on things that you never factored in.
Size of Your Home/Apartment: Choose a mandir which can completely fit in your home. A mandir that is too big or too small, as compared to your total space, will not match the design aesthetics.
Color Scheme of Your Home: Consider the color theme of your home before deciding on the type of mandir you want to buy.
Pooja Room Color Scheme
Yellow: Since yellow represents happiness and optimism, it is also considered a sacred color, because of its spiritual significance. Yellow color also adds a meditative tone in the pooja room.
Orange: A radiant orange tone represents power while a muted tone signifies energy. This is the reason why the orange color is considered as sacred as yellow for the puja room design. You can also consider choosing a lighter shade of orange which will make it airy and fresh. However, avoid darker tones as it comes out as very loud and can be distracting.
White: The color signifies purity and cleanliness, which makes it the perfect choice for the pooja room as it adds to its functionality of creating a spiritual space. If your pooja mandir design includes a marble structure, opt for a white or off-white variant with minimal stripes.
Pooja Room Flooring
Natural stones like Indian makrana, or white marble, which are auspicious. Flooring materials like porcelain and vitrified tiles, wood, and marble resembling tiles, are easy to maintain. Choose from a variety of tiles with motifs. Keep a small rug or mat on the floor, when praying or meditating.
Make Storage Spaces for Pooja Essentials
When planning a prayer room design, make sure there is provision to keep all pooja essentials in a small storage unit. This could be against the wall, on the floor. Neatness is a must for a pooja room. If you have a wall-mounted mandir, then, you can have drawers below the altar. Depending on your requirement, make one or two drawers to store all the required materials. Moreover, pooja cupboard designs are available in different materials and finishes. Some contemporary cabinets are sleek that also add a style statement to the interiors. Here are some interesting pooja room cupboard designs for your apartment. You can design a pooja unit comprising open shelves and storage cabinets that will provide space for keeping idols and all your puja essentials. This can be a free-standing unit or a wall pooja shelf. Some pooja unit designs come with drawers with stylish metal handles. You can go for a simple design or intricately carved cabinets for a grand look. When selecting this type of pooja room cupboards, you have countless design choices. Opt for something that goes with the décor. Go for a simple wooden pooja cupboard with a low price that can be mounted on the wall. This type of pooja shelf design may have an altar for placing the deities and open shelves to store the pooja essentials.
Tips for Placing Idols in the Pooja Room
- Place the idols in the east or the west directions and not in the north or south.
- One can keep idols of different gods and goddesses but avoid placing more than one idol of the same god, states Vastu Shastra.
- Any photos of the deities should not be hung on the north or south wall.
- Avoid keeping idols that are more than three inches.
- The idols should not be kept facing each other.
- Remove any chipped or broken statues.
- As per Vastu rules for Indian style pooja room designs, the idols and images should be kept on a wooden platform.
- For the puja ghar design, opt for colorful intricately embossed chowkis or decorative small swings, to keep the idols.
- Do not place pictures of the deceased with the idols.
- Do not keep valuables in the pooja room.
- The pooja room should be on the ground floor rather than in the basement or the first floor.
- When planning a prayer room design at home, it is essential to follow certain Vastu principles to ensure the positive vibes in the house.
Tips for Decorating Pooja Room
- Avoid cluttering it with too many images or idols, as this will create a visual distraction and interfere with the calmness in the area.
- When setting a prayer room design, it is essential to keep the space clutter-free and clean.
- Use subtle elements for pooja room model, such as decorative metal motifs on the door or metallic paint shades on just a small section of the wall, to balance the energy in the area.
- A small pooja room should not be more than 12 feet by 12 feet. The room should not be more than 15 feet high.
- Marble is an ideal material for a small pooja room design as it can be crafted into a beautiful floor-standing mandir.
- The floor of the pooja room should be made of tiles or concrete tiles.
- It is quite common to find pooja room designs in glass. It can be used on the door of the pooja room or even for the shelves on which the idols can be arranged. You can even choose colored glass, to enhance the style of the area. Glass is quite affordable and becomes a suitable option among the middle class Indian style pooja room designs.
- The walls of the pooja room should be painted in a neutral color and left unpainted on the ceiling and walls, except for the door frame at one end of the room. The door frame should be painted white.
- Backlit panels are an excellent alternative to feature walls to decorate pooja room. You can also customize such panels with designs such as sacred symbols, holy verses, or etchings of gods and goddesses to bring a unique element to pooja room designs for homes.
- For some privacy in the pooja room, you can consider installing a partition, such as decorative screens or jallis, as they visually divide the area without eliminating natural light. This will also add a sophisticated look to the home.
- When it comes