Why Ram-Lalla Was Blindfolded Before Installation

Perhaps you had this question arise in your mind when you saw the first image released of our beloved Ram-Lalla, who was blindfolded. I saw how curious some of the younger folks were, who practically had never experienced a Deity being installed. We shall come to the blindfold later, as I shall try to explain the Vedic truths behind the process of installing a murti.

The ancient process of worshipping a murti (or a ‘statue’, a misnomer) is a scientific process explained in the Vedas.

Contemporary dictionaries state that the word ‘idol’ is used to denote ‘any material object worshipped as god’ and such an idol invokes ‘blind admiration and devotion’. Please carefully note how so-called experts on India (both home grown and outsiders) and her ancient Vedic wisdom use the word “blind whenever false, undue or illiterate importance is given to a material object. Idolatry or iconography is a general term which refers to the blind worship of physical objects whom foolish people give undue regard as holy and sacred. Abrahamic religions forbid idolatry calling it the most despicable sin. They simply cannot understand how a stone, metal or any other physical object can be God.

Here’s why our form of worshipping is not what people usually term “idol worship.” What happened in Ayodhya is not an outmoded ritual of an unscientific belief system, rather, a precision execution of Vedic scientific guidelines, arrived at by a team of learned experts. This procedure is called prana-pratishtha.

Prana here means “life” and pratishtha means “the process of establishment” or “infusion.” Just as paper becomes currency due to an authorized process, material things cease to be material and take on divine qualities. To cite another example, iron which is cold, hard and black, can become red-hot and fiery if put into a furnace for a sufficient amount of time. Technically, it is not the material object which is worshipped but the love, service and surrender unto the Supreme Lord which is celebrated.

When the Lord self-manifests in a Deity, or when according to proper devotional principles is called upon through prana-pratishtha, Lord Ramacandra actually incarnates as the Deity.

Prana-pratishtha typically involves puja (worship with fruits, flowers, grains, milk etc) and chanting of sacred mantras as the Deity is moved from outside to the desired spot in a temple. It involves inviting the Deity to be the principal or presiding resident of the temple, bathing and cleansing the Deity, akin to welcoming a revered guest arrived after a long journey.

This is followed by dressing and seating the Deity in a location of comfort, with the image’s face oriented towards the east (signifying the sunrise), followed by nyasa ceremony with hymns (act of touching different parts of the murti, symbolizing the presence of various gods as sensory organs (Indra as the hand, Brahma as the heart, Surya as the eyes, etc.).