How online puja works
From booking to aarti — what happens, what you do at home, and what pandit ji does.
Prepared by the Global Vedic Puja Jyotish team · Pandit: Pandit Shastri Gyan Nidhi Pandey · Updated
1. Choose the puja and a date
Send a booking request or WhatsApp us. Tell us the occasion and your city.
2. We fix the muhurat in your time zone
Pandit ji checks the Panchang for your location and confirms the time in your local time and IST.
3. You get a samagri list
Matched to local Indian grocery stores in the US, UK, Canada & Australia, with substitutes and a low-smoke havan option.
4. Set up a small altar
A clean table, kalash, lamp, flowers, fruit and the deity's photo or murti — we send a photo guide.
5. Join the video call
On Zoom, Google Meet, WhatsApp video. Family elsewhere can join too.
6. Sankalp and puja
Pandit ji takes the sankalp with your names and gotra, chants the mantras and guides each offering step by step, explaining in English or Hindi.
7. Aarti, prasad and blessings
The puja ends with aarti and prasad; we answer any questions afterwards.
Typical times in your time zone
| India (IST) | New York / Toronto | Los Angeles / Vancouver | London | Sydney |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6:00 AM | Sat 8:30 PM | Sat 5:30 PM | Sun 12:30 AM | Sun 11:30 AM |
| 8:00 AM | Sat 10:30 PM | Sat 7:30 PM | Sun 2:30 AM | Sun 1:30 PM |
| 6:30 PM | Sun 8:00 AM | Sun 5:00 AM | Sun 1:00 PM | Mon 12:00 AM |
| 8:00 PM | Sun 9:30 AM | Sun 6:30 AM | Sun 2:30 PM | Mon 1:30 AM |
Example slots for 1 Nov 2026, shown in your own time zone. Daylight-saving changes the gap to IST; we confirm every booking in both times.
Next: Online puja in the USA · UK · Canada · Australia · Browse pujas · Pricing · Smoke-free havan
Frequently asked questions
Is an online puja as valid as an in-person one?
Tradition places the weight on sankalp (your stated intention with names and gotra), mantra and your own offerings. In an online puja all three happen — the pandit chants and guides, and you offer with your own hands. Families who can't host a pandit find it a sincere and practical way to keep their practice.
Who performs the offerings?
You do, at home — the pandit tells you exactly when to offer flowers, water, akshat or ahutis.
What if we don't have every samagri item?
That's normal abroad. We suggest substitutes, and a puja is never invalid because one item is missing.
Can relatives in India join?
Yes, add them to the same call. Their names can be included in the sankalp.
What about havan in an apartment?
Use our smoke-free havan system: pandit ji performs the fire havan at a tirth in India live on video while you offer ahutis at home with no smoke, or we guide a ghee-lamp havan. See the smoke-free havan page.