Online puja for families in Leicester

Leicester has one of the most visible Hindu communities in Britain, centred on Belgrave Road, often called the Golden Mile, and spreading out to Rushey Mead, Evington, Humberstone, Hamilton, Oadby and Thurmaston. Many families trace their roots to Gujarat by way of East Africa, and the city's Diwali celebrations on Belgrave Road draw visitors from across the country. With such an active festival calendar, local pandits can be fully booked on the busiest muhurats, and families with relatives in India often want everyone to take part in the same puja. Our pandits are based in India and conduct pujas live over Zoom, Google Meet or WhatsApp video. They guide the sankalp, Ganesh puja, main ritual and aarti step by step, with explanations in Hindi or English, and relatives in India or elsewhere can join on the same link. Rituals traditionally done at a tirth, such as pind daan and asthi visarjan, are performed on your family's behalf at Prayagraj, Kashi, Ayodhya or Mathura-Vrindavan and shown to you live. For terraced houses and flats with mains-wired smoke alarms we offer a smoke-free havan: the pandit performs the fire havan live at a tirth in India while your family offers ahutis at home with no flame or smoke, or with only a ghee lamp. There is no office in Leicester and no home visits; every puja is online or at a tirth in India.

Practical notes for Leicester

• Belgrave Road and Melton Road shops carry almost everything on our samagri checklist, including kalash, moli, roli and ghee.
• On Diwali night Belgrave Road is very busy; an online Lakshmi-Ganesh Puja at home lets the family do puja first and still enjoy the lights.
• Leicester is 5h30m behind IST in winter and 4h30m behind in summer; we adjust slots when the clocks change in March and October.
• For homes with interlinked smoke alarms, the smoke-free havan avoids any risk of setting them off. Please never disable an alarm.
• Please do not put offerings or ashes into the River Soar except at a site the council has approved; we can arrange asthi visarjan at Prayagraj or Kashi.

Online via Zoom, Google Meet, WhatsApp video. Online pujas from $51 — see pricing.