Online puja for families in Melbourne

Melbourne's Indian community has grown fastest in the outer suburbs, especially Tarneit, Truganina, Point Cook, Werribee and Wyndham Vale in the west, Craigieburn in the north, and Dandenong, Clyde North and Cranbourne in the south-east. Foster Street in Dandenong is known as Little India, and shopping strips in Tarneit and Point Cook now serve many families too. Many households are young families in new estates, juggling commutes on the Western Ring Road or Monash Freeway with school and weekend sport, and local pandits can be heavily booked on popular weekends. Our pandits are based in India and conduct pujas live over Zoom, Google Meet or WhatsApp video. Because Melbourne is four and a half to five and a half hours ahead of India, an afternoon or evening puja in Melbourne falls in the Indian morning or afternoon. The pandit explains each step in Hindi or English, and relatives in India 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 new townhouses and apartments with hard-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. We have no office in Australia and do not make home visits.

Practical notes for Melbourne

• Foster Street in Dandenong and shops in Tarneit and Point Cook stock samagri; we send a checklist in advance.
• Melbourne is 4h30m ahead of IST in winter and 5h30m ahead during daylight saving; avoid very early mornings, which are before dawn in India.
• New-build homes have hard-wired smoke alarms; choose the smoke-free havan and never disable an alarm.
• Total fire ban days in summer can prohibit outdoor fires; plan havan indoors.
• Do not place ashes or offerings in Port Phillip Bay, the Yarra or Werribee River; we arrange visarjan at a tirth in India.

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