Online puja for families in Vancouver & Surrey

Metro Vancouver's Indian community is largest in Surrey, especially Newton, Fleetwood and Panorama, with families also in Delta, Burnaby, Richmond, Coquitlam and out in the Fraser Valley towards Abbotsford. Punjabi Market on Main Street in Vancouver and Scott Road in Surrey have long been everyday shopping hubs, and many Hindu families here have close ties with Punjab, Haryana and Gujarat. The biggest practical challenge is time: the Pacific coast is twelve to thirteen and a half hours behind India, and finding a pandit locally on the exact muhurat can be difficult. Our pandits are based in India and conduct pujas live over Zoom, Google Meet or WhatsApp video. A Vancouver evening is early morning in India, a natural time for puja, so the time gap actually works well. 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 condos and townhouses with smoke alarms and strata rules, 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 Canada and do not make home visits.

Practical notes for Vancouver & Surrey

• Scott Road and Newton in Surrey and Punjabi Market on Main Street stock samagri; we send a checklist in advance.
• Vancouver is 13h30m behind IST in winter and 12h30m behind in summer; evenings from about 6:30 pm work best.
• Strata buildings often ban open flames; choose the smoke-free havan and never disable an alarm.
• Summer wildfire-season fire bans in BC can restrict outdoor fires, so plan any havan indoors with the smoke-free option.
• Do not put ashes or offerings into the Fraser River or the ocean without permission; we arrange visarjan at a tirth in India.
• Because of the large time difference, festival tithis can fall a day apart from Indian calendars; we confirm the local date.

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