Bengali Bahuma diary : Satyanarayan Pooja

At every Poornima i.e. full moon day, usually, Satyanarayana pooja takes place. It is an elaborate pooja. Many preparations are needed to be done before the pooja. In West Bengal, Satyanarayan pooja is very common. When I got married in a Bengali family, the first pooja I observed after marriage was SatyaNarayan pooja. After Durga pooja, next comes the lokhi (Goddess Lakshmi) pooja, so many people also conduct lokhi pooja along with Satyanarayan Pooja. I was new to this pooja tradition, so I had a challenging time while preparing for the pooja.

Following is the list of items needed to be arranged before pooja:

1. Havan or hom:
1. Hom kund
2. Sand
3. Mango wood or sticks
4. Ghee
2. Sinni:
1. wheat flour
2. Banana
3. Sugar or jaggery
4. dry fruits: Panch meva
5. Milk
6. Honey
3. General:
1. Flowers
2. Incense sticks
3. dhoop
4. Camphor or kapur
5. Ghee 
6. Candles
7. Ganga water
8. Sindoor: To draw on the ghat filled with water to be placed at the entrance with banana leaves put in the Ganga clay
9. Pan patta: 5 Beetle leaves
10. Supari: 5 Beetle nuts
11. Banana leaves: to be placed at the entrance
12. Mango leaves 5 headed to be placed upon the Kalash
13. Janeu or poitey thread
14. Sweets or sandesh
15. coconut
16. 5 types of fruit: pomegranate 
17. 5 types of vegetables: eggplant, cucumber, potol, 
18. 5 types of kalai
19. Cardamon: elachi
20. 2 Gamcha or towels for purohit and to be placed upon the Kalash
21. Ganga Mitti or clay
22. Sandalwood stick and sandalwood bata
23. Small steel bowls for sandalwood and sindoor 
24. Alpana
25. flowers
26. flower garland
27. cotton or tulo
28. setay: lamp wicks
29. Batasha: Lakshami ji's favorite
30. khoi : a variety of puffed rice, chire, murki
31. Mishti doi i.e. sweet yogurt
32. Rice
33. Nokul dana
34. tulsi leaves i.e. holy basil leaves: no pooja of Lord Vishnu is completed without Tulsi leaves.
35. Red cloth: to be placed on the pooja chowki
36. dhuboo : tri-headed grass
37. Sugar
38. Dab i.e. green coconut
39. Grated coconut
40. Kathali kola: small bananas for the pooja
41. Moli: to be tied on hand
42. Aasan for the purohit and attendees
4. Pooja Utensils
1. Kansar Ghanta: It is played only during Satyanarayana pooja, not at the time of Lakshmi Pooja
2. Ghanti
3. Conch shell with stand: Jal Sankha with stand
4. Panch Pradeep
5. Kapur dani
6. Matchsticks or lighter
7. Kosha koshi
8.  jhinuk bati
9. Diya for arti
10. Incense stick stand: dhoop kathi stand
11. 5 Coins
12. Knife
13. ghat or Kalash: it could be of terracotta or bronze
14. Dhunuchi i.e. dhuno dani 
15. Dhuno powder mix
16. Hand Fan for the dhuno
17. ghoti or kamondulu
18. Panchpatra and Achmani
19. steel glass
20. steel plates or thala
21. plastic plates and cups for the sinni
22. A big bowl, and Hatha or spatula for mixing the sinni
23. bael Patta for Lord Shiva
24. Hibiscus or red java flower for Lordess Kali

1. First thing, you need to properly clean the place where pooja will take place.
2. Now put the wooden chowki and cover it with a red cloth.
3. At four corners, around the table, place Ganga clay balls inserted with Mango sticks.
4. Draw the alpana at the place of pooja, in front of the wooden table.

1. Havan or fire sacrifice take place during this pooja, so you need a havan or hom kund.
2. Prepare 5 small plates, each filled with 5 types of cut fruit accompanied by 5 small glasses of water.

Other important Poornima thithis are:

1. Dal Poornima
2. Magh poornima
3. Rakhi Poornima