6 items
Deepam oil for the daily lamp, cow ghee for the ceremony lamp, hand-rolled cotton wicks in the sizes the lamps take, pure camphor for the harathi, and the brass diya, kuthu vilakku and harathi plate to burn them in. Every pooja opens by lighting the lamp; this is what the lamp needs, with a note on choosing each.
About these items
The deepam is lit before the sankalpam and burns until the harathi, and in most Telugu homes it is lit twice a day besides. What it burns depends on the occasion: sesame oil (nuvvula noone) or a mixed pooja oil for the daily lamp, cow ghee for a Lakshmi Pooja, a vratam or any ceremony where the family's custom asks for it. The wick is cotton, rolled by hand, in the short form for a diya and the long form for a kuthu vilakku's spouts.
The lamps themselves are brass: the single diya, the five-wick lamp, and the kuthu vilakku — the tall standing lamp with five spouts that is lit at the threshold and beside the peetham. A brass harathi plate holds the camphor for the mangala harathi at the close. All of it is here, from a 500ml bottle of oil to the lamp that will outlast the house.
In this category
Packs of 100
Hand-rolled vathi in the standard and long sizes.
Hand-rolled cotton vathulu, in the short form for diyas and the long form for the spouts of a kuthu vilakku. A pack of 100 is a month of twice-daily lamps; a ceremony with several lamps uses a pack on its own.
500ml, 1L bottles
Sesame and mixed lamp oil for the deepam.
Pure sesame oil for the traditional lamp, and a mixed deepam oil — sesame, coconut, castor and mahua in the pancha deepam blend — that burns cleaner and longer for the daily lamp. In 500ml and 1 litre bottles.
200ml, 500ml, 1L
For the deepam and for the homam offering.
Cow ghee for the ghee lamp a Lakshmi Pooja or a vratam asks for, and for the homam offering — the same ghee serves both. 200ml lights the ceremony lamps; a homam needs 500ml to a litre.
50g, 100g packs
Pure camphor tablets for the harathi.
Pure camphor tablets that burn without residue for the mangala harathi and to kindle the homam fire. A 50g pack is a season of harathis; a homam or a temple-scale pooja uses the 100g pack.
Per piece
Single-wick and five-wick lamps, and the kuthu vilakku.
Single-wick diyas and five-wick lamps for the peetham, and the kuthu vilakku — the tall standing lamp with five spouts — in heights from a foot to three feet. Solid brass, cast and polished, in a size to suit the pooja room.
Per piece
Brass plate for the camphor harathi.
A brass plate with a raised centre for the camphor, used for the mangala harathi at the close of every pooja. Available plain or with the five-diya form used for a larger harathi.
Sizes and pack quantities vary by supplier and season. Fresh items — flowers, mango leaves, banana stems and tamboolam — are supplied against your ceremony date, so tell us the date when you enquire.
Choosing and using
Sesame or mixed deepam oil is the everyday lamp; a Lakshmi Pooja, Varalakshmi Vratam or Satyanarayana Pooja is lit with ghee by custom. Keep both.
A short rolled wick sits in a diya; the long wick runs through a kuthu vilakku's spout. Both are in the wick packs — ask for the split you need.
Pure camphor sublimates in an open box. Keep it sealed and it lasts; it should burn to nothing on the plate.
Choose the height for the room — a foot for the peetham, two to three feet for the threshold — and it is cleaned with tamarind or a brass polish before each festival.
Common questions
Sesame oil by tradition, or a mixed deepam oil — the pancha deepam blend of sesame, coconut, castor, mahua and neem — that burns cleaner for a daily lamp. Ghee is used for ceremony lamps. Both oils are here in 500ml and 1 litre bottles.
A single diya burns about 10ml an hour; a five-spout kuthu vilakku about 50ml. A 1 litre bottle is a month of twice-daily diyas, or one ceremony with several lamps burning through it.
A pair of single-wick diyas or one five-wick lamp for the peetham; a kuthu vilakku of two to three feet if the threshold is lit. Solid cast brass, polished — all sizes are here, by the piece.
Yes — hand-rolled cotton in the short and long forms, packed by the hundred. They light evenly and do not shed the way machine wicks can.
Yes — pure camphor tablets with no filler, which burn completely on the harathi plate. The same tablets kindle the homam fire.
Tell us the ceremony date when you enquire. We confirm availability, the final contents and the price before anything is charged; fresh items are supplied against the date.
Other categories
If you are starting from nothing, a ceremony kit gathers all of this in one box with the contents listed.
