10 Easy Steps to Dress Deity

By Agrani Krishna Dasa

While dressing Deities have you faced a situation that you have put garland first and then you realize that you should have actually put the necklaces first? Due to which you land up in repeating things one after another which results in a delay in dressing the Deities. Ultimately darshan arati is delayed. In order to quickly finish dressing we sometimes mishandle the Deities, mishandle the jewellery and sometimes forget something like applying tilaka or putting anklets, etc. All these things put you into an unwanted anxiety.

Did you know that we could avoid this anxiety if we learn the sequence of dressing the Deities?

Therefore, we have compiled these easy steps for you to follow when you dress Deities at your home or in the temple. By following these steps, you will not only be increasing your Deity worship standard, but also save time, increase the lifespan of Deities jewellery and be peaceful.

While you dress Deities always remember that the Lord’s Deity is non-different from the Lord. Srila Prabhupada, the founder-Acharya of ISKCON instructs:

“When you worship this metal form of Krishna… it is Krishna. That’s a fact. Because metal is energy of Krishna. Therefore it is non-different from Krishna. And Krishna is so powerful that He can present Himself fully in His energy.”

Similarly the Lord’s paraphernalia is non-different from the Lord. In Padma-purana it is mentioned:

“Amongst all the worships, the worship of Lord Vishnu is topmost and more than the worship of Lord Vishnu, the worship of His paraphernalia is considered to be more important.”

Tadiya means paraphernalia.

Hence the principle is that Deities of the Lord and the paraphernalia of the Lord should be handled with utmost care.

10 easy steps to dress Deities

After you are ready to dress the Deities, follow this procedure

1. Firstly remove the cowherd stick from Krishna’s hand and then remove the flute slowly ensuring that it does not touch the lotus like palms of the Lord. Keep them in a tray neatly.

2. Then slowly remove the crown, followed by the wig. In case the Deity is wearing the jewelled tilaka, remove it slowly.

3. Remove the earrings, then the bracelets and then remove the garland of Deities.

4. After the garland is removed, remove the anklets, then necklaces followed by the belt. In case you use blue tac or any other adhesive to stick the jewellery, remove it completely from the body of the Lord and also from the jewellery.

5. Now slowly remove the dress of the Deities.

6. Bath / wipe the Deities (as per your standard) and then get Them dried.

7. After the Deities are dried, put the inner dress followed by the actual dress.

8. Apply tilaka, put the belt, then necklaces, then anklets, then garland, then bracelets, then earrings, wig and lastly the crown. This sequence is very important. If you make Deity wear earring before the garland, there is every chance of earrings fall while you put the garland. You might also disturb the bracelets, crown and the wig while putting the garland.

9. Now place the flute slowly and then place the cowherd stick.

10. Now clean the jewellery and dust the dress. Store all this paraphernalia in its reserved place.