Pran Pratishta, simply put, is a process of consecration by which life energies are infused into a murti or even a space.
The Vishnu Samhita speaks about the different types of consecrations, and the elaborate rituals surrounding such an event. For example, if the murti is to be made of stone, the quarry from which it is extracted has to be worshipped. The stone has to be carefully evaluated for colour, level of solidity, natural line markings and even the coolness of the touch. After the murti has been created, its final spot in the temple must be properly selected, with particular regard the cardinal directions. It will be finally positioned at an astrologically auspicious time. Then with appropriate mantras and other rituals, the vital, life energy known as pran is infused into the murti, and it becomes a living presence.
A logical thinker may snicker at the audacity of Hindus to believe that they can put life into stone. But indeed, we can.
Prana is essentially the energy on which life is sustained.
The whole creation, the whole cosmos, is nothing other than energy. Even matter is a manifestation of energy, as Einstein declared with his famous equation E = mc2. This means that every material object, including the human body, a piece of marble, metal, sand, stone or wood is essentially energy reorganized in mass particle form.
Primordial energy manifests in multiple ways carrying multiple names and functions. The human body has seven energy centres called chakras. Kundalini is understood as a serpent-like coil of energy lying dormant at the base of the spine and can generate tremendous transformative experiences and expanded states of consciousness, and therefore should not be experimented with unless under the guidance of a qualified teacher.
Mantras are a form of sound energy. There is energy in ashes, including from the cremation ground. Even the planets exert their energy on us in different ways and at different times. This is what the art of astrology is based on.
In relation to the human body, Pran is an umbrella term which covers five physiological functions that keep the body alive. These are (again) pran (commonly understood breath) apan, vyaan, udaan and samaan. When pran begins to exit the body, death inevitably occurs.
Encoded in unique Hindu practice of Pran Pratishtha is essentially the ability to harness pranic energy through rituals, mantras, or otherwise, and infuse it into a given space or object such that they reverberate with a living energy. It is a complex and ancient science.
A consecrated murti or lingam can be reverberating with energy for sometimes up to a thousand years. This is why we go on pilgrimages, even today, to the visit the many temples, lingams and murtis across India that would have been consecrated in ancient times.
The recent Pran Pratishta of the Ram Lalla took place in Ayodhya, the birthplace of Sri Ram, on January 22nd 2024. It was the culmination of centuries of bitter history, years of careful planning, months of collaboration and days of very intense preparation by all those closely connected to the ceremony. The chief Sadhaka was none other than the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The head priest who presided over the consecration was assisted by 121 other priests. This Pran Pratishta ceremony was had worldwide appeal and inspired unsurpassed cooperation across every sector of Indian society. It was a ceremony like no other.
The Ram Lalla murti is 51 inches tall and made in the image of Ram as a young boy, in standing position. The black stone used for sculpting the Ram Lalla murti is called Krisnashila. H.S Venkatesh, Director of the National Institute of Rock Mechanics, said “the stone is 2.5 billion years old”. Yet it took a mere 84 seconds (between 12.29.08 pm to 12.30.32pm to be exact), for it to come alive.
This Hindu hobby of using time and energy at will, is essentially a preoccupation with the very building blocks of creation.
Another significant consecration in recent Indian history was the Dhyana Lingam in Coimbatore, in Southern India.
This Lingam stands at a towering 13 feet 9 inches high and has seven chakras within it, fully energized. If I say this Pran Pratishta took over three years to come to fruition, that would be a vast understatement. Creating and consecrating this Lingam was a mandate given to Sadhguru by his own guru, Palani Swami, two lifetimes before. Sadhguru failed to accomplish it in his immediate previous lifetime, and so it became his life’s mission this time around, completing it in 1999, despite tremendous setbacks.
Part of the consecration of the Dhyana Lingam involved, inexplicably or miraculously, I have to say, the handling solidified mercury at room temperature. Mercury is liquid at room temperature and solidifies at minus 38. 83 degrees Celsius.
At a crucial point in the ceremony, when time came to lock the energies, Sadhguru, the grand master of energy-based consecration, saw the need to create a small crack in this Lingam. By a resounding clap of his hands, a vertical hairline fracture appeared, as witnessed by those present. I do not say this to convince anyone of miracles. Rather I say it to let you know that the science of Pran Pratishta is as alive today as it was thousands and thousands of years ago.
Not far from this Dhyana Lingam, another consecration took place: that of Linga Bhairavi. It was called The Birth of a Goddess, quintessentially capturing what consecration is all about – a process of awakening life, similar to taking birth.
Around the base of the Dhyana Linga is a receptacle in the form of a seven-coiled snake, also measuring 13 feet 9 inches.
Snakes have always had a deep connection with many spiritual traditions, and perhaps more intensely so in Hinduism.
Naga Panchami is a festival dedicated to snakes.
In many murtis, we see the hooded canopy of snakes over the deities.
Astrologically, there is such a thing as naga dosha, or the afflictions relating to snakes.
Kerala not only has one of the most renowned snake temples in India, but also many sacred groves around villages, dedicated to snakes.
The sage Patanjali is often depicted as half human, half snake, a reference to his being the Adi Shesha in his past birth.
Vishnu sleeps on the primordial waters on a bed of snakes known as Adishesha.
And of course, we all know that snakes adorn the neck of Shiva.
The Hindu culture has unapologetically continued its reverence of snakes, understanding their deep connection to mysticism. They act as a portal, granting access to esoteric wisdom in different dimensions of existence. They also offer protection. For this reason, Nagas are also consecrated.
In October 2022, Sadhguru performed a Naga Pratishta in Bengaluru, designed, among other things, to be a kshetrapal or future protector of the field, or land. Sadhguru explained the quality of energy that abounds in a Naga consecration.
He says:
The energy of the Naga is of the Vyana prana, so it is preservative in nature. It arrests the aging process, rehabilitates the body, and makes you immune to various types of impurities and poisons that come your way through your breath, food and mind.
The last Naga consecration before this one was over 800 years ago.
While much of this would be, understandably, uncomfortable for the logical mind, it should be remembered that Hindu civilization broke the boundaries of logic a very long time ago. It has spawned a technology that can transform the mundane into the sacred. It has created mechanisms to manipulate time and energy. Above all, the Hindu civilization is one where gods become men (incarnation) and men become gods (enlightenment), so it is little wonder that divinity is just another commodity in everyday use.
Ratna Capildeo
