A step-by-step guide to build a Puja room

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A step-by-step guide to build a Puja room

Sunita Vellapally Sunita Vellapally
  door homify,
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The puja room is a significant space in most Indian homes, but in the process of planning and designing the other rooms in a house or apartment, often it gets neglected and ends up in a small corner without much thought going into creating an area with an ambiance perfect for prayer and meditation. It doesn’t take much to execute modern puja room designs even in a small house or apartment. Follow these steps to ensure a dreamy puja space that includes all the necessary elements as well as the right orientation.

Step 1: The ideal direction for the puja room

As per Vastu Shastra, the northeast direction is ideal for a puja room. If this isn’t possible, then either the north or the east is the next best location for the puja area. Additionally, the idols in the room should be arranged so that they face the south or the west so that one faces the rising sun when praying in the morning. Therefore, when trying to implement puja room ideas in small houses and apartments, the first step is to identify an area in the north, east or northeast of the house.

Nowadays, with technology, the process of identifying the directions in a house as per puja room Vastu has become much simpler. One can download a compass app on a smartphone and use it to identify the right orientation for the puja area.

Step 2: Identify the best location for the puja room

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The Orange Lane

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The Orange Lane

Besides the orientation of the room, Vastu places a lot of importance on the location of the puja room in the house. It’s based on the belief that certain parts of the house, such as toilets and bathrooms, have negative energies that will disrupt the positive energy in the puja space.  Therefore, puja areas should not share a wall with a bathroom. Similarly, it should be kept out of the bedroom as far as possible. When looking at pooja room designs in apartments, often the only area available is a passageway. While there is nothing wrong with placing it in a passage or corridor, ensure that it isn’t a busy area as it will disturb the peaceful ambiance that is essential for prayer.

Step 3: Deciding the right size of the puja room

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In a house that is being constructed, it’s easy to choose the size that one prefers for the puja area. However, for ready-to-occupy houses and apartments, usually one needs to make do with the existing space in the preferred direction and location. In such cases, it’s best to adopt small puja room designs that fit into a corner or a niche.

In most modern apartments, often the living room is the only available area for incorporating a pooja room. While one can find many puja room ideas for living rooms, it’s essential that the design allows for the puja area to be hidden away when it’s not in use. A cabinet with doors or a curtain that can be drawn to make the area private is enough.

Get inspired by these creative puja unit designs for small homes.

Step 4: Choosing the puja room furniture

Deciding on the furniture required for the puja area will depend on the praying habits of the family. For example, a pooja room with many idols will need more shelves on the wall or a larger cabinet to accommodate all the idols. Similarly, the need for seating in the puja room will depend on the time spent praying. A short prayer in the morning to start the day on a good note requires just standing room, whereas, for an elaborate ritual, one will need a stool or a cushion for sitting.

Before choosing small puja cabinet designs, it’s essential to be aware of whether one will be standing or seated when praying as the idols should be at eye level when praying.

Hire a professional carpenter to build puja room furniture.

Step 5: Ideas on how to decorate puja rooms

The puja area should be beautiful so that it gives the room the importance that it deserves. These are some ideas one can use to make the puja room more attractive.


Using the right type of lighting in the area can give the prayer space a soothing ambiance that makes it suitable for meditating. Layers of lighting can be added to create warmth and calmness in the puja room. Besides ambient lighting that helps to keep the surroundings well-illuminated, one can use spotlights to highlight the idols or even backlighting to present a beautiful backdrop for the idols.

Don’t forget to account for the soft light coming from lamps and diyas! They bring a lovely warm glow to the room.

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Since cleanliness is a priority in the puja room, it’s vital to keep everything organized and uncluttered. Furniture with storage is the easiest solution for small puja spaces. When buying a puja cabinet, ensure that it has a drawer for storing pooja items such as wicks, matchboxes, lamp oil and incense sticks.

If a cushion is used for sitting and praying, then there should be a designated place to store it out of the way to keep the floor free and easy to clean. In some cases, especially in a larger pooja room, one can get a separate piece of furniture for storage. If so, the southern or western wall is the best spot to place the storage furniture. However, one must ensure that it is used only for storing puja items or prayer books. Avoid using the puja room as a storage area for things from other parts of the house as it will interfere with the energies within the room.


Painting the walls in a soothing colour can help to create the right ambiance in the puja room. As per Vastu, the recommended colours for the walls in the puja area are white, light yellow, light blue and light green as these contribute to a tranquil ambiance. Dark colours such as black, red and brown should be avoided.

The use of light colours on the wall also helps to create a lovely contrast to the wood cabinets and shelves used to display the puja idols.

Puja room doors

If the puja area is in a separate room, then design it with a double door rather than a single door. The doors should always open outward. Even in a wooden puja cabinet, choose a double-door design. Avoid having an automatic sliding door for the puja room. Ideally, there should be a threshold at the door to the puja area to keep away insects.

Find more ideas to decorate the puja room.

What to avoid in puja rooms

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One of the vital parts of creating the perfect environment in a puja area is to avoid certain things that bring negative energy into the room. These are the things to avoid:

· Don’t place idols so that they face each other

· When arranging the idol on a wall shelf, ensure there is always at least an inch between the wall and the idol.

· Never use idols from old temples or broken/damaged idols in the puja room.

· Avoid placing photographs of deceased relatives in the puja area.

· Never place a dustbin in the puja area.

While every homeowner has a vision of what the puja room should look like, it’s not easy to get the design implemented to ensure that it turns out exactly as expected. We recommend consulting a professional interior designer to assist in designing and building the perfect one.

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