That little corner where God resides….

Featured ~ Shyama@TheExperimentalHomeMaker

Update, April 2020:

I am moving to a new blog page. Please leave your comments on the newly updated site.

Please follow link below to read the puja mandir post in my new blog page.  https://theexperimentalhomemaker.wordpress.com/2014/11/03/that-little-corner-where-god-resides/

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Published by Shyama@TheExperimentalHomeMaker

I am very experimental with the way I work. This site will mostly contain my DIY Craft and Sewing projects. Most of my work is very utilitarian with a goal to blend beauty with meaning.

181 thoughts on “That little corner where God resides….”

  1. Hi – I love this post. I would love to make it at home as DIY project. I am not able to find the cabinet in IKEA website through the link. Is there any alternative similar cabinet that can buy anywhere else?

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Do you think this’ll work? http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/series/20798/
      It looks customizable. It is kind of similar to the one I used (might be slightly more expensive). I am sure you’ll find better bookcases in other furniture stores, but the price difference might be big. Also, do try any consignment stores in your area. Sometimes you find real gems there. With a little tweak, you might be able to make it work for you.

      Like

  2. Hello It was of great help in doing this project. I am planning to put doors on the above section as well. Since, I have kept my puja mantap in a living room / dinning room. And my home is an open concept. So, a door would help to create some privacy for the God mantap. Can you please tell me an idea for this, since this bookcase is no more available at ikea? I have been thinking of taking the measurements and then build doors from home depot or loews. What do you say?

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Yup, that does sound like a good idea esp if you’d like glass doors. Another thing I can think of is to use a roll down screen in bamboo or the like. It’ll add an ethnic look to the shelf. You can may be draw some rangolis or sketch a traditional drawing on it.
      Hope you work something out. Would love to see/feature your project (with your permission). Do send the pics to me.

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      1. The bamboo screen you mentioned , sounds interesting. Can you please just give me a hint of what it is like?

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  4. absolutely loved the rangoli idea..kudos for the effort.. i have question though did you use any stencil to draw the rangoli..its so clean

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    1. Thanks Jayanthi. I actually poked equidistant holes in a newspaper, placed the sheet against the backdrop and drew the dots. Actually, depending on your rangoli design, once you mark the center, its pretty easy to map the rest. Just start building your design
      from the center. Hope that helps!

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  5. Hi, Love this idea. So beautiful and elegant. Can you please tell me how did you hang the picture in the center of the top section. Also what was used to hang the bells. eye hooks?

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  6. Hi,

    I’m trying this with a smaller cabinet. Excellent idea. Can you please let me know where to buy the bells in India since I’m planning to get it from there.

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  8. Hi what a wonderful idea. Being wood is it still ok to burn lamps and incense sticks?

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  9. I have been reading this blog over a year and loved loved loved the idea. Now its time for us to start on it. BTW, my husband wow..ed
    Question though, how did you bring IKEA cabinet home? I calculated the shipping cost as I do not have IKEA near. First one is 50 miles.It will be 300$ If I give meager tip to drive. It sad for 1 piece of furniture But I really want to do it. Any suggestions

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  10. Amazing idea. I have been looking through internet for simple and traditional set for Puja mandir. Your design is awesome. Thanks for the idea.

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  11. Namaskaram. Really nice. I actually bought this exact IKEA bookshelf on March because my old pooja place from 2010 had cheap wood and broke. I have a lot of murtis from my last bookshelf, should i put them on the bottom portion of the cupboard?

    Like

  12. here’s a tip, put foil paper on shelves and under every murthi, put a plate that will be big enough that the murti will have a 1 finger distance from the front corner of plate, and small enough that the plate won’t take up to much space. that way, when you offer flowers or put kumkum and it falls, it will fall on the little plates and you can just pick up the murti and take the flowers and etc. without staining anything and easily slipping everything off.

    Like

  13. The problem with the ikea shelves is that they come with a thin cardboard like back . If I need to hang some pictures using pins or nails,I dont think the back can support the weight. I noticed in your image that you have indeed hung or stuck an image of the great Lord Balaji there. How did you manage that ? Like you have updated Borgjso is not available at Ikea anymore :(. Brusali is a good alternative.

    Like

    1. my picture wasnt very heavy. I have used double sided tapes and it is holding well so far. You might have to reconsider that if you are planning to add heavier items or too many items on the back, because as you said its just cardboard and cant support anything too heavy.

      Like

  15. i have three big pictures-8×10 with frame-of krishna, murugan, laxmi ganesh saraswati. plus 4 extra photos from when we lived in a basement.
    the big pictures with frames take up so much room, what can i do with the extra ones, please help

    Like

    1. even though we live in a house now, i still only have a little bit room(the wall) because that’s also my room

      Like

  16. Just awesome. I was hunting for puja mandap in Google. When I came across your article. It is like a treasure found. Thank you. Will sure give it a try

    Liked by 1 person

  18. Hi,

    This is wonderful and perfect, thank you so much. I am going to do this and have already found a good enough cabinet on IKEA website. http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40302289/#/40302289
    http://www.wayfair.com/South-Shore-Vito-3-Shelf-Bookcase-with-Doors-103-TH4349.html
    I am going to choose one of the above.

    I loved the rangoli design,but I have absolutely no clue as to how I can do the same. Can you please share some videos or anything simple that I can practice on paper first. Because without the design, the mandir would not look as awesome. Another Idea I was thinking might be good kundan rangoli stickers.

    will let you know how it goes. But kindly do share some tips about the rangoli design.

    Regards
    Preeti

    Like

    1. Thanks Preeti. Both the cabinets seem like great options. Sorry, I havent found the time to do a write up about the rangoli. I’ll try to put up one soon. To give you an idea, i just punched equidistant holes in a newspaper and used that as a stencil to mark the dots. After that, i’ve drawn freehand rangoli.

      Like

  21. This bookcase is no longer available in IKEA anymore! 😦 . Any suggestions for an alternative? Also, I am curious to know the idea of implementing a cabinet door for this? Please feel free to pour in any suggestions?

    Like

  22. Hi ya, this is a brilliant idea for pooja mandir. Just wanted to check where in India did u buy the hanging bells???? Is it available online???

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  23. Hi I came across your post when I was searching for DIY Puja mandir. I like your creativity turning a book shelf into beautiful puja mandir with reasonable cost. It’s looking awesome and we are thinking of doing the same. Thank you for posting such a beautiful creation.

    Liked by 1 person

  24. Thank you so much for this brilliant idea! I live in Singapore, where traditional pooja shelves and cupboards cost an arm and a leg. My husband and I just moved into our first home and we did not want (or more accurately, did not have) that much money to be spent on an altar. I went trawling online for DIY ideas and I’m SO grateful to have come upon your post! We had a blast creating a customised altar for our Gods. Took us about a week to put it all together and we could not be happier. Thank you very much for being so generous with your ideas and tips!

    Like

  26. Hi – Your blog has inspired us to make a similar mandir. One quick question – Where did you buy the idols like Ram, Sita, Lakshman & Krishna ? Was that something you got from India?

    Like

  27. Beautiful work 🙂 I loved the bamboo blind idea that you had suggested for cabinet without door, but can you install it on a cabinet? I am checking before I start working on this. Thank you 🙂

    Like

  28. Awesome work on this DIY mandir. I loved this idea so much that I finally bought the shelf from IKEA couple of weeks back and am very excited to start this project. Had a couple of questions, if you could help clarify.
    1. Did you draw the kolam patterns after or before the shelf was assembled?
    2. Could you provide me some more information (brand/type/point) of the fabric pen you used for the kolams and the glue you used to stick the beads? I tried searching online/stores but got overwhelmed with the n number of options out there.
    Thanks so much in advance!

    Like

    1. Hi Nitya,
      Thanks! Regarding the kolam patterns, i drew them with a fabric pen I found at a local craft store. I don’t rem the brand. Let me look it up and add it in the blog post itself as it will be useful to a lot of readers. Also, the glue i used was a regular craft glue, you could use permanent clear glue with a fine tip for this project.

      Like

      1. I have the same question. Did you draw the kola score before assembly? Awesome hack! I love it!

        Like

  29. Thank you so much for the wonderful post. I really loved the idea and very excited to start the project. Thanks a ton..

    Like

  31. Hey!!
    Amazing idea for a DIY mandir!!
    For a year i have been trying different setups for a mandir at home in the US but wasn’t satisfied .
    Then one day i came across your post and was definitely impressed with your creativity.
    So following your creative footsteps got myself the Brusali high cabinet.
    For the back wall since I don’t have much time apart from weekends , i am planning to get some kundan rangoli / nice stickers OR maybe do some quilling!

    My bells are on the way from India. But my query will definitely be about the hooks for the bells.
    1. How did you push them in?
    2. Also, do they (hooks)come as a part with bell or separate?
    3. Should I arrange for the hooks separately?

    Cheers!

    Like

  33. Hi Shyama –
    Perhaps you could suggest an alternative to the challenge i have with my project.
    I do not have an IKEA nearby, so I opted for this shelf instead..
    https://www.walmart.com/ip/Mainstays-Storage-Cabinet-Multiple-Finishes/20666620?action=product_interest&action_type=title&beacon_version=1.0.2&bucket_id=irsbucketdefault&client_guid=cabdc945-63f4-4478-806f-e72ed7dd1e7d&config_id=106&customer_id_enc&findingMethod=p13n&guid=cabdc945-63f4-4478-806f-e72ed7dd1e7d&item_id=20666620&parent_anchor_item_id=20666621&parent_item_id=20666621&placement_id=irs-106-m3&reporter=recommendations&source=new_site&strategy=PWBAB&visitor_id=Xjq8wRE0jiUUrnqUAv0ld8

    After the entire assembly and finishing the gopuram piece and bells, I realized the finish on the front of the doors is somewhat vinyl/wood and no painters pen, fabric pen or sharpie writes well on it.

    I’m unfortunately left with nothing to decorate on the outside..
    Currently, i’m contemplating on ‘ rangoli stickers’ but the ones i found online are too colorful and far from my brown/gold/silver theme..

    any suggestions please?

    Like

    1. Hi, Not sure if you already figured something out for this, but did you try sharpie permanant markers? You could erase those with rubbing alcohol I think. Pls test on a small hidden section before you try it on the main cabinet. Do keep me posted. All the best!

      Like

  35. Hi, Your post is very inspiring! I have been looking for so long for ideas like this. Living in a smaller city in Canada I don’t have easy access to all things pooja related and I also lack a designated pooja area. But your post changed it! Now I am awaiting the delivery of the bookcase but in the meantime I am excitedly gathering other materials. I do have a couple of questions 1) did you glue the floating shelf on top of the shelf? 2) how did you hang the God’s picture? wondering if the back board is thick enough for nails or should i use command strips? 3) I don’t have a steady hand with kolams so would appreciate any tips to get a clean and straight kolam like yours. Thank you in advance!

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    1. Thank you very much for your kind words. 1) Yes, I glued it to the top 2)I used command strips, my frame wasnt as heavy. Its been almost 4 years and its holding up well.3)Try to make a stencil with paper (punch in equally spaced holes) for the dots. Once you have the dots, working around them should be a breeze. Also, the fabric pen is pretty forgiving. If you make a mistake you could erase it with a gentle scrub with a plastic brush or even ur fingernails. Hope this helped

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      1. hi Thank you for the inspiration! I have completed my mandir and I am so proud of it. I would love to share the picture with you. Please let me know how i can.
        Thanks!

        Like

  36. Very nice idea and superb finished product , I was looking for good pooja mandir ideas , will try ur idea and keep you posted

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  37. Hi! This is very beautiful. I second you on an Indian’s struggle to find a good size and affordable temple in US. Can you please share how did you put the bells. Did you drill them?

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  38. Hi Shyama, thank you so much for the wonderful idea!! I am planning to set up my pooja mandir too in my new house based on your suggestions. A quick question. How did you manage to hang the bells? Did you drill in some holes to fix the hooks? Thanks a ton!!

    Like

  39. Firstly thank you so much for posting the amazing DIY Pooja Mandir 🙏🙏. I did try this and it turned out fabulous. I still have to fix the bells, I bought them. Can you please share what knobs you used to hang them? It seems like the link you shared is redirecting to a different page.

    I will share my Pooja Mandir pics once I am done completely.

    Thanks in advance!!

    Like

  40. wonderful, I was looking for something similar and before your blog I did found this Ikea cabinet but wasn’t sure how it may look. Thanks for sharing your idea now I can confidently do the DIY with this cabinet

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  41. Hi wonderful and very inspiring post! Have a quick question, What did you use to glue the floating top to the shelf ?

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  42. Thanks a lot for this Pooja Mandir Blog. I can’t think anything but making this from the time I read your post.
    Finally it is coming but I can’t wait for it to get finish ; so sharing the mid stage photo. You sure are a great inspiration.

    Like

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