All about Lekaprartha homa or havana at Iraivan Illam Klang

As of 2019, a special homa known as lekhaprartha havana will be conducted on selected dates at Iraivan Illam, Klang on a quarterly basis. The homa will be preceded by a puja to Lord Rajaganapathy pictured below.

IMPORTANT NOTE: DEVOTEES ATTENDING THE HOMA ARE STRONGLY ADVISED TO PREPARE THE WRITTEN PRAYERS BEFORE-HAND AND BRING IT TO THE HOMA. DEVOTEES ARE ALSO ENCOURAGED TO BE VEGETARIAN THE DAY BEFORE & ON THE DAY OF THE HOMA.

To know more about the benefits of this special homa & how to get your prayers answered, please read the excerpt from the Saiva Dharma Shastras below.

Excerpt from the Saiva Dharma Shastras

Lekhaprartha havana is the ancient sacrificial rite of burning written prayers in the sacred fire. Written prayers can be offered at this homa or Havana byHindus or non-Hindus to God, Gods and devas of the inner worlds. When burned, these are released to their astral form in the Devaloka for the devas to read and act upon. All prayers are burned confidentially and

never read by the priests. It is traditional that no love offering be included with prayers.Only after a prayer is answered is an offering traditionally given to the temple in gratitude along with written appreciation in a subsequent prayer to the Divine Beings who performed this selfless service for the devotee.

Prayers can be written to obtain answers to personal questions, to request help for specific needs or solutions to problems. Prayers may also be written on behalf of another person, for a group of people or to help clear up a situation within a group or community, even for solutions to national or world problems.

For easy reading in the Devaloka, each prayer is written or typed in dark ink (on plain white paper). Each word must be legible. One must not scribble, but write or print clearly. The devas have no way to let us know if they cannot read the handwriting except to try and somehow inspire us by signs to resubmit the prayer.                                                                                                     

Do not assume that the devas will know what you mean. If they were all mind readers there would be no need for written prayers. Explain your problem or request thoroughly and clearly, in as much detail as possible. Also, the devas appreciate it if you thank them when a prayer has been answered and let them know the specific outcome of events. They are as anxious as you are for communication between the three worlds. They can best help you when directly asked, just as you would help a friend when personally asked to do so.

Prayers should only be burned in a sanctified havana kunda in a place for which a covenant has been made with the devas to receive written prayers and fulfill them to the best of their ability. It is the presiding Guru Mahasannidhanam on the Kailasa Pitham at Kauai

Aadheenam who makes each covenant as to where prayers may be safely sent into the Devaloka without asuric interference. It is important to reemphasize why it is that havanas may only be performed in a strict, traditional, sakahara,location where no meat, fish, fowl, shellfish or eggs are served to humans. Asuras are attracted to mansahara (meat-eating) places. No one attending a havana would want these negative beings collecting up their

prayers on the astral plane, then working against them by creating havoc and inharmonious conditions.

                                                                                                    

The priest or individual burning the prayer need

only ring a small bell while the paper is burning. As soon

as the paper turns to ashes, its pranic-astral duplicate is

released from its physical counterpart and immediately appears in the

Devaloka. The paper with the prayer written upon it is snatched out of the

akasa by one of the devas hovering over the fire, alerted by the ringing of

the bell that a prayer is on its way. The written prayer is read aloud by the

deva holding it, then given to one of the Mahadevas or to the deva who can

best fulfill the request.

Before taking action on a prayer, the Mahadevas and

devas look very carefully into the karmas of the devotee.

This includes prarabdha karmas, the results of past actions

brought into this birth to be resolved; and kriyamana karmas, actions and

resultant merit or demerit currently being made by the individual. Therefore,

it is always best to write one or more alternatives that you would be

satisfied with in each prayer rather than insisting on only one solution.

This is because your initial request may not be possible to fulfill in your

karmic pattern or, without your knowing, it may actually be the worst

possible thing that could happen. In this case, a prayer would be answered

with a nonanswer. Therefore, it is wise to suggest two or more alternatives

when making a request. It is acceptable to make the same request several

times. Every prayer received is answered in some way, however mysteriously.

Not one is neglected, ever. When the devas receive many prayers at

the same time about the same subject, written by the same devotee or by

several different devotees, they are truly alerted that action must be taken.

For more tips on writing prayers, please go here.