A pooja room is increasingly a pooja niche — a 4 to 8 sq ft alcove, often built into a corridor wall or a corner of the living room. We have built dozens of these. The smaller the space, the more deliberate the design has to be.
Three things that have to be there
- Real wood — even a niche the size of a small bookshelf should be teak or rosewood, not ply with a veneer
- Concealed warm lighting — never a bulb hanging in front of the deity
- A lockable or covered door — pooja niches in living rooms need to close at night and during cleaning
Three things that can be skipped
- Floor seating — most niches are designed for standing pooja
- Storage for elaborate festival items — keep those in a separate cupboard
- Carved gopuram detailing if the budget is tight — a clean teak frame with one small kalasham works beautifully
A well-built pooja niche, lit right, can hold its own against a full pooja room. We have a few in our portfolio that prove it.
PS
P. Saravanan
Workshop Master
Writing from the workshop floor at Kurumban Crafts, Coimbatore.
