Sūrya Pratishṭhā

Sūrya Pratishṭhā · sūrya-pratishṭhā, “the installing of Sūrya”

Añjana has other meanings too: see all meanings of Añjana.

Sūrya Pratishṭhā is the installing of the pratimā (sacred image) of Bhagavān Sūrya in his temple. The Brahma Parva of the Bhavishya Purāṇa gives the whole rite in the Sāmbopākhyāna, the sacred account of Sāmba, within the Saptamī Kalpa. Śatānīka asks Sumantu Muni how Sāmba installed Bhagavān Sūrya, and Sumantu tells him: as soon as the Sūrya pratimā was found in the Candrabhāgā, Sāmba thought of Nārada Maharshi in his mind, and at once the Devarshi stood before him. Nārada taught him everything in order, from the choosing of the tree to the last dakshiṇā, and told him to do it himself.

The rite is kept on a fit tithi, weekday and nakshatra, in a muhūrta of the Ravi horā. It has these parts: the choosing and felling of the tree for a wooden pratimā; the vedi, maṇḍapa, toraṇas and flags; the great snāna (bath) of the mūrti with waters, earths, herbs, milk, ghee and honey; the adhivāsana, the honouring of Bhagavān Sūrya with gandha, garlands, cloth and tāmbūla; the nyāsa (placing) of the letters of his root mantra; the homa at the four sides of the fire; the bed in the northeast and the night of vigil with Nikshubhā, Mahārājñī, Daṇḍa and Piṅgala; the setting of the pratimā on a golden ratha of seven horses at the middle of the garbha-gṛha; the bali to the dikpālas; and the dakshiṇā, without which this great kratu (yajña) must never be done. Nārada says that the pratimā so installed stays ever near its devotees, and that the one who installs it gains the fruit of ten aśvamedhas and a hundred vājapeyas.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapters 130, 136

Why a mūrti of Bhagavān Sūrya is made

Sumantu tells of the dialogue between Dindi, a great tapasvin, and Bhagavān Sūrya. Bhagavān Sūrya taught him: “If the mind cannot stay in one place and is restless, fix it on me with great bhakti and love, and prepare a mūrti of me.” The mūrti may be of gold, silver, stone, clay or wood, or a painting, and pūjā is done to it with many kinds of offering and naivedya. “If you always keep the mind on that mūrti, take refuge in it, and with your whole self in bhakti do pūjā to it and meditate on it, this will be of help.”

Nārada tells Sāmba that the pratimās which earn auspicious things for bhaktas are of seven kinds, among them those of gold, silver, copper, clay and wood, and those drawn as a painting. Each material has its fruit:

“In this way,” says Nārada, “the mūrti of Bhagavān Sūrya, who is sarvadevamaya (made of all the devas), should be made with śraddhā.”

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapters 62, 131, 133

Choosing the tree

Nārada says, “Sāmba, now I shall tell you clearly the pratimā vidhi of all the devatās, and chiefly of Sūryadeva.” Having examined the year, month, paksha, tithi and weekday, one goes to the forest with the auspicious signs and omens laid down in the śāstra.

These trees are left alone:

• trees that run with milky sap, because they are weak by nature
• trees where four roads meet, young trees, and trees close to devālayas
• trees born in anthills, and trees in which devatās dwell
• trees in temples, in Bauddha shrines and in gardens
• trees grown on cremation grounds
• trees in which birds have built nests, trees with hollows, and trees with dried tops
• trees spoiled by a weapon, wind, fire or lightning, and trees broken by elephants and the like
• diseased or blighted trees, trees that flower out of season, and trees with shrunken leaves
• trees in which rākshasas, crows or cranes live
• trees with one branch, with three branches or with very many branches, and trees of a low kind

Also useless for a pratimā are trees that have fallen of themselves, been felled by elephants and the like, dried up, burned by fire or harmed by birds.

The best trees for pratimās are ippa (madhūka), devadāru, candana “the king of trees”, bilva, ambāḷamu, caṇḍra, añjana, vēpa (nimba), ṭeku, panasa, tella tegaḍa, ēṟumaddi and rakta candana. Of the four varṇas, each is assigned two trees in turn from the list beginning with madhūka; the rest, beginning with nimba, are common to all. Nārada then gives them so:

• Brāhmaṇas: devadāru, jammi, ippa and candana
• Kshatriyas: caṇḍra, tummiki, rāvi and karakata
• Vaiśyas: caṇḍra and candana, the best, which give puṇya
• Nāgakesara, vēgi, māmiḍi and maddi are also auspicious and give puṇya.

The tree stands in a pure and solitary place, in the east or north, with no impurity such as hair or charcoal, where no creature is troubled. It is well sprouted, with spreading branches and abundant leaves, growing straight, without wounds, very stout, glossy, with healthy bark and leaves, and bright with fruit and flowers. One goes to the chosen tree, worships it duly with flowers and the like, and draws the mark of a pratimā on it, so that it is known as the tree to be taken.

The rite of the tree

The tree is taken on an auspicious day in the eight months beginning with Kārtika. These are the steps in order:

1. Keep upavāsa (a fast), and perform adhivāsana of the tree with flowers, dhūpa and fragrant things.
2. Clear and clean the ground all around under the tree, and sprinkle everywhere water consecrated with the Gāyatrī mantra.
3. Wearing clean white clothes, worship the tree with gandha, flowers, dhūpa, dīpa and naivedya.
4. Spread darbha close by and make homa with samidhs of devadāru.
5. Worship the tree saying oṃ bhūr bhuvas suvaḥ, with this prayer: “O Prajāpati, whose nature is satya, whose form is the tree, O king of trees, namaskāra to you. O noblest antarātmā, ātmā of all that moves and stands, O deva, take your presence in this tree. May the Sūrya-vṛta-maṇḍala enter here. Namaskāra.”
6. Speak gently to the tree: “O king of trees, for the welfare of the world, go away to the auspicious devālaya. O deva, there you will dwell in ease, free of cutting, heat and the like. At their times the worlds will worship you with gandha, flowers, dhūpa and naivedya. So you will be in joy.”
7. At its root worship the axe with gandha, flowers and dhūpa, and set it down carefully with its head to the east.
8. Offer bali: worship the tree with pāyasa, laḍḍuvas, citrānna, māṃsa, piṇḍivanṭalu, bhakshyas, madya, gandha, flowers and dhūpa. Worship the devatās, the pitṛdevatās, piśācas, rākshasas, sarpas, the sura-gaṇas, the Vināyakas and others.
9. At night touch the tree and say: “O king of trees, you have been fixed by the devatās for pratimās. Namaskāra to you. Accept the pūjā we offer according to the vidhi. Accepting this bali offered by rule, may all the beings living here move their dwelling to another place. May they forgive us. Namaskāra to them.”
10. As day breaks, worship the tree once more, give dakshiṇā to brāhmaṇas and Bhojakas, and have paṇḍitas pronounce svastivācana.
11. Cut off all the branches spreading out on the four sides and place them behind, then stand according to vāstu.
12. Wet the tree with water, approach it from the northeast, and with an axe smeared with honey and ghee strike around it in pradakshiṇa order.

The fall of the tree

The tree is struck so that it falls to the east, the northeast or the north. A fall in one of these three directions is best and brings growth. A fall to the southwest, southeast or south is not auspicious. A fall to the northwest or west is middling. It is praised if the tree falls silently, touching nothing. If after falling it breaks, or if a sweet liquid, ghee or oil flows from it, that tree is rejected.

A fall from the southeast corner onward brings, in order, danger of fire, very dreadful diseases and loss of wealth. The text also gives what the yajamāna becomes in the next birth by the direction of the fall:

• Southeast: he becomes a stone.
• South: he is born a pigeon.
• Southwest: he is born a lizard.
• Northwest: he becomes an insect the size of a thumb.

So that none of these faults arise, the tree is cut at a good muhūrta and the wood is gathered.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 131

The adhivāsana maṇḍapa

After the vigraha is made, a separate maṇḍapa for its adhivāsana is built in the northeast. It is adorned on the four sides with toraṇas and various ornaments, and on all sides with patākās (flags) of these colours:

• Southeast: red
• South and southwest: black
• West: white
• Northwest: pale, more white than green or yellow
• North: many-coloured
• From the northeast to the east: yellow

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 133

The time

• Tithis: pāḍyami, vidiya, caturthī, pañcamī, navamī, trayodaśī and pūrṇimā.
• Weekdays: Monday, Thursday, Wednesday and Friday, the days of the gentle grahas, best for the pratishṭhā yajña karma.
• Nakshatras: Uttara Phalgunī, Uttarāshāḍhā, Uttarābhādra, Revatī, Aśvinī, Rohiṇī, Punarvasu, Hasta, Jyeshṭhā, Śravaṇa or Bharaṇī.

The vedi, maṇḍapa and toraṇas

1. Examine the ground well and see that it is free of husk, hair, sand, charcoal, bones and the like.
2. The vedi on which the Sūrya mūrti is installed is four mūrās in breadth. The maṇḍapa is ten mūrās in extent, built duly with tree branches.
3. Bring clay from the meeting-place of rivers, smear the ground, and have the kuṇḍas made: on the east square, on the south half-moon, on the west round, on the north lotus-shaped.
4. Prepare toraṇas of five mūrās each. The trees best for this work are maddi, mēḍi, mārēḍu, mōdugu, rāvi, jemmi and candana. The wise one, wearing white clothes and a wonderful forehead ornament and holding japa-mālās, makes the toraṇas.
5. Worship the toraṇas with their mantras: the east with agnimīḷe, the west with agna āyāhi, the north with śaṃ no devī, and the south with its own mantra.
6. Set golden kalaśas in place, shining with white sandal paste and auspicious ornaments on their necks, with yava, rice and food, with their clothes and lids.
7. Adorn the clusters of pillars with cloths, painted panels, streamers, mirrors, patākās, cāmaras and canopies.
8. Hold a mahotsava with the sound of conches and bells, songs, auspicious cries, maṅgala vādyas, the boom of bherīs, recitation of the Veda and cries of jaya jaya.
9. In a place splendidly adorned with wonderful patākās, flowers of pūjā, canopies of garlands of many colours, and flower-buds and sprouts scattered everywhere, set the vigraha on a vedi spread with darbha.
10. Set up the flags of the directions, listed below.
11. Draw a padma with white flour and kuṅkuma, and touch the whole vedi with its mantra.
12. Spread kuśa with their tips to the east and north, and finish the covering of kuśa with the mantra yoge yoge.
13. There prepare a bed with a soft upper cover, and place two water pots. Arrange rows of lamps in a wonderful way, with bhakshya, bhojya, food and drink; set out piṇḍivanṭalu, laḍḍuvas, pāyasa, pulaga and dadhyodana (rice with curds), and clean curds shining like the moon.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 134

The snāpaka

Nārada says that the one who bathes the mūrti, the snāpaka, should be a brāhmaṇa of great wisdom, a master of the Vedas, a Bhojaka learned in the Sūrya śāstras like Aruṇa, together with many Bhojakas and brāhmaṇas. The whole rite is performed by Bhojaka brāhmaṇas of the Ṛg, Atharvaṇa and Yajur Vedas.

The marks of the one who bears the mūrti and bathes it are these: whole of body, intelligent, learned in śāstra, pleasant to look at, of a good kula, full of śraddhā, born in the country of the āryas, neither fat nor lean, neither tall nor short, knowing the Sūrya śāstras, a yogī, self-restrained, devoted to the guru, jitendriya, knowing the twenty-five tattvas. Such a one is called a sthāpaka.

These, and others like them, are to be avoided in the rites of Sūrya’s bath:

• those lacking a limb, those with an extra limb, dwarfs and those of ugly form
• the very white and the very dark
• nāstikas
• those who live by conducting yajñas and the like
• cheats who look innocent, and the hypocritical
• those of unclean habits, and those with dark rows of teeth
• the proud, the wrathful, and those of wicked qualities and conduct
• the very young and the very old
• those with white patches or leprosy
• the one-eyed and the evil-minded
• those of mixed jāti, those low by jāti, and śūdras
• the hunchbacked, the blind and the bald
• those with impaired senses, those without nīti, the evil-souled, the crippled and the lame
• those who live by telling tithi, nakshatra, vāra, yoga and karaṇa
• those who teach lessons for money

The learned should examine snāpakas in every way.

The bringing of the mūrti

To the northeast of the maṇḍala a bhadrapīṭha of one hasta is set, according to the śāstra. Bhagavān Sūrya is brought to the deva-gṛha with bhakti, on a cart yoked with an elephant or on a ratha drawn by brāhmaṇas, with auspicious sounds of the Veda. The sūtradhāra, pure and in white clothes, takes the bhadrapīṭha, and with the mantra bhadraṃ karṇebhiḥ takes the kalaśa and bathes Vibhāvasu, the Devadeva.

The first snāna

The waters are ocean water, Gaṅgā water, Yamunā water, Sarasvatī water, the puṇya-giving Candrabhāgā water, Sindhu water, the excellent Pushkara water, pure water falling from the mountains, and other clean water brought as one is able from nadīs, nadas and tanks. Eight Bhojaka brāhmaṇas with golden kalaśas perform the abhisheka.

Then these are gathered: maṇis and ratnas; oshadhis with all kinds of seeds; fragrant flowers of land and water; famous candanas; many fragrant things; ponnaganṭi, suvarcala, niḍumuste, vishṇukrānta, garika, śibipushpi, pippali, kōriṃda and vasa. Besides these, muttava, pulaga, sprouts of rāvi, and darbhas are placed on the kalaśa. The one who knows the rite gives arghya to Bhagavān Sūrya with vessels of gold, silver, copper and clay.

The fourteen kalaśas and the earth

With akshatas, gold coins and all oshadhis, abhisheka is done with the water of fourteen kalaśas purified with the Gāyatrī mantra. A vedi of baked bricks is spread on top with darbha, and the Sūrya mūrti is set on it and clothed. The yajamāna, having fasted, conducts the abhisheka. While bathing, oshadhis, then āmalaka, then earth, then water are made to fall on the head of the vigraha, with mantras.

The prayer to Mṛttikā, the earth of the bath, is this: “O Mṛttikā, you are a Devī praised by all devatās and rākshasas. So, for the purification of the Sūrya mūrti, I place you on the head of the vigraha and bathe it. You are in every way first, before all beings and devatās.” Then is said: “You who are the pati of all rasas, I have invoked you.”

In this way, with Vedic and Paurāṇic mantras, chiefly the Vedic, Bhagavān Sūrya is bathed with pure water.

The prayer of the kalaśas

• “May Brahmā, Vishṇu, Śiva and the other devatās bathe you with the second kalaśa, full of the water of the Ākāśagaṅgā.”
• “May Indra and the other Lokapālas bathe you with the third kalaśa, full of Sarasvatī water.”
• “May the other devatās bathe you with the fourth kalaśa, full of ocean water, water fragrant with lotus petals.”
• “May the nāgas bathe you with the fifth kalaśa, filled with water falling from the peaks of the golden mountain.”
• “With the sixth kalaśa, filled with water from the rivers and reservoirs flowing in the southwest, pure, made fragrant with lotus pollen, and with the seventh kalaśa, may the attendants bathe you.”
• “May the Vasus bathe you with the eighth kalaśa, with the ashṭa maṅgala.”
• “O Devadeva, namaskāra to you.”

So praying, the snāna is begun with the divine kalaśas.

The mantras of the snāna

1. Recite samudraṃ gaccha and hiraṇyagarbha.
2. With samudra jyeshṭhā, wash with mṛttikā.
3. With sinīvālī, use anthill earth.
4. With yajñaṃ yajña, use the extract of five oshadhis: jammi, mēḍi, rāvi, maddi and mōdugu.
5. With a copper vessel give the pure pañcagavya for sipping: gomūtra with the Gāyatrī mantra, gomaya with gandhadvārāṃ, cow’s milk with āpyāyasva, cow’s curds with dadhikrāvṇo, cow’s ghee with tejosi, and kuśa water with devasya tvā.
6. With yā oshadhī, do the oshadhī snāna in order.
7. Apply the rubbing paste with drupada and the like.
8. Do the head-bath with mā nastoka.
9. Offer the auspicious gandhodaka with vishṇor arāṭa, then wash clean with pure river water.
10. Saying jātavedase, bathe with filtered water.
11. Invoke Bhagavān Sūrya with red flowers and fragrant things: “O Bhagavān Bhānudeva, O Devadeva who shows grace to the worlds, come, come here! Accept this arghya, a share of the yajña. Sūryadeva, namaskāra to you.”
12. So praying, give arghya with a gold kalaśa and the mantra idaṃ vishṇur vicakra.
13. Bathe the mūrti first with clay vessels, then copper kalaśas, then silver pots, and after that golden kalaśas, with the waters of all puṇya tīrthas and all kinds of oshadhis.
14. Place flowers on the head of the mūrti, then take a śaṅkha and pour its water there.
15. Bathe the mūrti with water tossed upward: first with water, then milk, then pāyasa, then ghee, then honey, then sugarcane juice.
16. Take the varjanikā, a vessel suited to pouring water in a stream, and let water fall in a stream on the mūrti.
17. Saying ācamasva three times, offer ācamanīya. With vedosi, offer the yajñopavīta.
18. With bṛhaspate, give a pair of cloths, and after them a garland.
19. With dhūrasi, offer dhūpa with guggulu. With samidoñjana, apply collyrium.
20. With yuñjāni, give kampilla. With dīrghāyushṭvāya varcase, offer nīrājana.

The care of the bath-water and the phala of the snāna

No one should step over the bath-water of the Devadeva. Crows, despised by the world, must not drink that snāna tīrtha or the milk. A kartā (doer of the rite) who drinks water spilled on the ground becomes diseased and brings sorrow on his own people. So the bathing is carried out with very great care.

The fruit of the agnishṭoma, gomedha, jyotishṭoma, vājapeya, rājasūya and aśvamedha yāgas comes through these abhishekas of ghee and the rest. The one who has the bathing done, the one who sees it with bhakti and the one who performs it attain in order the fruits of these yajñas. By the mere darśana of the Sūrya mūrti being bathed those fruits are obtained.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 135

The adhivāsana

Nārada goes on: “Now I shall tell of the adhivāsana of Sūryadeva.” The honouring of Bhagavān Sūrya with gandha and garlands, with cloth and tāmbūla, is called adhivāsana.

1. Enter the maṇḍapa with the mantras of the Purusha Sūkta, sahasraśīrshā purushaḥ.
2. In another wholly pure spot, one not touched by plastering and the like, draw a square maṇḍala in five colours.
3. Adorn it with pennants, toraṇas, chatras, pennant poles and garlands of flowers, with a many-coloured canopy, and strew it with heaps of many kinds of flowers.
4. In its middle spread darbha and set the pratimā there.
5. Invoke Bhagavān Sūrya and give him arghya.
6. Offer madhuparka and the like in a golden vessel. A healthy cow with her calf, fit to be offered to the deva, is then offered, that is, shown to him.
7. Saying “O Sūryadeva of a thousand rays, O Gopati, namaskāra to you”, honour him with arghya and clothe him with vastras.
8. Offer the yajñopavīta and naivedya, anoint the head with oil, and receive the faultless prasāda.
9. Honour Bhāskara with many kinds of gandha, with candana, aguru and kuṅkuma, and with ornaments, and adorn him with fragrant flowers, garlands and necklaces woven in many patterns.
10. Offer dhūpa before the pratimā and bring it into the maṇḍapa with the sūkta beginning sahasraśīrshā purushaḥ.
11. With the mantra namaḥ śambhave ca place the pratimā on the bed. With the mantra viśvataścakshuḥ one should stop the sounds of water.

This adhivāsa is done every year with feeding of brāhmaṇas, so that nothing is left lacking, and it is best done in the month of Śrāvaṇa. It takes three days, five days or a single day. It is done for the fulfilment of all desires.

The nyāsa of the root mantra

As soon as the bathing is finished, sakalīkaraṇa is done with nyāsa on one’s own body: just as the places on the pratimā are touched, so one touches the same parts of oneself. The root mantra is oṃ huṃ khasholkāya namaḥ, and the text says that the letters in the word Āditya themselves explain this deva. The letters are placed so:

The meditation on the letters follows, in this order:

• Oṃ-kāra: scattered by masses of flames
• Huṃ-kāra: shining in pure colour and bringing good
• Kha-kāra: shining like broken añjana and like the young sun
• Sho-kāra: of golden colour
• A-kāra: the colour of a white lotus
• Hīṃ-kāra: the colour of the jāji flower, and a union of all colours
• Sa-kāra: white as milk
• Na-kāra: the colour of the mollā flower with snow
• Hīṃ-kāra: the lustre of a streak of lightning, or the union of all colours
• Sa-kāra: white as milk
• Na-kāra: shining with all colours
• Ma-kāra: shining with golden colour

The homa

Bhagavān Sūrya, the mahātmā of a thousand rays, turned toward granting his favour, is brought to the bed. The brāhmaṇas then perform the agni-kārya in the kuṇḍas. The ordinary fire in the araṇi is itself awakened and kindled, and homa is done according to the śāstra.

• Seats: the Ṛgvedin in the east, the one of the Mādhyandina śākhā in the south, the one of the Yajurveda śākhā in the west, the Atharvavedin in the north, and the Bhojaka in the middle part of the kuṇḍa.
• Samidhs: śamī, palāśa, udumbara and uttareṇi.
• Number of offerings: twelve thousand, or eight thousand, or four thousand; two thousand, or three thousand, or at the least one thousand.

The saṃskāras of the kuṇḍa and the fire are done in this order, each with its mantra:

1. Marking out the kuṇḍa: agnirmūrdhā.
2. Digging and wetting: the same mantra and agniṃ dūtaṃ.
3. Garbhādhāna: sambudhyasvāgne.
4. Sīmanta: homa with the sīmanta mahāmantra.
5. Jātakarma and prāṇāyāma, done likewise.
6. Nāmakaraṇa, with its mantra.
7. Annaprāśana, with the annaprāśana mantra.
8. Cūḍākarma: jyeshṭhamagre.
9. Vratabandha, with the vratabandha mantra.
10. Samāvartana: homa with ākṛshṇena.
11. Joining with a wife, to be arranged by oneself.
12. Agnihotra karmas and all yajña karmas: homa with the mahāvyāhṛti mantra.

Bali is then offered to the Mātṛkā devatās and to the yajña-bhūtas.

The bed and the night vigil

The Sūrya vigraha, bathed, well adorned, wearing ornaments of many maṇis and ratnas, and carefully guarded by the company of devotees, is given adhivāsana in this way. In the northeast of the devāgāra a divine mandira is built. Darbha is well spread in it, and on that excellent white cloths. A beautiful bed is prepared, with the pillow arranged so that the pratimā lies with its head to the east.

The Sūrya mūrti is laid on it. On its right Nikshubhā is adorned, and on its left Mahārājñī. At its feet Daṇḍa and Piṅgala are placed.

The mūrti stays there the whole night, and devotees praise Bhagavān Sūrya from all four sides. Stotras and kīrtanas go on from every side, by brāhmaṇas, by vandis and māgadhas, by musicians and by cāraṇas. All who are devoted to Sūrya keep jāgaraṇa (vigil) that whole night. As soon as the night dawns, Bhagavān Sūrya is awakened in the manner of the Ṛgveda. The devotees who wish to receive the havishya, the brāhmaṇas and the Bhojakas are honoured with dakshiṇā and the like, and they perform svasti-vācana.

The ratha and the setting of the pratimā

1. The nābhi-sthāna, the hollow at the centre of a cart-wheel, is arranged so that it comes at the middle of the garbha-gṛha, and the ratha of seven horses, made of gold, is set there according to rule.
2. The yajamāna who knows the rule, wearing all seeds and oshadhis, gives arghya and, with the help of others, sets the ratha there.
3. Amid the sound of conches and dundubhis a stream of water with akshatas is released. With cries of “jaya jaya” and auspicious sounds, pradakshiṇa of the temple is done.
4. At an auspicious tithi, vāra and nakshatra, in a muhūrta of the Ravi horā, the pratimā of Bhāskara is set on the ratha.
5. It is set facing level: not facing downward, not facing upward, not leaning to the side.
6. The mūrtis of his wives are set well on either side: Nikshubhā on the right of Ravi, Rājñī on the left.

The bali to the dikpālas

The many materials gathered beforehand are arranged there. With laḍḍuvas, yūshikās, kinds of bhakshya, cakkilas, bajjikas, pulagas, pāyasānna and such foods, bali is offered to the eight dikpālas beginning with Indra. Each is praised by his own marks as the bali is set out:

• Indra: “Adhipati of the devatās, the mighty, who holds the vajra in his hand, Śatamakha, O Indra, namaskāra to you.” His mantra is trātāram indraṃ.
• Agni, in the Āgneya direction: “Namaskāra to Agnideva, red-eyed, adorned with garlands of flames, bearing the divine weapon called śakti, the sharp one, whose vāhana is the goat.” He is invoked with the Agni mantra.
• Yama: “Namaskāra to Yama Dharmarāja, who holds the daṇḍa in his hand, the dark one, whose vāhana is the buffalo, the son of Sūrya.” With yamāya tvā the mudrās of Yama are given.
• Nirṛti, in the Nairṛta direction: “Namaskāra to Nirṛti, sword in hand, whose body shines in nīla-lohita colour, adhipati of all outer things, famed as Virūpa.” He is contemplated with ayaṃ gauḥ.
• Varuṇa, in the west: contemplated with the Varuṇa mantra as holding the divine pāśa. The five rivers and the river Sarasvatī are also invoked with mantras.
• Vāyu: “Namaskāra to Vāyudeva, whose nature is prāṇa, the pure one, who keeps living beings alive, banner in hand.” He is invoked with yad devā deva heḍanam.
• Kubera: “Mace in hand, the strong one, bearing gadā and paṭṭiśa, namaskāra to Kubera.” His mantra is īśāvāsyaṃ ca guhyā.
• Śiva, Īśāna: “Namaskāra to Bhagavān Śiva, the deva of four faces, seated in padmāsana, seated on the black antelope skin, Lambodara, adhipati of the pramatha gaṇas, Nīlakaṇṭha, bearer of the divine śūla, Virūpāksha, Rudra, master of the three worlds.” A mantra is contemplated for Īśāna.
• Ananta: “I bow always to Ananta, adhipati of all serpents, whose body shines white, who has a thousand hoods.” The mantra namo astu sarvebhyaḥ is given for meditation on him.

Aṅganyāsa and karanyāsa are applied by the Pañcarātra and other texts.

The dakshiṇā

Then, with upapānīyas such as milk, with stutis and stotras, one wins the favour of Bhāskaradeva and gives dakshiṇā to brāhmaṇas and Bhojakas. This Sūrya kratu, which gives great puṇya, must never be done without dakshiṇā.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 136

Setting the pratimā in the temple

Nārada also tells Sāmba, in his teaching on the temple, that the Sūrya pratimā is set according to rule on a cakra-shaped pīṭha and given abhisheka in the snāna-gṛha with the waters of four auspicious kalaśas. During the abhisheka many kinds of auspicious instruments and śaṅkhas should sound. Bhagavān Sūrya is worshipped in this manner in the third maṇḍala.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 130

The phalaśruti

Nārada gives the fruit of the rite so:

• The pratimā set up by this rule stays ever in sānnidhya (near presence) for Sūrya‘s devotees and brings them growth and prosperity. No disease can afflict them in seven births.
• Those who travel for three nights to take part, with gandha, garlands and offerings, in the Sūrya adhivāsa utsava attain residence in Sūryaloka.
• One who brings about the setting up of a Ravi pratimā, his own or another’s, attains svarloka.
• One who performs Sūrya Pratishṭhā obtains the fruit of ten aśvamedha yāgas and a hundred vājapeya yāgas.
• As long as the fame of the one who builds a Sūrya temple lasts, so long he is honoured in Sūryaloka.
• It is said by mantra itself that one who sets up Sūrya is honoured in all the lokas. Svargaloka, Bhūloka and this whole universe stand steadily and always for the good of the yajamāna.
• One who sets up Bhagavān Sūrya with bhakti, by the method of rites seen in the śāstra, obtains the fruit of that kratu every month, without doubt.
• The great fruit gained by doing Sūrya pūjā for even one day cannot be gained by men even by a hundred kratus.
• Even one who has committed mahāpāpa, if he then serves Ravideva, has all his pāpas scattered and goes to Sūryaloka.
• As long as the bricks of a Sūrya mandira do not crumble to powder, the builder enjoys the happiness of svarga.
• The supreme fruit gained by one who restores a ruined temple cannot be had even by a thousand kratus.
• Even one who builds a Sūrya temple in sand gains the anugraha of Bhagavān Sūrya, because it becomes a sabhā-bhavana dear to him.
• One who builds a temple of Bhagavān Sūrya, the cause of the creation, sustenance and laya of beings, lives in Sūryaloka for a hundred kalpas.

Then Nārada says to Sāmba: “Sāmba, you too do this same puṇya act and attain permanence.”

In the earlier chapters Brahmā tells Bhagavān Vishṇu of the same fruit: one who has a temple built and a devatā installed lifts the coming hundred generations of his family and the past hundred, and reaches Sūryaloka after death. The human being who has a well-formed image of Sūrya made dwells long in Sūryaloka, and separately lives happily in Devaloka for sixty thousand years. One who installs Bhagavān Sūrya in an excellent temple and has pūjā done to him has done all that is to be done, and no fault touches him. One who installs the image of Bhagavān Sūrya lifts the coming and past generations of his family for one Brahma Kalpa. The one who worships well an installed image gains, without doubt, whatever desires he prays to that Deva to fulfil.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapters 113–114, 136

Sources

• Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapters 62, 113–114, 130–131, 133–136