Bhoga offering: 

I offer my respectful obeisances unto [spiritual master's name], who is very dear to Lord Krishna, having taken shelter at His lotus feet.

Chant the following prayer to Lord Caitanya three times, requesting His mercy:

O most munificent incarnation! You are Krishna Himself appearing as Sri Krishna Caitanya Mnahaprabhu. You have assumed the golden color of Srimati Radharani, and You are widely distributing pure love of Krishna. We offer our respectful obeisances unto You. [Cc. Madhya 19.53]

4. Leave the room for ten minutes, allowing the Lord and His associates to eat. During this time chant the Gayatri mantras for your spiritual master and for Lord Caitanya (the third and fifth guru-given mantras); then you may chant the Hare Krishna mantra and/or other Vaisnava songs. 

5. Re-enter the room, clapping the hands three times. Remove the plate, praying that you have served the Lord and His associates to Their full satisfaction.

While it is not expected that home worship be strictly punctual, it is best to keep as regular a schedule as possible. Whatever food one prepares for oneself and others must be offered to the Deities, so the number of offerings may vary; however, one should have a set number of offerings in the day (breakfast, lunch, and dinner, for example) to which the family cooking schedule is oriented. 

Arati Ceremony

Every scheduled bhoga offering is followed by an Arati. Except for kirtana, offering Arati is the only regular daily function of Deity worship performed publicly. 

Required Paraphernalia:

Make sure the following items are present: 

In addition, for full Arati:

*Alternative: Other kinds of hand-held fans can be offered. 

For dhoopa-Arati:

Preliminary Activities for Arati 

      Outside the Deity room, after performing Acamana (if not already done for previous services), offer obeisances to your spiritual master, requesting to assist him in the worship.

      Prepare the samanya-arghya if not already done.

      After cleaning the place where the Arati paraphernalia will be set up (either on a low table, on the floor, or, if space allows, on the altar itself), bring the tray with paraphernalia and place them in the order of offering.

      You may now light a standing or hanging oil or ghee lamp for lighting incense and Arati lamps.*  

It is best not use offered incense sticks to light lamps. Also, it is best not to light the ghee lamps to be offered by holding them directly into the flame of the standing or hanging lamp. Instead, use either an unoffered incense stick or a thin wooden stick or stiff stalk of kusha grass that has been wrapped with cotton-wool and dipped in ghee; it should be about the length of a hand span. After lighting the ghee lamp to be offered, extinguish the stick by dipping the burning end briefly into the oil or ghee in the standing or hanging lamp. You may now light the incense to be offered in the Arati, prior to offering pushpanjali.)

Candles are a rather low-class replacement for lamps containing ghee or oil (such as coconut-, sesame-, or mustard-oil). If possible, avoid using candles on the altar, but if no oil for burning in lamps is available, try to get candles made of beeswax. In general, fire should be treated with utmost care to avoid disaster. Fire extinguishers or fire blankets should be kept in the Deity room and the kitchen. 

Requesting the Lord to Accept the Arati (pushpanjali) 

      While ringing a bell, offer flower petals to the lotus feet of your spiritual master and then to each Deity's lotus feet, requesting each Deity to accept the Arati ceremony. The order of offering pushpanjali is as follows: your spiritual master, Lord Nityananda, Lord Caitanya, Srimati Subhadra, Lord Baladeva, Lord Jagannatha, Srimati Radharani, and Lord Krishna. While offering the petals, chant eva pushpanjali and the maha-mantra for each Deity. Or in simplified worship, simply say, "Please accept these flowers of surrender."

      Ringing the bell again, open the Deity room doors. Then, take the blowing conchshell and lota with water just outside the Deity room, blow the conch three times, rinse it off over a receptacle placed outside for that purpose, and then bring the conch and lota back inside. (You may place the conch horizontally on top of the lota.) Next wash your hands with water from the panca-patra and open the curtain while ringing the bell.

      During the Arati ceremony, devotees should perform kirtana in the temple. If by some misfortune no one is in the temple to chant, the poojari performing Arati may either sing or have a recording of kirtana played. 

Purifying the Upacaras 

Before offering each upacara, purify both your right hand and the upacara by sprinkling them with water from the panca-patra. You can purify the upacara in either of two ways: 1) place a few drops of water in your right hand and then sprinkle it lightly over the upacara with a single motion of your hand, so that the water comes off your fingertips; or 2) take the spoon in your right hand and sprinkle water on the upacara directly from the spoon. Optionally, with either method you may then show the cakra-, dhenu- (or surabhi-), and matsya-mudras over each item to indicate more subtle purification and protection.

 Offering Procedure

      While ringing a bell, present the incense first to your spiritual master by waving it in three or seven graceful circles,* and then present it to Srilaa Prabhupada** and Lord Caitanya in the same manner.

      Then, with the consciousness that you are offering it on behalf of your spiritual master and with the blessings of Srila Prabhupada and Lord Caitanya, offer it with the full number of circles (listed below) to the main Deity.

      After offering the incense to the main Deity, offer it as prasda to the Lord's associates in descending order, and to the guru-parampara--senior to junior. This may also be done with the full number of circles, or simply with seven or three circles for each Deity, depending on time allowance.

      Then offer it (with one or three circles) to the assembled Vaisnavas as the prasada of the Lord and His associates. Offer the remaining items in a similar way. When offering each upacara, say softly the name of the item and the appropriate maha-mantra of the Deity being worshiped. Or in simplified worship, simply say to each personality, "Please accept this offering of [incense, lamps, etc.].

      Offered items should not be mixed with unoffered items. You may place offered items back on the plate that was used to bring in the paraphernalia, provided no unoffered paraphernalia remains on it. 

*Arati paraphernalia should be offered gracefully, in a meditative mood. But do not be either too slow or too fast, and do not perform it in a showy manner, but as a humble servant of your spiritual master and the assembled Vaisnavas. Stand to the left of the altar (as viewed from the temple room)--not hidden entirely from view but also not distracting by your presence.

** For devotees who are not direct disciples of Srila Prabhupada: Along with the worship of one's own spiritual master, devotees in ISKCON must worship His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada as both the Founder-acarya of ISKCON and the Siksha-guru for all devotees of ISKCON. In addition to the worship of Srila Prabhupada in his guru-pooje, devotees should also honor him when performing Arati by presenting the Arati items to Srila Prabhupada after presenting them to one's own spiritual master. 

How to Offer Each Item 

Offer all the items, except the chamara and fan, by moving them in clockwise circles while ringing a bell with your left hand (above waist level), fixing your attention on the Deities.  

*Try to guage the time for offering each upacara so that you can offer the chamara and fan gracefully a moderate number of times before concluding the Arati.

** Incense, arghya, cloth and flowers could be offered with fewer circles if time is short. The main item of the Arati ceremony is the lamp, for which Shastra gives very specific numbers of circles. 

You may give out the lamp(s) to the assembled devotees immediately after offering them to the Deities; it is traditional in many temples,to avoid interrupting the Arati, to distribute arghya water and flowers at the end of the Arati, after blowing the conch.*  

*Note: In traditional temples the lamp is brought first to Garuda, who stands at the back of the temple. In ISKCON temples the lamp is brought first to Srila Prabhupada, the Founder-acarya of ISKCON, as he is the Vaisnava-Sresta, the leader of the assembled Vaisnavas. After being held briefly for Srila Prabhupada to touch the fire (it should not be waved in circles, as in the Arati), the lamp should be taken among the assembled Vaisnavas, in order of seniority. (Women who are having their monthly cycle should not touch the lamp.) The person offering the prasada lamp for touching should be sensitive to the seniority of the assembled devotees; the assembled devotees, however, should not be overly sensitive if missed when the lamp is offered. The lamp is not meant to show respect or honor to us, but rather we are meant to offer respect to the lamp as the Lord's prasada by touching the fire to our foreheads. 

Upacara-mantras for Arati 

The mantras for each item are as follows: 

      Incense: eva dhoopah and the maha-mantra

      Camphor and ghee lamps: eva deepah and the maha-mantra

      Water in a conchshell: idam arghyam and the maha-mantra

      Cloth: idam vastram and the maha-mantra

      Flowers: etani pushpani and the maha-mantra (etat pushpam ,if a single flower is being offered)

      Chamara: eva chamara-seva and the maha-mantra

      Fan: eva vyajana-seva and the maha-mantra 

Completing the Arati 

Full Aratis, including fanning and blowing of the conch before and after the Arati, may last twenty-five minutes; the duration of short Aratis (in which incense, flowers, and chamara are offered) is from five to eight minutes.

      After completing the Arati, blow the conch three times outside the Deity room, as at the beginning of the Arati. Then distribute the arghya and flower prasada to the assembled devotees.

      Chant the prema-dhvani mantras , if the kirtana leader or another devotee in the temple does not chant them.

      Then with joined palms offer pranama prayers softly to your spiritual master and Their Lordships.

      Next remove the Arati paraphernalia from the Deity room, clean the area and articles, and at last offer dandavat-pranamas (prostrated obeisances) outside the Deity room.

Daily Services 

The householder should worship the Deities with Arati and kirtana at least once a day, preferably twice--morning and evening. If possible he should also offer dhoopa-Arati after the midday bhoga offering.

 Morning Worship 

One of the simplest ways to worship the Lord is to offer each item mentally while presenting a spoonful of water from a panca-patra and then discard the water into a throw-out pot.  You may do this without mantras, simply by requesting the Lord to accept each item. Perform this worship in the morning.

            If you cannot physically bathe the Deities every day, you should do so weekly, especially if they are metal Deities who need polishing. At that time it is best to worship Them using actual paraphernalia, to dress them and offer them flowers, and so on.

            The basic procedure for Gaura-Nitai worship is as follows: 

1. Gather all the required paraphernalia and arrange it neatly and conveniently for performing the worship. Make sure you have everything you need so that you will not have to interrupt the worship to get something. 

2. Sit on an Asana and perform Acamana; then sprinkle yourself, the area, and the paraphernalia with water, chanting the Hare Krishna mantra. 

3. Offer worship to your spiritual master as follows: 

Ringing a bell with your left hand, offer flowers dipped in sandalwood paste at his lotus feet. Beg for his blessings to perform the worship of Gaura-Nitai. Then chant the guru-given Gayatri mantras silently. 

4. Offer worship to Gaura-Nitai as follows: 

a) Invite Their Lordships to the bathing receptacle with a gesture of the hands, remove Their clothing, clean Them with a damp cloth, and cover Them with gamchas. If the Deities are metal, polish Them at this time, using a cloth to apply almond paste or powdered gopi-candana mixed with a little lemon juice. (Gopi-candana is best.) Avoid the eyes and painted areas. Clean off the gopi-candana or paste with a soft, damp cloth. 

b) Ringing a bell, pour water over their Lordships from a conch held in your right hand. Fill the conch at least three times. Chant the Brahma-samhita prayers while bathing their Lorships: