Initiation and passage
Consecrating a yantra
The rite by which a drawn or engraved yantra is believed to be given life and made the seat of a deity.
Presented by ClearTrust Customs described as customs, free to read.
A yantra is a geometric diagram, often a set of interlocking triangles inside lotus petals and a square gate, used in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain practice as a seat of a deity or a force. A new yantra is not thought to be active until it has been consecrated. The rite is called prana pratishtha, giving breath or life, and it is the same step that installs a temple image.
This is an outline of a custom, said as belief and practice. It is not instruction, it does not say that the rite works, and it is not medical advice.
What goes into it
- Yantra plate or paperObjectThe diagram being consecrated.
- MantraWordThe sound form of the deity, spoken by the priest.
- Water and milkSubstanceUsed in the bathing of the object.
- Flowers and incenseOfferingOffered after the invitation.
- LampToolA flame offered to the deity.
- Clean altar spaceSpaceWhere the yantra rests.
- Object
- Word
- Substance
- Offering
- Tool
- Space
Each part has an equal wedge. The ring shows what goes into the rite, not how much. Colour is the part's role.
The steps, drawn
Each drawing shows the kind of act in that step. Details differ from place to place, family to family and practitioner to practitioner.
Step 1: Cleanse Clean the yantra and the place where it will stand. Step 2: Gather Set out water, flowers, incense and a lamp. Step 3: Circle The priest marks out the ritual space and sits facing the yantra. Step 4: Speak Mantras are recited to invite the deity into the diagram. Step 5: Offer Flowers, light and incense are offered. Step 6: Close The yantra is set in its place and worshipped regularly.
Outline of the rite
In the best-known account a trained priest cleans the object, sets it on a clean cloth, bathes it with water and sacred substances, and recites mantras that invite the deity to settle in it. Offerings of flowers, light and incense follow, and the yantra is then worshipped daily. The diagram might be drawn on paper or birch bark, or engraved on copper, gold or silver, and the Sri Yantra is the most famous.
Closed and open
The full procedure belongs to initiated lineages and is taught from teacher to student, so this page does not give it. Many temples and shops sell ready-made yantras with the claim that they are already empowered, which practitioners and scholars both treat with caution. Scholars note that the geometry is also studied as art and cosmology, with no belief required.
What it is for
- Seat a deity in a diagram
- Give a home or shop a focus of worship
Who does it
Related entries
YantraThe diagram consecrated.
TantraThe tradition that develops the rite.
MantraA sacred sound or phrase repeated to focus the mind and invoke spiritual powerAlso part of it, and being written: Prana Pratishtha (The installation rite.).
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Sources and further reading
Original text and drawings by the EveryJaadu desk, written with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Closed or sacred detail is left out. If we have something wrong, tell us.
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Mantra: Markrosenrosen, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Tantra: William Clark, Public domain, source
- Yantra: Photo by Daniel Conrad (Chromacon), artwork by Daniel Conrad under dir, Public domain, source