Whether your puja room is actually a room or housed in a closet, it should be well lit. Taking the time and effort to choose between, say, a candle holder or an artistic lamp will pay off in creating the right ambience in a space that deserves no less. Also, in small spaces the onus to create warmth and expansiveness lies on the lighting – so it’s worthwhile to make that effort. Take a look at the different ways you can light up the puja room in the house – illumination that will render your sacred space calm and tranquil.

Use focus lights

In a small area or a sombre windowless room, spotlights can really make the space pop. In this granite-floored puja ghar, spotlights illuminate the idols in a gentle glow and bounce off the shiny flooring, enveloping the space in an ethereal radiance.

Tip: Think soft-focus lights, not harsh spotlights, for a warm ambience. As such, yellow lights would be preferable over white ones.

Light up the ceiling

This puja ghar, while not a room in itself, has an illuminated tray ceiling of its own, distinctive from the rest of the room. The recessed lights in the ceiling throw down a warm glow that is complemented by the wooden ceiling and floor.

Tip: Apart from the ceiling, recessed lights can be used for vertical highlighting, too.

Adopt a pendant or two

Pendant lights (and chandeliers) are ideal to add light and a touch of art to a room – more so a puja room that deserves every bit of embellishment. Here, a bunch of pendant lights in glass and chrome, suspended from a metal plaque, do a great job to brighten up this room – and add a dash of modernism while at it.

Let in nature through skylights

Use skylights where there’s no place for conventional windows – or even otherwise. As skylights create gallery-worthy lighting, they are a great option for a puja ghar to highlight idols that are also pieces of art. Various designs in skylights allow you to control the amount of light that filters in.

A version of skylights, these tiny window niches punctured in the wall filter light the same way as skylights.

Create backlit accents

Screen your lights by placing them behind a panel. When you place a light behind an translucent object, not only do you gain depth, which accentuates the play of light, but the objects in front get highlighted too. Here, the lit-up lotus flower background provides an ethereal glow to this otherwise dimly lit prayer room.

Backlights or panel lights, as they are also called, can be used on ceilings too. In this home, the subtly lit ceiling displays a geometric flower design, casting soft light on the marble-clad puja space.

Use lighting with interesting effects

Decorate your puja room and light it up at the same time, by employing light fixtures that project interesting patterns. This inverted dome pendant light with its intricate jali-like work casts stunning shadows and patterns to add further depth to the space – and a slight touch of grandeur.

One last tip:

 Whatever type of lighting you use, make sure to use LED lamps. As we like to keep our puja rooms constantly lit, it makes sense to spend extra on the initial costs that LEDs entail, in order to reap the benefits later. LEDs are low-maintenance, energy-efficient and long-lasting.