Lakshmi Puja at Home: Diwali Puja Gift Set

1. Clear a low shelf, lay a fresh red or orange cloth, and set Ganesha and Lakshmi side by side at its centre, facing the room.
2. At dusk on 8 November, ring the bell, light a tealight in the glass lamp and one stick of Nag Champa in a heatproof holder of your own. Ganesha is honoured first, so begin with him, and offer a flower if you have one.
3. Keep the flame and the incense where you can see them, and put both out before you sleep. There are six tealights, one for each evening you want the lamp lit.

• A handcrafted brass Lakshmi statue, seated on a lotus, 37 mm tall and 22 g, made in India.
• A handcrafted brass Ganesha statue, seated on a lotus base, 37 mm tall and 22 g, made in India.
• A small brass hand bell, 7 cm tall and 40 g, with a medallion of interlocking circles (the Flower of Life) on its dome, made in India.
• A tealight holder of recycled glass with real dried baby's breath sealed into it, 8 × 8 cm.
• Six rose-scented tealights, each burning up to four hours, made in Poland.
• One 10 g pack of Satya Nag Champa incense sticks, hand-rolled in India. The set has no incense holder.

The pieces arrive together in one parcel. They are not gift-wrapped. Let the glass cool before you move it, and wipe the brass with a soft, dry cloth.

The lotus under Lakshmi is one of her oldest signs. The Shri Sukta, a hymn to her kept among the supplementary hymns of the Rigveda, already calls her 'padme sthitam': she who is seated on the lotus.