There’s only one place in the comfort of your home that keeps most of us off the maddening mayhem – the serene prayer room or worship corner. It’s one of those spaces where you wish to be left alone for some precious moments of reflection. Irrespective of our religious orientation, each one of us pines for a space in the home that is untouched by the happenings around.

Modern prayer room designs are more in demand these days. People have started living in small homes and apartments and most of them don’t have a separate pooja room. Hence, these compact, small, stylish, modern room designs are preferred today.

  • A small pooja room can have a themed wall. The elegant wall can be made up of backlit onyx stone. The beige walls and light-colored wood paneling offers unmatched beauty and grace to the pooja room.

Pooja Room Themed Wall

  • Traditional households in India had the luxury of space. A mandir in Hindu homes and miniature of the church in Christian homes were quite a common sighting. Those were the days when a worship room was planned with the same vigor and detail as the rest of the home. But as the dwelling spaces became smaller, prayer rooms became prayer corners, wall mountings, and cabinets.
  • Nevertheless, worship spaces continue to occupy a sacred place in our dwellings. We try to aim at a worship area that is apt for a modern apartment. It has to have a nice design that is sure to create an atmosphere full of divinity and spirituality in your home. For this, the most widely used design is to have an intricate design on the front panel/entrance and the door.

  • Vastu Shastra, the science of architecture and construction, continues to be the guiding principle in the designs of many Hindu homes. According to Vastu Shastra, Northeast direction is the best location for the pooja room as it emanates positive energies. If that is not possible, North or East is also fine.

Christian home altar is usually preferred in the drawing-room but it could differ from household to household. Parsis prefer to have their prayer corner in the kitchen for the flower vase and other symbols.

For Muslims too, the design must be such that the person praying must have his/her face towards Kabah.

  • The area has to be extremely well-lit so that it uplifts the spiritual mood of the place. With enough natural light, space should be airy and open. If the corner of the room faces the sunrise, nothing like it! White, light yellow or orange and light blue or green are the best colors for the walls. The floor should be designed with white or off-white marble. The idea is to keep it as bright-looking and spacious as possible.
  • In many Christian homes in India, cladding stones or cladding tiles are used as a backdrop for Jesus Christ’s statue or image. In traditional Hindu households, wood is predominantly used for the structure of the mandap or slab.

Christian Jesus Christ Statue Prayer Area

  • But over the years, many other materials such as marble, granite, and metal are also being explored. One can also decorate it with colorful rangoli design. The build-in platform design is can also be used to place idols and photos of gods and goddesses.
  • Make your worship space artistically interesting with intricate carvings in stone, wood, marble or metal. You could keep it fairly simple by having a carved marble panel on a raised/leveled semi-circular platform. Mount the images of deities on this panel and have it interestingly lit from behind. A few potted plants on the side will keep the place refreshing. A wooden showcase-cum-prayer alter mounted on the wall is also a great idea in space-deprived apartments of today.

Seating Ganesh Prayer Area

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  • You can also try some statement color for your worship area to highlight it. Here is a pretty pooja room design in red. The cupboard provides space for keeping your deity. It comes complete with doors that have small bells on them. The modular pooja cabinet has lots of storage space too.
  • If you have the luxury of space and can afford a dedicated room for worship, go for a more exotic look with bricked walls, rock stones, and mystique indirect light. According to Vaastu, the door to the pooja room should be of double-shutter so it doesn’t cause inconvenience when it is open. An elaborately carved wooden door at the entrance with space for bells lends a truly elegant look. A Christian prayer room or area generally has no doors and is an open space.
  • Dedicate a wall of your living room to build a classy prayer unit. Go for the step concept design; add proper lights to keep it bright and visually appealing. Add black stones in the background and place metallic idols to get the desired look.
  • Wood-carved calligraphy and wall art with Quranic inscriptions have been the traditional paraphernalia of Islamic décor in Muslim households. Wall decals or vinyl stickers have emerged as the new décor idea for calligraphic art. Although there is no restriction on the place for offering prayer, setting aside a spot in a room that is away from the hustle and bustle may help in maintaining high standards of hygiene and also upholding the sanctity of prayers.

Muslim prayer area

For idols, you have varied options available in the market — frames, artifacts, sculptures, murals, and wall art.

  • A simple prayer room can be design by highlighting an elegant background via panel and soft lighting. The overall design and lighting give the room a spiritual glow that resonates with the vibrations which created this world. It helps the roomradiateserenity, calm, and will put you into a deep meditative trance.

Simple Pooja Room Design Ideas

  • A unique worship room is awe-inspiring and cultivates fiery devotion. You can add fiery lights to highlight the stained glass on the ceiling. The stained glass depicts the sun, the source of life, casting a spectrum of pure light throughout the cosmos. If there is such a thing as a materialization of a spiritual awakening, this must be it.
  • Place a single glowing brass statue against a pure tiled marble backdrop on a pedestal. Its enough to invoke feelings of sanctity, adoration, and love for the almighty.

Tile backdrop with brass statue

For those of us who prefer to keep their religious beliefs more private, this prayer cabinet keeps our faith in the mysterious a mystery. The golden motifs on the cabinet aptly express the precious beliefs that are materialized inside.

  • For houses with space constraints a prayer corner can be tucked away cozily in a corner of the living room. Use a wooden panel with organic patterns to divide the hall from this oasis of calm. A niche space for prayer can easily be designed to fit your home no matter how small it may be.
  • For those looking for a modern yet very minimalist worship area, which creates space and mind that is clear of clutter and ideal for spiritual reflection, — glass is your answer. Using a mirror in the background reflects the natural light shining through the area and creates a spacious room. You can install soft limelight to envelop the idols creating a peaceful ambiance.

Simple Minimalist Pooja Unit

  • If you wish to have a traditional pooja room design, you can go for almost like a replica of a quaint little temple in the village. It can be designed with tiling around the door frame, and with a bright doorway that guides us to the right path. The dark tiles contrasted with the bright interior will be quite intriguing. Try to allow natural light to illuminate the room, and also provides good ventilation for all the smoky rituals that are due to take place.

Separate Indian Pooja Ghar

With years of experience in the field, we at CivilLane can assure you that you simply just can’t go wrong with this area’s design. Each home has different space, layer and arrangement to it and these are innumerable customizable ways to alter the design and make one that suits you and your space the most. Just make your prayer room look welcoming and inviting so you can revel in moments of solitude and reflection. As for the gods of interior design and architecture, you can find them at CivilLane.