Old Offerings at Home — A Simple Guide to Letting Go with Respect

Inside the workbook

What the file includes.

How to Use • Keep one small offerings basket near your shelf; let the day's flowers, ash and wick ends rest there • Before anything leaves, a two-minute farewell: Pause · Thank · Sort · Return • Look the item up in the What Goes Where table, choose its route, and you are done • Clear the basket once a month, on any day you choose — not tied to a tithi, no streaks The Four Routes (plus Keep) • Soil — flowers, leaves, cooled ash, cotton wick ends, plain rice, turmeric, unpainted clay crumbs, into a pot, garden bed or compost • Water, only where allowed — offered water to plants; unpainted clay dissolved in a home bucket; festival images only at designated tanks or collection points • Pass On — sound metal images, good frames, duplicate pictures and books, to a person who wants them or a temple that agrees when asked • Recycle — glass, frames, laminated prints, packaging and worn paper, separated by material after the farewell • Keep — when keeping is kinder; a cloth-lined box or second shelf, never out of guilt alone What It Covers • Daily and weekly leftovers: flowers and garlands, tulsi, bilva and other leaves, ash, wicks and camphor, prasāda and food offerings, kalaśa water, grains and pastes, coconut and fruit • Pictures, calendars, cards and boxes with sacred images; glossy and laminated prints; prayer books and printed scripture; kalava, mauli and rakhi threads • Images and lasting objects: unpainted clay, painted clay and plaster, metal, stone and wood, chipped or cracked images, festival decorations, tinsel and LED lights, gifts you did not choose • No garden, small flats, and life abroad with council bins instead of a river Soft Situations • Moving house; a mixed or non-practising household • Inheriting a shelf or clearing one after a loss — your family priest and elders lead there • Tired days — the basket can wait Tools You Can Print • My City · My Building sheet — check your local rules once and write them down • 6-clear monthly tracker with a mid check-in — a skipped month is fine • Four quick reference cards: What Goes Where (30 items) · Four Routes & the Small Farewell · The Never List · Monthly Clear Guards • Environment and local law first — nothing that does not dissolve goes into a river, lake or sea • Never a fire indoors or on a balcony; plain uncoated paper only where outdoor burning is legal and your family's custom • Not a fear book — no curses, bad luck, negative energy or Vastu corrections; mistakes are not punished • No rites for the time after a death in the family; janeu guidance stays with your family and teacher • Not an altar-setup or cleaning manual (Light the Lamp) and not a festival visarjana guide • Your family, elders, priest and city rules always win; traditions differ Read Next Light the Lamp · Namaskara at Home · Temple Visit Prep · Start Here: A Simple Daily Practice · Morning Sandhyā at Home · Evening Aarti at Home · A Simple Sankalpa · Pradosh at Home · Amavasya at Home · Purnima at Home · Read the Panchang · Sacred Sound · Rudraksha Guide · Open the Gita · The 7-Chakra Reset Format: 56-page PDF, US Letter, digital download. Offered for spiritual, cultural and educational purposes. It makes no promises of particular outcomes.