("ascertaining the deity") The process of installing and consecrating a deity's image in a temple for worship.
As the sculptures at the Deogarh temple demonstrate, the image must be formed according to rigorously specified sculptural and aesthetic canons that stretch back to the early decades of the common period.
Before the ceremony starts, the image, temple location, and performers must all be cleansed, and this cleanliness must be maintained during the rite—which might span days—to guarantee that the image stays pure.
The transfer and physical installation of the image are meticulously completed, but the pranapratishtha, in which the image is infused with the breath of life and becomes the deity's throne, is the climax ritual.
After this, the image is deemed ritually "alive," and it must be worshipped and cared for on a regular basis.
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