Naamkaran Ceremony by Video Call for Your Baby

01What the Naamkaran Ceremony is, and when families hold it

Naamkaran is the naming ceremony, one of the sixteen samskaras (rites of passage). The Grihya Sutras place it on the tenth or twelfth day after birth, and today families also hold it later, after the first month or on the hundred-and-first day, when the mother and baby are ready. The name is traditionally chosen to begin with a syllable linked to the baby's birth nakshatra and pada; many families use that syllable for a 'rashi name' and choose a different everyday name.

In the ceremony the father, or both parents, whisper the name into the baby's right ear, and the name is written in rice or on a plate and announced to the family.

02What the Naamkaran Ceremony is traditionally done for

• Traditionally done to give the child a name chosen with care.
• Traditionally done to bless the child at the start of life.
• Traditionally done to welcome the child into the family before relatives.

When: traditionally on the 11th or 12th day after birth, or on a muhurat later in the first months.

03Count, duration, and what is included

The naamkaran vidhi in every package, with a havan and Satyanarayan Katha in the upper packages. Typical durations are listed in each package below; the price, the date, the time and how long the puja takes are confirmed with you on WhatsApp when you book.

Included in every package:

• Either a live call or a video recording of the puja if you cannot attend, never both
• All samagri, arranged by the pandit at no extra charge
• Sankalp in your family's names and gotra
• Date and muhurat worked out for your city
• Keepsake certificate after the puja (Certificate included)

Not included:

• Shipping of prasad
• Any in-person visit by a pandit

04How the Naamkaran Ceremony works by video call

The Naamkaran Ceremony is performed live by an experienced pandit we work with, on a one-on-one video call with your family. You stay at home, anywhere in the world, and do the offerings with your own hands while the pandit leads. The steps:

1. Book on WhatsApp: Message us on WhatsApp with the puja you want, your city and country, and your time zone. The button on this page fills in the puja and your time zone for you; you add your city.
2. Choose the date and muhurat: We suggest dates and times in your own local time. Where the puja calls for a muhurat (an auspicious window), it is worked out from the panchang for the city you are in, not for India.
3. Samagri arranged for you: The pandit arranges all the samagri for the puja, at no extra charge; you only need a clean, quiet place at home to sit for the call.
4. Join the video call: At the agreed time you join a one-on-one video call with the pandit from your home altar, on WhatsApp video or Google Meet, whichever your family prefers. It is your family's call alone.
5. Sankalp with your names and gotra: The pandit begins with the sankalp: the formal statement of the place, the date, the names of the family members, your gotra and the intention of the puja.
6. The puja: The pandit recites the mantras and guides each offering step by step, so that the hands placing the flowers, the water and the lamp are your own.
7. Aarti: The puja closes with aarti: you wave the lamp at your altar while the pandit sings, and the whole family can join in.
8. Prasad guidance: The pandit tells you how to offer and share the prasad, and what to do afterwards with the flowers, the kalash water and the other offerings.

On the call the pandit leads the Ganesh puja, the kalash and the sankalp, and prayers for the baby's health and long life. The pandit then guides the naming: writing the name on a plate of rice, whispering it in the baby's right ear, and the family's blessings. The ceremony closes with aarti and the elders' blessings.

05Who it suits

It suits new parents, especially those abroad or in a city far from their family pandit, who want grandparents and relatives to be part of the naming. Because only a short puja is needed and there is no fire, it is gentle on a newborn and on tired parents.

06Timing and muhurat

Traditionally the tenth, eleventh or twelfth day after birth, or a later day with a favourable tithi, nakshatra and weekday. Many families avoid the Rikta tithis (the fourth, ninth and fourteenth) and Amavasya for it. We compute the muhurat for your city; the birth nakshatra and its syllables come from the baby's kundli.

07Booking, payment and rescheduling

All bookings are made on WhatsApp. You pay on WhatsApp by UPI (in India), PayPal, USDT or card-to-USDT; nothing is paid on this website. Payments are not refundable, but you can reschedule up to two times if you tell us at least 48 hours before the puja (see our refund policy).

The call is on WhatsApp video or Google Meet, whichever your family prefers. The pandit performs the puja in Sanskrit and speaks Hindi; a team member who speaks English joins the live call to help families who prefer English.

If your family cannot attend live, the pandit performs the puja for you and we send you a video of it instead. It is either a live call or a video recording, never both: a live call is not recorded. The price, the date, the time and how long the puja takes are confirmed with you on WhatsApp when you book.