A starter pooja set for a new home, with prices
Lamp, plate, bell and the small things: what a first pooja shelf needs, from about ₹2,500 to ₹7,500.
Caring for brass, bell metal and German silver
Three metals, three ways to clean them, and one thing never to do.
Most pooja rooms hold three metals, and each likes to be cleaned differently.
Brass darkens with oil and smoke. Once a week, rub it with tamarind pulp, or half a lemon dipped in salt, then rinse in warm water and dry at once. Leaving brass wet causes the green spots that are hard to remove later.
Bell metal, used for bells and some lamps, is harder and more brittle than brass. Clean it the same way, but never knock it against stone or tile. A cracked bell loses its ring and cannot be mended.
German silver is an alloy of copper, nickel and zinc, and contains no silver. It tarnishes slowly; a soft dry cloth after each use is enough, with a little mild soap once a month.
The one thing never to do: do not use steel scrubbers or kitchen scouring powder on any of them. They leave fine scratches that collect soot. If a lamp has gone too far, bring it to us. We polish old pieces at cost.
