Making Perumal Teertham

This is something that I am surprised more people don't know how to do.

 So often I will finish the puja and offer the teertham (water) that is left over after being offered to Perumal (Vishnu) to the devotees that have come and someone will be surprised at the sweet taste of the water. You will find this same style of teertham in most Vaishnava temples.

The process is very simple. Before your puja mix  (depending on the size of your achaman cup):

• A few broken cloves of Cardamom 
• A few small stands of saffron 
• A Tulsi leaf or two 

The cardamom will give the teertham that signature taste while the saffron changes the color to that familiar yellow and we add the Tulsi because it is an offering to Perumal (Vishnu) and no offering is complete without a Tulsi leaf.

*NOTE- if like me you live in an area where it can become very cold and either you are unable to keep Tulsi plants or because the Tulsi plant has lost some of it's leaves in the winter months (which will come back in the spring) you can use Tulsi powder that can be bought at most Indian groceries. Just a single pinch into the achaman cup should be more than enough.