Importance of Pradakshina or Going Around the Deity or the Sanctum Sanctorum in Hindu Temple

Pradakshina or circumambulating is an important customary act performed in a temple by Hindus. Going around the Deity or the Sanctum Sanctorum in a Hindu Temple is of great significance and it also has symbolic meaning.


Everything begins and ends in God or Bhagvan or Ishwara. God is the point of origin of everything and we are constantly connected to it. After praying to the deity we go around the deity or the Sanctum Sanctorum to recognize the fact that we begin in him and end in him.


While circumambulating, we kill our ego and we realize, we are moving at the end of the thread which is controlled by him.


It is also believed that the deity in the sanctum sanctorum is placed in such a way that it absorbs and sends out vibrations and radiations. And a person going around the deity will be benefited from this.


‘Pradakshina’ means ‘moving rightward.’ Some people also go around themselves or turn in a full circle suggesting that the divinity resides in them.


It must be note that the devotees do not the complete the full circle in Shiva Temples. Usually, people only walk the ¾ part of a circle. They stop at the position from where the water flows out of the sanctum sanctorum. This is because it is believed that after receiving Ganga River in his hair, Shiva turned to one side and Ganga came down to earth from this side. The channel through which water comes out from the sanctum sanctorum is believed the channel through which Ganga flows.