How to Fit a Mandir Into Your Small Apartment

Whether a cabinet design, a portable pooja ghar, a wall shelf or a sectioned-off area in your living room, there are many ways to incorporate a mandir in your small apartment. We’ve compiled some of these small mandir design ideas in this post!

(This is a chapter of a bigger guide on mandir designs for Indian homes.)

A separate pooja room is a dream for many home owners. But with expensive real estate and the lack of space in our small Indian apartments, this may not be possible for all. So, where should you put your mandir then? We’ve put together 9 different ways to squeeze in your temple at home, without compromising on design, style and purpose. No matter how small your home, you will find the space for one of these small pooja room designs.

1. Elegant Pooja Mandir Design Created in a Passage

One way of incorporating a pooja corner is by tucking it in a vacant or unused space  in your home. This way, you don’t have to build something new altogether, nor do you have to give up an area that could be used for something else. In this design, a little passage has been converted into a small pooja room. The marble slab at one end, decorated in a minimal fashion with lamps and flowers, has storage under it, and complements the marble flooring. A mat in the centre with a holy book on it is a functional and aesthetic design.

2. Metal Jaali-Covered, Independent Temple Design

If we told you to accommodate your mandir in a corner of a room, covering barely 2-3 feet of area, you would think we’re joking. But we’re not! And this clever design shows you how. It’s a two-step, curved marble platform attached to a corner of a wall, with an interesting wooden stand for support. A two-frame metal jaali window covers it and can be opened and closed as wished. A hanging or pendant lamp above provides a lovely glow. Overall, your small temple design in a corner makes a statement and has an ornamental appeal.

Also Read: 10+ Pooja Room Door Designs to Beautify Your Mandir Entrance 

3. Small Mandir Design Inside a Large Display Cabinet

Have you ever thought of using your display cabinet or crockery unit to house your little mandir? Well, look at the way a section of this storage-cum-display closet in the dining room incorporates a pooja mandir with all the relevant articles. A glass door keeps the mandir protected from dust and dirt while ensuring that it is still visible and can be opened whenever being used.

4. Simple Pooja Mandir Design for Walls

Instead of sneaking a mandir inside your crockery almirah, you could opt for a wall temple design which comprises of a custom-built sideboard or chest of drawers for the wall. The top shelf can be used to hold picture frames and idols, and can either be covered with a glass door or kept open. In the above design, a pretty wallpaper in orange helps highlight the space and distinguishes it from the rest of the wall-mounted structure.

5. Wall Mounted Mandir Design With a Cupboard

Call it ready-made or DIY, but a wall-mounted decorative cabinet makes for a wonderful mandir design for small homes. Here, the cabinet pairs up well with a freestanding cupboard, and together they form your temple structure at home. It really is that simple! Such a design can be created in whichever area of the house you deem fit. In this design, despite being a part of the dining room, it is still private and, hence, sacred.

6. Mandir Carved Out Using a Divider or Screen

If you don’t have a niche or space between two walls for a mandir, then create that niche yourself. Use a divider, screen or panel to carve a niche out, and create a house temple in that space, separate from the rest of the house. Just like it has been done in the designs, above and below.

7. Small Mandir Design in a Corner

We love how a corner in this dining room has been converted into a pooja area without deviating from the overall design and woodwork in the room. The corner between the dining room and the kitchen houses two large Hindu idols on a two-step platform, as well as a curved cabinet on top. This is a perfect example of using every inch of your precious space without compromising on aesthetics.

8. Portable Mandap Temple Design

We’ve kept two of the easiest tricks for the last! The first of these is to invest in a portable pooja ghar—available in different materials (wood, metal, marble), designs and sizes. Place it next to your bed, against an empty wall, on top of a cabinet, wherever you deem fit. And move it whenever you redecorate. You can even hang or mount this pooja ghar on the wall if you have no floor space.

9. Simple Floating Shelf Mandir

This Devoto Prayer Shelf by Urban Ladder is a fantastic option for homes with no floor space to spare. The best part? It comes with a drawer which can store matchboxes, incense sticks and more. If you want to fix a shelf yourself, just go for a simple, polished wooden slab and keep 2-3 items on it. You could even fix an additional slab below this to hold those small prayer utility items. How about that for a DIY prayer shelf?

We’d love to know how you’ve created a small mandir design in your home. Write to us in the comments below!