Size your pooja space
What kind of space, how many deities, and how the family uses it.
How this calculator works
- Each type has a base size: niche 2.5 × 1.5 ft at 4 ft high, mandir unit 3 × 1.75 ft at 6 ft high, walk-in room 3.5 × 3.5 ft rising to 5 × 6 ft depending on seating.
- Each deity beyond three widens the space — 0.4 ft for a niche, 0.5 ft for a unit, 0.3 ft for a room. Below three, the base size already accommodates them comfortably.
- Platform height is 30 inches for seated worship and 36 for standing, which puts the principal deity at the correct eye level once the murti's own height is added.
- Clear space in front is 3 ft for a niche or a unit and the room depth less 2 ft for a walk-in.
- Cost = width × height × finish rate, priced on elevation area exactly as any other joinery is.
- The logic is fixed. The same inputs always return the same dimensions.
| Type | Base size | Height | Suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wall niche | 2.5 × 1.5 ft | 4 ft | One to three deities, a compact flat |
| Mandir unit | 3 × 1.75 ft | 6 ft | The standard choice in a 2 or 3BHK |
| Walk-in, standing | 3.5 × 3.5 ft | 7 ft | Daily aarti, one person at a time |
| Walk-in, one or two seated | 4 × 4.5 ft | 7 ft | Regular seated worship |
| Walk-in, family seated | 5 × 6 ft | 7 ft | Festival worship with the household together |
Heights are finished internal heights. In a flat with a 10 ft slab and a false ceiling, a 7 ft walk-in leaves room for the ceiling and for an exhaust duct above it.
Design and build under one accountable roof
Worked example — the default mandir unit
| Step | Arithmetic | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Base unit width | 3 ft | 3.0 ft |
| Deities beyond three | (4 − 3) × 0.5 ft | +0.5 ft |
| Width | 3 + 0.5 | 3.5 ft |
| Depth and height | unit standard | 1.75 ft × 6 ft (shown as 1.8 ft) |
| Elevation area | 3.5 × 6 | 21 sq ft |
| Platform height | seated worship | 30 in |
| Deity eye level | seated worship | 42 in |
| Joinery at ₹2,600 / sq ft | 21 × ₹2,600 | ₹54,600 |
The details that make a pooja space work
Storage below the platform is the item most often left out and most often missed. A household accumulates lamps, wicks, oil, camphor, incense, spare cloth, prasad containers and festival items, and if there is no drawer they live in a plastic box on the floor beside the unit. Nine to twelve inches of drawer depth under the platform, on full-extension channels, solves it permanently and costs very little.
Lighting should be warm and low, and it should never be a downlight pointed at the deity from directly above — that produces a harsh shadow under the face. A concealed warm strip behind the top fascia, washing down the back panel, is what our projects use, with a separate switch so it can be on without the room lights. Keep the driver outside the unit and accessible.
On the fire question, be practical. A brass or stone lamp plate, a tile or stone lining behind the lamp position, and clear air above it are the three things that prevent a charred laminate panel. Where the unit has doors, they should be able to stay open during aarti without the flame sitting under a shutter. And in a flat with no window in the pooja area, a small 100 mm exhaust on the same switch as the light is worth the ₹3,000 it costs.
Every constant on this page comes from Greenbox site records — measured drawings, signed BOQs and completion certificates from projects delivered between 2023 and 2026 — rounded to the figures an estimator would actually write down. We publish them so the arithmetic can be audited rather than trusted. Treat the output as a planning figure: accurate enough to brief a landlord, a bank or a family, and not accurate enough to sign a contract against.
What this tool does not cover
- Direction and placement, which is a separate question — see the Vaastu room placement tool and the direction checker.
- Idols, murtis and framed images themselves, and their own dimensions, which vary widely.
- Marble and stone cladding weight, which on a wall-hung unit needs an MS bracket rather than plugs.
- Carving and jaali work, which is priced per piece and can exceed the joinery cost.
- Electrical points for the lamp, the bell and any exhaust.
- Doors, shutters and the swing space they need in front of the unit.
Selected work by Greenbox Design Studio. Tap any image to enlarge.
Frequently asked questions
What is the ideal size for a pooja room?+
A walk-in pooja room needs at least 3.5 × 3.5 ft for standing worship, 4 × 4.5 ft for one or two seated and 5 × 6 ft for a family seated together. In a flat, a 3.5 × 1.75 ft mandir unit at 6 ft high does the same job in far less space.
How high should the mandir platform be?+
Thirty inches for seated worship and thirty-six for standing, so the principal deity's eyes sit at 42 or 54 inches respectively — level with the worshipper's own. That is the one dimension worth getting exactly right.
Can a pooja unit be made of plywood?+
Yes, and most are. What matters is the lamp area: line it with stone, metal or tile, keep 12 inches of clear height above any flame, and never put a laminate shutter directly over a burning lamp. Plywood with veneer at about ₹2,600 per sq ft of elevation is the standard specification.
Does a pooja room need ventilation?+
Yes. Daily aarti, camphor and agarbatti produce soot, and a sealed niche will stain the ceiling within a year. A small 100 mm exhaust wired to the light switch, or a louvred panel at the top of the unit, solves it for about ₹3,000.
Where should the pooja room be in a flat?+
Traditionally the north-east, and where that is not possible, a north or east wall niche. In practice the constraints are a quiet corner, no shared wall with a bathroom, and somewhere the lamp is not under a low shutter. Our placement tool covers the traditional guidance in detail.