Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature c7.1524

c7.1524

The priest should adorn the image with ornaments and perform 'Stavana'. If the idol is very badly ruined by age it must be abandoned. Broken image and that with any part of the body severed or disfigured should also be abandoned, even if it is made of stone or any other material. When the image is renovated the priest should make burnt offerings thousand times with Narasimhamantra (spell or incantation). If the ruined image is made of wood it should be burned. If it is made of stone it should be placed at the bottom of deep water, either in the sea or anywhere else. If it is made of metals or jewels, it must be put into water. The ruined image should be placed in a carriage and covered with a cloth. With instrumental music and so forth the image should be taken to water in a procession and then submerged in water. After this the priest should be given a gift. Only after this should the new image be erected and consecrated. On a good day in an auspicious moment a new image of the same material and measurement as of the old image should be erected and consecrated by the priest.