I recently had the privilege to attend one Upanayanam ceremony (जनेऊ or ఉపనయనము ) where I witnessed the full Udaka Shanti ritual.
Udaka Shanti is one very important ritual performed by all Hindu people.It is a ritual through which water gets purified and becomes auspicious through the chanting of mantras and invitation of Lord of Water Varuna and other various Gods and Goddesses. The purified water is considered as equal to the celestial nectar and the holy waters of the Holi River Ganga. The water is used as Ganga Jal for all purposes.
The chief purpose of Udaka Shanti is to protect the house or the family performing this ritual and all its members from evil spirits and bad happenings.
Normal water that is being used in the household procured from taps, wells or from rivers is collected in a small pot-like vessel made up either of copper, bronze, five metals, or even of silver and gold. The pot gets applied with wet turmeric powder and kumkum dots and is placed on a cleaned floor that is decorated with rangoli. Rice is spread over the spot before placing the pot on it. A coconut is placed over that pot vertically after arranging mango leaves around it into the water. This is known as the Kalasha.
Two oil lamps are placed on either side of the Kalash and Mantras from Yajurveda are recited invoking Gods and Goddesses. Flowers are also offered during worship. The recitation of mantras takes around two hours time after which dhoop (agarbatti), deepam, and naivedyam are offered to the Kalash and the water gets sprinkled on the heads of people performing the ritual as well as on the heads of all those who attend the function. This signifies that all of them are purified and bestowed with the blessings of God.
The water from the Kalash is sprinkled in all the rooms of the house also to protect the house and the people in it from all evil spirits. People will take bath by adding some drops of that worshiped water for performing any auspicious ceremonies and functions.
If anybody is interested in reading or viewing these mantras, the same is available at this link-
http://sanskritdocuments.org/doc_veda/Udaka_Shanthi.pdf
