Pooja rooms are almost always found in homes. The sizes vary. The locations and the styles vary. It may be a simple ledge or an elaborate temple depending on the space. But a home of any religion usually has a space for praying.

When it comes to the material that is best suited for a pooja room, three things have to be kept in mind:

1. Space available vs space required:

   An important thing to note is how much space is actually needed. When it comes to a prayer space, people are usually aware of their specific requirements. The space needed is also already known. According to this, the material as well as storage can be decided.

2. Budget:

   Another important task is to separately define the budget for the pooja room. A simple ledge can come for almost free while an elaborate pooja made in hard wood or veneer with a gopuram on top could cost in 6 digits.

3. Counter top:

   For lack of a better word, counter top is the area where you can light diyas and agarbattis. This area is close to fire and also gets a lot of oils, turmeric and even vermillion falling on it. This space has to be fire proof and easy to clean.

Lets list down the materials based on budget from cheapest to costliest.

The cheapest option is to go for a simple pooja made in plywood with Laminate Finish. Laminates are fire retardant and a glossy laminate with no grains will be a good counter top as well. A simple ledge, if needed, can also be made using a plywood covered with laminates. This are very very basic pooja units with no design to speak of but are also the cheapest to make.

Plywood with laminate can be used to provide structure to the pooja unit. Doors of the unit can be made in some nice CNC work in HDF which can be polished with either the cheaper duco or the more expensive PU. Counter tops in such cases can be made either with a glossy laminate or with high gloss PU if budget allows. With proper lighting, they look amazing.

A more expensive option is to go for veneer pooja with CNC to complement. A well designed pooja in melamine polished veneers looks amazing and attractive as well. Counter tops in this case should be done in either high gloss PU or polyester.

Possibly the most elaborate carving work can happen in Solid Wood which cannot be matched by any of the others. Solid wood, specially teak or sheesham when used in pooja along with a solid wood gopuram on top will add to the beauty of the whole structure. This also lasts long.

As earlier mentioned, options are many and combinations of the above are possible as well. It all depends on what you are looking for and in what budget. A good designer can help you figure things out easily.