1. A picture of Srila Prabhupada.
2. A picture of Lord Chaitanya and His associates.
3. A picture of Sri Sri Radha- Krishna

In addition, you may want an altar cloth, water cups (one for each picture), a special plate for offering food, an arati plate, a small bell, incense, and an incense holder and fresh flowers, which you may offer in vases or simply place before each picture. If you're interested in more elaborate Deity worship, consult the devotees at the ISKCON temple.

You can arrange the pictures in a triangle, with the picture of Srila Prabhupada on the left, the picture of Lord Chaitanya and His associates on the right, and the picture of Radha and Krishna, which, if possible, should be slightly larger than the others, on a small raised platform behind and in the center. Or you can hang the picture of Radha and Krishna on the wall above.

Carefully clean the altar each morning. Cleanliness is essential in Deity worship. Remember, you wouldn't neglect to clean the room of an important guest, and when you establish an altar you invite Krishna and His pure devotees to reside as the most exalted guests in your home. If you have water cups, rinse them out and fill them with fresh water daily. Then place them conveniently close to the pictures. You should remove flowers in vases as soon as they're slightly wilted, or daily if you've offered them at the base of the pictures. You should offer fresh incense at least once a day, and, if possible, light a lamp and place it near the pictures when you're chanting before the altar.

Please try the things we've suggested so far. It's very simple. If you try to love God, you'll gradually realize how much He loves you. That's the essence of bhakti-yoga

Food prepared for and offered to Krishna with love and devotion becomes completely spiritualized. Such food is called Sri Krishna prasadam, which means "the mercy of Lord Krishna".

Lord Chaitanya said of prasadam, "Everyone has tasted these foods before. However, now that they have been prepared for Krishna and offered to Him with devotion, these foods have acquired extraordinary tastes and uncommon fragrances. Just taste them and see the difference in the experience! Apart from the taste, even the fragrance pleases the mind and makes one forget any other fragrance. Therefore, it should be understood that the spiritual nectar of Krishna's lips must have touched these ordinary foods and imparted to them all their transcendental qualities".

Eating only food offered to Krishna is the perfection of vegetarianism. In the Bhagavad-gita Lord Krishna says that unless one eats only food that has been offered to Him in sacrifice, one will suffer the reactions of karma.

He also states, "If one Offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, a fruit, or water, I will accept it."

From this verse it is understood that we can offer Lord Krishna foods prepared from milk products, vegetables, fruits, nuts and grains. Meat, fish and eggs are not offerable. And a few vegetarian items are also forbidden - garlic and onions, for example, which are in the mode of darkness. Hing, or asafetida, is a tasty substitute for them in cooking. Nor can you offer Krishna coffee or tea.

In preparing food, cleanliness is the most important principle. Nothing impure should be offered to God, so keep your kitchen very clean. Always wash your hands thoroughly before entering the kitchen. While preparing food, do not taste it, for you are cooking the meal not for yourself but for the pleasure of Krishna. Arrange positions of the food on dinnerware kept especially for this purpose; no one but the Lord should eat from these dishes. The easiest way to offer food is simply to pray, " My dear Lord Krishna, please accept this food," and to chant each of the following prayers three times while ringing a bell.

1. Prayer to Srila Prabhupada:
nama om visnu-padaya krsna-presthaya bhutale
srimate bhaktivedanta-svamin iti namine
namas te sarasvate deve gaura-vani-pracarine
nirvisesa-sunyavadi-pascatya-desa-tarine

2. Prayer to Lord Chaitanya:
namo maha-vadanyaya krsna-prema-pradaya te
krsnaya krsna-caitanya-nemne gaura-tvise namah

3. Prayer to Lord Krishna:
namo brahmnaya-devaya go-brahmanan-hitaya ca
jagad-dhitaya krsnaya govindaya namo namah

" I offer my respectful obeisances unto Lord Krishna, who is the worshipable Deity for all brahmanas, the well-wisher of the cows and the brahmanas, and the benefactor of the whole world. I offer my repeated obeisances to the Personality of Godhead, known as Krishna and Govinda."

Remember that the real purpose of preparing and offering food to the Lord is to show your devotion and gratitude to Him. Krishna accepts your devotion, not the physical offering itself. God is complete in Himself - He doesn't need anything - but out of His immense kindness He allows us to offer food to Him so that we can develop our love for Him.

After offering the food to the Lord, wait at least five minutes for Him to partake of the preparations. Then you should transfer the food from the special dinnerware and wash the dishes and utensils you used for the offering. Now you and any guests may eat the prasadam. While you eat, try to appreciate the spiritual value of the food. Remember that because Krishna has accepted it, it is nondifferent from Him, and therefore by eating it you will become purified.

Everything you offer on your altar becomes prasadam, the mercy of the Lord. Flowers, incense, the water, the food everything you offer for the Lord's pleasure becomes spiritualized. The Lord enters into the offerings, and thus the remnants are nondifferent from Him. So you should not only deeply respect the things you've offered, but you should distribute them to others as well. Distribution of prasadam is an essential part of Deity worship.