A mandir in a rental or an apartment

Nothing about a traditional mandir requires fixing anything to a wall. A freestanding carved piece stands on the floor or on a bench under its own weight, and the tenancy agreement never comes into it.

What bites in a rental or an apartment is getting the piece to the floor space in the first place.

The route in matters more than the room

Measure, in this order:

1. The lift. Internal depth, width, and the door opening, which everyone forgets and which is narrower than the car. A tall piece can often go in diagonally or on its back, but only if the diagonal clears the door.
2. The stairs. The width, and the landing at each turn. A half-landing where the stair doubles back is the tightest point in most buildings, and it is where a long piece cannot be swung round.
3. The apartment door and the hallway beyond it. Including the swing of the door itself and anything fixed opposite.
4. Any turn inside. Corridor width at the tightest point.

If the piece comes in more than one part (a plinth, a canopy, a separate spire) these measurements apply to the largest single part, not to the assembled height. Ask what the largest single piece is before you order.

If you are in a building with a service lift and a loading dock, book them. Many apartment buildings require it and some restrict the hours.

Sizes that suit a rental

• Bench or shelf pieces. These sit on furniture you already own, come up stairs in one hand, and move house in a car boot. If you expect to move within a couple of years, this is the practical answer.
• Small floor-standing pieces. Still one-person-liftable with care, still fits a standard lift upright.
• Anything taller. Fine in an apartment if the lift takes it, but check before you order, not after.

Things to think about in a rental

Floors. A heavy piece on a timber or vinyl floor will mark it. Felt pads under the base, or a thin hardwood board under the whole footprint, prevents the indentation that comes out of a bond.

Carpet. A floor-standing piece on carpet will settle into it unevenly and lean slightly over months. A board under the base fixes this too.

Walls. If you want the piece secured against tipping, which is worth doing with small children in the house, most tenancy agreements allow a single small fixing that is made good on departure. Ask first. An alternative is a low-profile furniture strap to a skirting board, which usually needs no wall fixing at all.

Light. Rentals rarely let you change window coverings, and a piece against a window that takes afternoon sun will fade. A freestanding screen or a stick-on film solves it without touching the fabric of the building. See looking after carved wood.

Heating. Apartments are often heated by a single reverse-cycle head, and whatever it points at gets the whole draught. Do not put the mandir in its line.

Smoke alarms. Apartment alarms are frequently more sensitive than those in houses and are sometimes connected to the building's system. Incense directly under one is a conversation with the fire brigade waiting to happen. Place the mandir away from the alarm, and ventilate.

Moving with it

Take off everything removable first: doors, steps, plinths, canopies. Carry them separately. Lift by the base, never by a spire or a crest. Wrap the carved faces rather than the flat ones; the flat ones can take a knock and the carving cannot.

Keep the original crate if you have somewhere to put it. Nothing you buy later will fit the piece as well.

Before you order

Send the route measurements along with the room measurements. The lift door and the stair landing are as much a part of whether a piece works as the wall is, and they are easier to deal with before anything is made. The size check asks about stairs, lifts and narrow turns for exactly this reason.