What is Puja?

Puja is worship. The Sanskrit time period puja is used in Hinduism to refer to the worship of a deity by way of observance of rituals including every day prayer offerings after a bath or as diversified as the following:

Sandhyopasana: The meditation on God as the light of knowledge and knowledge at daybreak and dusk

Aarti: Ritual of worship in which light or lamps are offered to the deities amid devotional songs and prayer chants.

Homa: The offering of oblations to the deity in a duly consecrated fire

Jagarana: Keeping vigil at night amidst a lot devotional singing as a part of spiritual discipline.

Upavasa: Ceremonial fasting.

All these rituals for puja are a means to achieve purity of mind and focusing on the divine, which Hindus imagine, is usually a fitting stepping stone to knowing the Supreme Being or Brahman.

Why You Want an Image or Idol for a Puja

For the puja, it is vital for a devotee to set an idol or icon or a picture and even symbolic holy object, such as the shivalingam, salagrama, or yantra before them to assist them ponder and revere god by means of the image. For most, it is difficult to concentrate and the mind keeps wavering, so the image may be considered as an actualized type of the best and this makes it simple to focus. In accordance with the idea of ‘Archavatara,’ if the puja is performed with utmost devotion, during puja god descends and it is the image that houses Almighty.

The Steps of Puja within the Vedic Tradition

Dipajvalana: Lighting the lamp and praying to it because the image of the deity and requesting it to burn steadily until the puja is over.

Guruvandana: Obeisance to one’s own guru or spiritual teacher.

Ganesha Vandana: Prayer to Lord Ganesha or Ganapati for the removal of obstacles to the puja.

Ghantanada: Ringing the bell with appropriate mantras to drive away the evil forces and welcome the gods. Ringing the bell can be obligatory during ceremonial tub of the deity and offering incense etc.

Vedic Recitation: Reciting two Vedic mantras from Rig Veda 10.63.3 and 4.50.6 to steady the mind.

Mantapadhyana: Meditation on the miniature shrine structure, typically made of wood.

Asanamantra: Mantra for purification and steadiness of the seat of the deity.

Pranayama & Sankalpa: A short breathing train to purify your breath, settle and focus your mind.

Purification of Puja Water: Ceremonial purification of the water within the kalasa or water vessel, to make it fit for use in puja.

Purification of Puja Items: Filling up the sankha, conch, with that water and inviting its presiding deities equivalent to Surya, Varuna, and Chandra, to reside in it in a subtle kind after which sprinkling that water over all of the articles of puja to consecrate them.

Sanctifying the Body: Nyasa with the Purusasukta (Rigveda 10.7.90) to invoke the presence of the deity into the image or idol and offering the upacharas.

Offering the Upacharas: There are a number of items to be offered and tasks to be performed earlier than the Lord as an outpouring of love and devotion for god. These include a seat for the deity, water, flower, honey, material, incense, fruits, betel leaf, camphor, etc.

Note: The above method is as prescribed by Swami Harshananda of Ramakrishna Mission, Bangalore. He recommends a simplified model, which is talked about below.

Simple Steps of a Traditional Hindu Worship:

Within the Panchayatana Puja, i.e., puja to the 5 deities – Shiva, Devi, Vishnu, Ganesha, and Surya, one’s own family deity ought to be kept within the middle and the opposite 4 around it within the prescribed order.

Bathing: Pouring water for bathing the idol, is to be done with gosrnga or the horn of a cow, for the Shiva lingam; and with sankha or conch, for Vishnu or salagrama shila.

Clothing & Flower Decoration: While offering cloth in puja, different types of cloth are offered to completely different deities as is acknowledged in scriptural injunctions. In the every day puja, flowers will be offered instead of cloth.

Incense & Lamp: Dhupa or incense is offered to the ft and deepa or light is held before the face of the deity. During arati, the deepa is waved in small arcs before the deity’s face after which before the whole image.

Circumbulation: Pradakshina is done three times, slowly within the clocksensible direction, with palms in namaskara posture.

Prostration: Then is the shastangapranama or prostration. The devotee lies down straight with his face dealing with the floor and fingers stretched in namaskara above his head within the direction of the deity.

Distribution of Prasada: Final step is the Tirtha and Prasada, partaking of the consecrated water and food providing of the puja by all who have been a part of the puja or witnessed it.

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