What is Puja?

Puja is worship. The Sanskrit time period puja is used in Hinduism to confer with the worship of a deity by way of observance of rituals including each day prayer choices after a shower or as diverse as the next:

Sandhyopasana: The meditation on God because the light of knowledge and wisdom at dawn and dusk

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

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

Jagarana: Keeping vigil at night time amidst much 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 consider, could be a fitting stepping stone to knowing the Supreme Being or Brahman.

Why You Need an Image or Idol for a Puja

For the puja, it is important for a devotee to set an idol or icon or an image 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 many, it is difficult to concentrate and the mind keeps wavering, so the image will be considered as an actualized form of the ideal and this makes it simple to focus. Based on the idea of ‘Archavatara,’ if the puja is carried out with utmost devotion, throughout puja god descends and it is the image that houses Almighty.

The Steps of Puja in the Vedic Tradition

Dipajvalana: Lighting the lamp and praying to it because the symbol of the deity and requesting it to burn steadily till 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 is also crucial during ceremonial tub of the deity and providing 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 construction, typically made of wood.

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

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

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

Purification of Puja Gadgets: Filling up the sankha, conch, with that water and inviting its presiding deities similar to Surya, Varuna, and Chandra, to reside in it in a subtle type and then sprinkling that water over all the articles of puja to consecrate them.

Sanctifying the Body: Nyasa with the Purusasukta (Rigveda 10.7.ninety) to invoke the presence of the deity into the image or idol and providing the upacharas.

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

Note: The above technique is as prescribed by Swami Harshananda of Ramakrishna Mission, Bangalore. He recommends a simplified version, 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 heart and the other 4 round it in the prescribed order.

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

Clothing & Flower Ornament: While offering fabric in puja, totally different types of material are offered to totally different deities as is acknowledged in scriptural injunctions. In the day by day puja, flowers could be offered instead of cloth.

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

Circumbulation: Pradakshina is finished three times, slowly in the clocksensible direction, with fingers in namaskara posture.

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

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

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