What’s Puja?

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

Sandhyopasana: The meditation on God because 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 providing of oblations to the deity in a duly consecrated fire

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

Upavasa: Ceremonial fasting.

All these rituals for puja are a method to achieve purity of mind and focusing on the divine, which Hindus believe, can be 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 essential 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 help them ponder and revere god by way of the image. For many, it is difficult to concentrate and the mind keeps wavering, so the image may be considered as an actualized type of the perfect and this makes it straightforward to focus. In keeping with the idea of ‘Archavatara,’ if the puja is performed 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 image of the deity and requesting it to burn steadily till the puja is over.

Guruvandana: Obeisance to at least 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 also be crucial throughout ceremonial tub of the deity and providing incense etc.

Vedic Recitation: Reciting Vedic mantras from Rig Veda 10.63.three and 4.50.6 to steady the mind.

Mantapadhyana: Meditation on the miniature shrine construction, generally 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 10.7.90) 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 affection and devotion for god. These embrace a seat for the deity, water, flower, honey, fabric, incense, fruits, betel leaf, camphor, etc.

Note: The above methodology 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 five deities – Shiva, Devi, Vishnu, Ganesha, and Surya, one’s own household deity should be kept in the middle and the other four around it within the prescribed order.

Bathing: Pouring water for bathing the idol, is to be accomplished 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, totally different types of cloth are offered to totally different deities as is said in scriptural injunctions. Within the day by day puja, flowers will be offered instead of cloth.

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

Circumbulation: Pradakshina is done thrice, slowly within the clocksmart 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 fingers stretched in namaskara above his head in the direction of the deity.

Distribution of Prasada: Final step is the Tirtha and Prasada, partaking of the consecrated water and meals offering of the puja by all who’ve been a part of the puja or witnessed it.