PUJA - AN ESSENTIAL PART OF WORSHIP

1. HINDU WORSHIP

Hindus pray or conduct worship everyday - at home and/or also in temples. Mostly though, the temple is the most preferred place of worship, of performing important religious rites at different times of the day, usually dawn and dusk. The faith rests heavily on its many and varied rites and rituals, which differ vastly among individuals, sects, casts, communities, villages and regions. What makes Hindu rituals so special is that the religion offers many similar features too, which bind Hindus spread across the globe, amazingly linking them into a single unit.

2. THE PUJA

One of the most significant facet of Hindu devotion is the Puja (alternatively spelt as "Pooja" a common and beautiful name for a girl child). A puja is surrounded by ritual offerings and prayers to be performed as mentioned in the puja vidhi. The worship may be in the form of a person or a symbol, representing the presence of the sacred divine.

The special importance of Hinduism is that it includes the worship of all the five Panchamahabhutas or the five elements of fire, water, earth, air and ether.

While some Hindus conduct pujas at home on an everyday basis, there are others who perform more elaborate special ceremonies at temples, of their choice or temples dedicated to certain remedies.But the toughest aspect of this is to locate the right temple or a priest, who are competent to carry out the detailed procedures.

3. WHY A PUJA

In the holy scripture Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna proclaims "patrampushpamphalamtoyamyo me bhaktyaprayacchati tad ahambhakty-upahritamashnamiprayatatmanah"

"He who offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit or water, I will accept it wholeheartedly"

Hinduism as a religion believes that blessings from God can be attained by ritualistic worship or by meditation or even by simple utterances of the holy names. Ritualistic worship can be elaborate, spanning over several hours, with the chanting of mantras, offering Prasadam and Aarti or it can also be as simple as offering a single leaf of Tulasi or Bael(for Lord Shiva) and offering Prasadam. While ritualistic worship satisfies some people, the others are happy with meditating on the Lord or chanting His name. Needless to say, any form of worship requires a pure and steadfast mind that is thoughtful of God, adherence to Dharma and abhorrence to sin.