Pūjā — daily worship

पूजा

Also written: puja · how to do puja · shodashopachara · arati · murti worship · idol worship hinduism · पूजा

Pūjā treats the deity as an honoured guest received in the home. That is not a metaphor — the sequence of the classical rite is precisely the sequence of receiving a distinguished visitor, and it is drawn from the rules of hospitality.

The sixteen offerings

#	Upacāra	Act
1	Āvāhana	Inviting the deity to be present
2	Āsana	Offering a seat
3	Pādya	Water for the feet
4	Arghya	Water for the hands
5	Ācamana	Water to sip
6	Snāna	Bathing
7	Vastra	Clothing
8	Yajñopavīta	The sacred thread
9	Gandha	Sandal paste
10	Puṣpa	Flowers
11	Dhūpa	Incense
12	Dīpa	Lamp
13	Naivedya	Food
14	Tāmbūla	Betel, after the meal
15	Nīrājana	Ārati — the waving of light
16	Pradakṣiṇā and namaskāra	Circumambulation and prostration; then visarjana, taking leave

What the image is and is not

The tradition's own account: the mūrti is a locus, consented to by the deity, for the sake of a worshipper whose mind cannot rest on the formless. The deity is invoked into it at the start and respectfully taken leave of at the end — which is exactly why images are immersed at the close of a festival. No one who dissolves an image in a river a week after making it has confused the image with God.

रूपं रूपविवर्जितस्य भवतो ध्यानेन यत्कल्पितम्।

rūpaṁ rūpa-vivarjitasya bhavato dhyānena yat kalpitam

The form imagined in meditation, for You who are without form — forgive it.

— Śaṅkarācārya, Kṣamā-prārthanā

Pūjā — daily worship

The sixteen offerings

What the image is and is not

Yoga — the paths of union

Svara Yoga — the science of the breath

Dhyāna — meditation

Mantra and japa