Hindu Worship and RitualsWorship can take place either in the home or the temple

The mandir

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Hindu worship• Hindu children learn their faith at home, or with a

guru or swami at a temple.• The home is where daily worship and prayer takes

place.• A common daily ritual is puja.• Puja is an offering to the gods, and may be offered

for special occasions in a temple (e.g. Durga Puja).• Temple puja is far more elaborate than home puja,

and is performed by priests.• At the temple, puja is offered at sunrise, noon,

sunset and midnight3

How to perform puja• Puja consists of many steps, performed at a home altar:• Welcoming the deity• Washing the deity statue (murti)• Putting on sacred thread• Ringing a bell• Applying sacred pastes or oils to murti• Offering flowers, incense and garlands• Lighting a lamp and waving it around image (aarti)• Offering food (e.g. ghee, fruit, sugar, rice) – later the food can be

offered to followers as prasad• Bowing and circumambulation (walking around the image)• The prayers, mantras and songs are typically led by the head of

the household• Applying sacred pastes to the forehead (tilak)

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How to perform puja

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Globalization in Hindu worship• How to perform a Ganesh Chaturthi Pooja at home

(according to internet kit)• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRxUDL5QXPo• http://www.pureprayer.in/default.aspx• Online e-pooja, order rituals, online darshan• http://www.shrikashivishwanath.org/en/online/epooja.aspx• Order puja, homa online• http://www.saranam.com/

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Homa• Homa is a ritual of making offerings to a sacred fire• The fire is first built and consecrated (made holy)• The fire may be built in a pit for the occasion or in a special

vessel made of brick, clay or copper• Homa is generally used for more special occasions (e.g. taking

renunciation vows, naming of a child)

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Murti• A murti is the embodiment of the deity • The murti itself is not a god, but contains its

spirit once the name of the deity is invoked• Bhakti practitioners treat their murti with

reverence – washing, dressing and offering garlands to it

• This is not seen as idol worship by mainstream Hinduism

• Some teachers have compared murtis to talking on the telephone; we do not talk to the telephone, we talk to the person on the other end. Without the phone or the murti, communication would not be possible.

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Prasad• Literally, a “gracious gift”, sanctified food – offered to a

deity and then shared• prasad is considered to have the deity’s blessing• The 2 main reasons Hindus take pilgrimage or visit

temples is to receive prasad and to have darshan (see the deities)

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Arati/Aarti• Arati is the offering of songs and

light are offered to the deities• The lamp or arati plate is lit with

wicks soaked in ghee or camphor• This tradition is related to homa

and is usually part of puja• When the lamp is waved before

the image of a deity, it is believed to get the power of the deity• Followers warm their hands with

the lamp and place the heat over the eyes or forehead 10

Connect stages of life rituals – renunciation and marriage

• Columbia University (NYC)• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qym9jn6LU8w• Hindu wedding montage - Hindu Wedding Toronto.mp4• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKcPGR24524 • Varanasi (Asian Art Museum) – death and cremation• http://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoC_x3Hzkkc&list=PL8A01EF6231F95FA3

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Samskaras• Samskaras are rites of passage• Important for twice-born Hindus• Seen as purifying, able to remove

sin and give virtue• Read pages 136-140 in

Exploring World Religions and “Religious Life and Practices” (UWO) and summarize. Be sure to include at least the following terms/concepts:

• Naming• First outing• First haircut• First solid food• Upanayana

• Marriage• Forehead marks for different

sects• What happens to a corpse after

death (mention widows as well as others)

• Shraddha• Places other than temples/shrines

that Hindus worship at• Pilgrimage (name a few places)• Be sure you fill in terms in your 6-

trait model for Hinduism – particularly festivals – you will need more details in your notes than will fit in the chart.

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Tilak• Forehead marks are worn in Hinduism

to signify the mind’s eye (3rd eye) – a centre point of human energy

• In the past, marks were worn only by priests and other holy people – today they are commonly worn

• Traditionally, marks denoted caste. Today, it more often denotes sect

• Vaishnavites often wear a U shaped tilak

• Shaivites wear horizontal lines of ash• Shaktas wear a red line or red dot• Bindhis are worn by women to denote

marital status or for decoration

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• How to put on Tilak (vaishnava)