What
is Puja?
The
literal meaning of Puja is adoration. It is an all-purpose term
used to denote the many stages of ritual action that compose
worship in Hindu culture. The derivative meaning is thought
to be from Pu-chey, 'flower-action,' and refers to the act of
offering flowers to the deity. Puja is a post-Vedic phenomenon
in its current form. The Vedic ritual was Homa, the offering
of grains and sanctified liquids into a sacrificial fire. Most
Puja differs from the Vedic sacrifice primarily in the fact
that an image or representation of god is used in the service
unlike the Homa where an altar alone, albeit highly stylized
and over-laden with symbolic meaning, is used. The only common
requirement is the creation of a sacred space to perform Puja.
Puja is the ceremonial act of showing
reverence to a God or Goddess through invocation, prayer, song,
and ritual. An essential aspect of Puja is communion with the
Divine. The worshiper believes that through this contact she
or he has established direct contact with the deity. This contact
is facilitated through an image: a sculpture, painting, or print.
Through this Puja and the image, a Hindu worshiper invites the
presence of the deity with his or her cosmic energy. And thus,
in the eye of devotees, the icon then becomes the deity, whose
presence is reaffirmed by the daily rituals of honoring and
invocation.
The principal aim of any Puja is the
feeling of personal contact with the deity. Generally, special
communication with a deity is made through the intervention
of a Brahmin Hindu priest during a strictly regulated ritual
in the temple or home. During Puja, the Divine presence is invoked
by which the devotee obtains blessings.
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