HINDU WORSHIP
Aarti fire ritual on the Ganges
at the ghats of VaranasiPersonal and community practices in Hinduism include puja, aarti, kirtan, or bhajan. These involve reading devotional verses, singing hymns or poems in a group. The most commonly observed traditions of Hindu devotion are Vaishnavism, Shaivism, and Shaktism. Hindus may worship multiple deities, all as manifestations of the same ultimate reality, cosmic spirit, and absolute spiritual concept called Brahman. [Source: Wikipedia]
It can be argued that what defines a Hindu is not the god that he or she worships but the rituals and lifestyle that he or she follows. There is often a great deal of overlapping and little distinction between religious and secular life, with prayers, initiations, ceremonies, festivals and rituals taking up a large chunk of a Hindu’s daily routine and life.
Worship of the gods is known as puja. Worship can occur mentally or in front of the most rudimentary representations, such as stones or trees. Most people assemble pictures or small statues of their favorite deities and create small shrines in their homes for daily services, and they make trips to local shrines to worship before larger and more ornate statues. [Source: Russell R. Ross and Andrea Matles Savada, Library of Congress, 1988]
Children are brought up to follow the customs and ethics of their parents but are encouraged to decide for themselves which gods and goddesses are right for them. Individuals often practice group rituals for their family and private rituals for themselves. Hindu religious customs, beliefs and the gods people worship can often vary greatly from place to place and even from caste to caste in one locality. Even so Hindus generally observe broadly similar rules regarding food, marriages and burial.
The ritual world of Hinduism, manifestations of which differ greatly among regions, villages, and individuals, offers a number of common features that link all Hindus into a greater Indian religious system and influence other religions as well. The most notable feature in religious ritual is the division between purity and pollution. Religious acts presuppose some degree of impurity or defilement for the practitioner, which must be overcome or neutralized before or during ritual procedures. Purification, usually with water, is thus a typical feature of most religious action. Avoidance of the impure — taking animal life, eating flesh, associating with dead things, or body fluids — is another feature of Hindu ritual and is important for repressing pollution. In a social context, those individuals or groups who manage to avoid the impure are accorded increased respect. Still another feature is a belief in the efficacy of sacrifice, including survivals of Vedic sacrifice. Thus, sacrifices may include the performance of offerings in a regulated manner, with the preparation of sacred space, recitation of texts, and manipulation of objects. A third feature is the concept of merit, gained through the performance of charity or good works, that will accumulate over time and reduce sufferings in the next world. [Source: Library of Congress]
See Separate Articles: HINDU TEMPLES AND TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE factsanddetails.com ; PUJA AND HINDU OFFERINGS factsanddetails.com
Websites and Resources on Hinduism: Hinduism Today hinduismtoday.com ; India Divine indiadivine.org ; Wikipedia article Wikipedia ; Oxford center of Hindu Studies ochs.org.uk ; Hindu Website hinduwebsite.com/hinduindex ; Hindu Gallery hindugallery.com ; Encyclopædia Britannica Online article britannica.com ; International Encyclopedia of Philosophy iep.utm.edu/hindu ; The Hindu Religion, Swami Vivekananda (1894), .wikisource.org ; Journal of Hindu Studies, Oxford University Press academic.oup.com/jhs
Hindu Worship Versus Christian Worship
Some non-Hindus regard Hindus as idol worshipers because of the adulation and offerings they give images and symbols of their gods. Hindus however don’t see it that way. They attention they give to images is not seen as idol worship but rather a way of recognizing that God is in everything. According to to the Hindu view, all objects are regarded as “living embodiments” of God (arca) and all methods of worship are ways of revering God. Making offerings to images, or “idols”, is called puja (“image worship”) and it refers to the belief that the entirety of creation is a form of God and that his form is in everything. Hindus do not see this as worshiping an idol because Hinduism describes it as a direct worship of God (who is in everything) instead of the worship of a representation of God. [Source: Jonathan H. Kantor, Listverse, July 31, 2016]
Brahman performing pujaChristianity is an organized religion with a hierarchy that emphasizes community worship and social service. Eastern religion is not organized in the same way. Hindus have special religious communities but the religion itself is not organized and worship has traditionally been done individually rather than in groups. Even when there are gathering of large numbers of people, individuals tend to engage in worship as individuals. Hindus and Buddhists are not required to visit temples. There is generally no liturgy or community worship for a congregation at a temple.
The largest gathering usually take place at festivals, when some public ceremonies are held. Otherwise temples are mostly empty of people unless they are tourist attractions or are very popular. As a rule individuals come and go to temples when they please and worship on a one on one basis with the god they are praying to. Temples are often sought as quiet places for meditation. Worship can often be done in front of altars at home just as well as it can be done at a temple. Reverence toward sacred images is very important. Sacred images are treated as kings in their temples and honored guest in people’s homes. This reverence is an expression of “darshan” (See Below). Common prayer times are sunrise and sunset when priests conduct ritual offering to the icon in the sanctuary of the temple.
Why Hindus Worship The Way They Do
The religious scholar A.L. Basham, wrote: “The most important religious acts of the Hindu are performed within the home. The life of the individual is hedged with sacraments of all kinds, which accompany him not merely from cradle to grave, but even from conception to long after death; for rites are performed while an unborn child is still in the womb to ensue its safety; and an ancestor is cared for in the after-life by special ceremonies performed by his descendants.”
Hindus are theoretically obliged to perform the "Five Great Sacrifices" three times a day but few of them other than devout, old-fashion Brahmins actually do. They consist of 1) the worship of Brahma by reciting the Vedic verses; 2) the worship of gods with burnt offering; 3) the worship of living spirits by offering food to animals and insects, and scattering grain in four direction, the center, in the air and on household utensil; 4) the offering of hospitality to members of one castes; and 5) the giving of offering to one’s ancestors. Good Hindus are also expected to give their ancestors a rice ball on the first new moon day of every month and periodically give offerings to the household spirit that lives in the northeast corner of the house. ["World Religions" edited by Geoffrey Parrinder, Facts on File Publications, New York]
Similar obligations are required in a Hindu’s lifetime. There are some forty sacramental rites (“samskaras” ) which an orthodox high-class Hindu is expected to perform or have performed on his behalf at various stages of his life. Many of these rarely take place. Most of them are very ancient in origin and feature sacraments and rites thought be similar to those performed in ancient Greece and Rome.
Types of Hindu Worship
sadhus worshipping Shiva during the Khumba Mela
Hindu worship, or puja, involves images (murtis), prayers (mantras) and diagrams of the universe (yantras). According to the BBC: “Central to Hindu worship is the image, or icon, which can be worshipped either at home or in the temple. Hindu worship is primarily an individual act rather than a communal one, as it involves making personal offerings to the deity. Worshippers repeat the names of their favourite gods and goddesses, and repeat mantras. Water, fruit, flowers and incense are offered to god.”
A Hindu can worship at home or in a temple. Most Hindu households have a sacred space or shrine dedicated to honoring deities that are believed to protect the family and bring good fortune. These household shrines include images that are relevant to all members of the household and require daily maintenance. According to the BBC: “The majority of Hindu homes have a shrine where offerings are made and prayers are said. A shrine can be anything: a room, a small altar or simply pictures or statues of the deity. Family members often worship together. Some Hindus, but not all, worship wearing the sacred thread (over the left shoulder and hanging to the right hip). This is cotton for the Brahmin (priest), hemp for the Kshatriya (ruler) and wool for the vaishya (merchants). [Source: BBC ]
At certain times of the day family members make offerings and say prayers at the family altar. Sometimes they say their prayers together, with the head of the household leading. Other times they do them at separate times. Rituals should strictly speaking be performed three times a day.The lighting of a lamp and incense is a usual part of the ritual. Sweets, coconut, money and fruit are left as offerings. Prayers are usually said every day. Thursday is regarded as a particularly auspicious time to say them.
In regard to temple worship, at a Hindu temple, different parts of the building have a different spiritual or symbolic meaning. 1) The central shrine is the heart of the worshipper. 2) The tower represents the flight of the spirit to heaven. 3) A priest may read, or more usually recite, the Vedas to the assembled worshippers, but any "twice-born" Hindu can perform the reading of prayers and mantras. |::|
Worship of Personal Gods
For the vast majority of Hindus, the most important religious path is bhakti (devotion) to personal gods. There are a wide variety of gods to choose from, and although sectarian adherence to particular deities is often strong, there is a widespread acceptance of choice in the desired god (ishta devata ) as the most appropriate focus for any particular person. Most devotees are therefore polytheists, worshiping all or part of the vast pantheon of deities, some of whom have come down from Vedic times. In practice, a worshiper tends to concentrate prayers on one deity or on a small group of deities with whom there is a close personal relationship. [Source: Library of Congress *]
seated 14th-15th century ivory Ganesh from Orissa
Some dedicated worshipers perform ceremonies daily at their home shrines; others travel to one or more temples to perform puja , alone or with the aid of temple priests who receive offerings and present these offerings to the gods. The gifts given to the gods become sacred through contact with their images or with their shrines, and may be received and used by worshipers as the grace (prasada ) of the divine. Sacred ash or saffron powder, for example, is often distributed after puja and smeared on the foreheads of devotees. In the absence of any of these ritual objects, however, puja may take the form of a simple prayer sent toward the image of the divine, and it is common to see people stop for a moment before roadside shrines to fold their hands and offer short invocations to the gods. *
Since at least the seventh century A.D., the devotional path has spread from the south throughout India through the literary and musical activities of saints who have been some of the most important representatives of regional languages and traditions. The hymns of these saints and their successors, mostly in vernacular forms, are memorized and performed at all levels of society. Every state in India has its own bhakti tradition and poets who are studied and revered. In Tamil Nadu, groups called Nayanmars (devotees of Shiva) and Alvars (devotees of Vishnu) were composing beautiful poetry in the Tamil language as early as the sixth century. In Bengal one of the greatest poets was Chaitanya (1485-1536), who spent much of his life in a state of mystical ecstasy. One of the greatest North Indian saints was Kabir (ca. 1440-1518), a common leatherworker who stressed faith in God without devotion to images, rituals, or scriptures. Among female poets, Princess Mirabai (ca. 1498-1546) from Rajasthan stands out as one whose love for Krishna was so intense that she suffered persecution for her public singing and dancing for the lord. *
A recurring motif that emerges from the poetry and the hagiographies of these saints is the equality of all men and women before God and the ability of people from all castes and occupations to find their way to union with God if they have enough faith and devotion. In this sense, the bhakti tradition serves as one of the equalizing forces in Indian society and culture. *
See Separate Article: HINDUS AND GODS: BELIEFS, WORSHIP AND CONCEPTS factsanddetails.com ; IMAGES OF HINDU GODS: BHAKTI, POSTURES, SYMBOLS AND WORSHIP factsanddetails.com
House Altars and Domestic Worship
Hindu home altar and temple
Most Hindu homes have family altars with garish pictures of Hindu gods and photographs of living and dead family members. Sometimes they are decorated with tinsel and colored lights. Here family members perform their daily “puja” (prayers and offerings). Some traditional large Hindu houses have an entire prayer room with a large elaborate altar. Most small houses have an altar on the side or corner of one of the rooms. Wealthy families sometimes have a large shrine outside their home.
Hindus also have roadside shrines and theoretically they can make offerings anywhere that has some connection to the gods . Some times red powder is smeared on sacred rocks or at the bases of trees. Basil, known as “tulsi” , is a sacred plant. It is often found growing in special planter and periodically receives puja.
The home is the place where most Hindus conduct their worship and religious rituals. The most important times of day for performance of household rituals are dawn and dusk, although especially devout families may engage in devotion more often. For many households, the day begins when the women in the house draw auspicious geometric designs in chalk or rice flour on the floor or the doorstep. For orthodox Hindus, dawn and dusk are greeted with recitation from the Rig Veda of the Gayatri Mantra for the sun — for many people, the only Sanskrit prayer they know. After a bath, there is personal worship of the gods at a family shrine, which typically includes lighting a lamp and offering foodstuffs before the images, while prayers in Sanskrit or a regional language are recited. In the evenings, especially in rural areas, mostly female devotees may gather together for long sessions of singing hymns in praise of one or more of the gods. [Source: Library of Congress *]
Minor acts of charity punctuate the day. During daily baths, there are offerings of a little water in memory of the ancestors. At each meal, families may set aside a handful of grain to be donated to beggars or needy persons, and daily gifts of small amounts of grain to birds or other animals serve to accumulate merit for the family through their self-sacrifice. *
Darshan and Hindu Veneration of Images
Priest offers Flowers
to the goddess Saraswati Darshan (also spelled Darsan) is an important aspect of Hindu worship. It refers to viewing an image of a deity. "A Hindu goes to a temple," writes historian Daniel Boorstin, "not to 'worship,' but rather 'for “darśan”” ...Darsan is a two-way flow of vision. While the devotee sees his god, so too the god sees the devotee, and the two make contact through their eyes. In the building of a new temple...when the images of the gods are made, their eyes are the last to be completed...The bulbous or saucer eyes that make Indian paintings of gods seem so bizarre to us are clues to the dominance of vision in the Hindu's relation to his gods. Many gods, like Shiva and Ganesh, have a third eye in the center of their foreheads. Brahma, the Thousand Eyes, regularly has four heads, to look in all directions at once, and sometimes he has leopard-spot eyes all over his body."
The importance given darshan can be appreciated by the attention that is sometimes lavished on images that are worshiped. In large temples where there are a large number of attendants, the image is woken up in the morning and washed, fed and prepared with flowers and incense before it is placed on its throne in the shrine room. In some cases the images are fanned and entertained with music throughout the day. In the old days many temples had their own troupe of dancers that entertained the images and could be enjoyed by worshipers for a fee.
Darshan is also associated with people of great holiness. Great leaders like Gandhi are also believed to possess darśan. When Indians glimpsed the Mahatma through the window of trains on his travels across India they were "taking darsan" and Gandhi was giving it. The importance of eye contact between the gods and humans helps explain why Hindu disdain eye contact in public, even between husband and wife.
Boorstin wrote: “The Hindu is dazzled by a vision of the holy, not merely holy people but places like the Himalayan peaks where gods live, or the Ganges which flows from Heaven to Earth, or countless inconspicuous sites where gods or goddesses or unsung heroes showed their divine mettle. The Hindu pilgrims trek hundreds of miles just for another darśan...Each of the cities sacred to each of the thousands of gods offers its own special darśan.”
Bhakti
Bhakti refers to devotion, participation in and the love of a personal god or a representational god by a devotee. In Hinduism Bhakti-marga is considered one of many possible paths of spirituality and alternative means to moksha. The other path are Raja-marga (path of contemplation and meditation), Karma-marga (path of works) and Jnana-marga (path of knowledge). [Source: Wikipedia]
Bhakti is practiced in a number of ways, including reciting mantras, japas (incantations), and individual private prayers in one's home shrine or in a temple before a murti or sacred image of a deity. Hindu temples and domestic altars are essential elements of worship in contemporary theistic Hinduism. While many people visit a temple on special occasions, most offer daily prayers at a domestic altar. This altar is usually a dedicated part of the home that includes sacred images of deities or gurus.
Aarti is a form of daily worship. It involves offering a flame and singing a song of praise. Notable aartis include Om Jai Jagdish Hare, a Hindi prayer to Vishnu, and Sukhakarta Dukhaharta, a Marathi prayer to Ganesha. Aarti can be used to make offerings to entities ranging from deities to human exemplars. In many temples, including Balaji temples where the primary deity is an incarnation of Vishnu, Aarti is offered to Hanuman, a devotee of God. Followers of Swaminarayan offer aarti to Swaminarayan, whom they consider to be the supreme God, in Swaminarayan temples and home shrines.
See Separate Article: IMAGES OF HINDU GODS: BHAKTI, POSTURES, SYMBOLS AND WORSHIP factsanddetails.com
Puja
“Pujas” (meritorious actions) refers to all forms of Hindu worship: prayers, prayer rituals, and offerings. They can be simple acts by worshipers at a temple or elaborate rituals performed with the help of Brahmin priests to mark special life cycle event. They usually involve chanting, bowing and leaving offerings before images.
Puja with leaves Many people don't understand the significance of puja, whether conducted daily at home or at a temple. It can be performed on images of the elephant-headed God, Lord Ganesha, or the monkey-God, Hanuman, or on stones. Since God is omnipresent he should be present in stones, animals and statues. Hindus believe that one commits a grave error by seeing an essential distinction between an idol and the Supreme Lord, for they are one and the same.
Pujas are usually directed to a specific deity. They often are made in conjunction with a request for protection and help or an expression of thanks. Their ultimate objective is to become one with the deity to which the prayer is directed.
According to the Pew Research Center: Most Hindus in India perform puja at home daily (55 percent). Fewer Hindus perform puja at temples daily (20 percent). Hindu women are much more likely than men to perform puja in their home daily (64 percent vs. 47 percent), but there is no gender gap when it comes to performing puja at temples (20 percent vs. 21 percent). [Source: Jonathan Evans, Pew Research Center, October 26, 2022]
A puja is supposed to bring five things together: 1) a pot containing water, representing the body; 2) “murtis” (an image of deity); 3) “prasad” (a flower or fruit offering, representing nature); 4) “yantras” (a mandala, or sacred pattern representing the universe); and 5) a “mantra”, or chant. The first four are optional. The last one is necessary. The mantra is viewed as essential to complete the ritual.
See Separate Article: PUJA AND HINDU OFFERINGS factsanddetails.com
India's Spiritual Market Valued at Over $30 Billion
India's spiritual market has been valued to be worth tens of billions of dollars. In the mid 2010s, The Times of India said that that the Indian spiritual and religious market was worth around $30 billion. According to Fortune, “they remain one of the most cited authorities on this figure; though newer estimates put that figure closer to $40 billion and entrepreneur Saumya Vardhan says her calculations place the market value at around $48 billion today. [Source: Ambika Behal, Forbes, August 20, 2016]
“Around 80 percent of India’s population is Hindu — many continue to follow ancient traditions that have evolved little since around 500 BC. These play a huge part in daily life. Families contact priests to perform everything from astrological chart readings for the entire family to rituals for naming children to fixing financial problems, warding off evil spirits, wedding ceremonies, last rites — you name it.
Temple donations, the purchase of offerings, spiritual tourism, payments for ritual services, astrology services, traditional home décor services — the money being spent in India alone easily rockets into the billions of dollars. Priests typically specialize in an aspect of the religious practice; some are experts in career astrology, others may have stronger experience with wedding rituals, and so on. Vardhan says by utilizing the individual expertise of priests they are able to provide a better experience for customers participating in the ceremonies. “There are so many scams and scandals with spirituality, we want to make people aware of the science and facts behind these rituals,” says Vardhan, “no one is talking about the science behind it — it all has some significance, some science.”
Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons except pouring milk on trident, Smithsonian
Text Sources: “World Religions” edited by Geoffrey Parrinder (Facts on File Publications, New York); “Encyclopedia of the World’s Religions” edited by R.C. Zaehner (Barnes & Noble Books, 1959); “Encyclopedia of the World Cultures: Volume 3 South Asia “ edited by David Levinson (G.K. Hall & Company, New York, 1994); “The Creators” by Daniel Boorstin; “A Guide to Angkor: an Introduction to the Temples” by Dawn Rooney (Asia Book) for Information on temples and architecture. National Geographic, the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian magazine, Times of London, The New Yorker, Time, Newsweek, Reuters, AP, AFP, Lonely Planet Guides, Compton’s Encyclopedia and various books and other publications.
Last updated December 2023