In Hinduism, there are many different types of worship, which are all performed for different purposes. The main theme of worship is to show bhakti, which means loving devotion to God.
Rather than worshiping all the Gods, Hindus tend to prefer a personal God who is easier to understand than those of the supreme being Brahman. They will often choose a family God or one which is relevant to their daily lives.
It is usually kept in the cleanest room in the house to show respect to Brahman. The most important thing is to make sure that all members of the family can take part in daily worship.
It can be very simple, just a shelf on a wall, or it may be very large and beautifully decorated. It will contain important objects used for worship, images of the family's chosen deity, and photographs of family members who have died.
In order to keep the home pure and sanctified, Hindu people usually do not wear shoes inside. Some will also avoid other habits they consider unclean, such as smoking and drinking, eating meat, and having dogs and cats inside the house. Most Hindus consider it essential to bathe at least once a day, especially before worship.
A special place where Hindus worship, meant to encourage reflection, facilitate purification of one's mind, and trigger the process of inner realization within the devotee.
They are decorated elaborately as they represent the idea of a palace, which highlights the idea that God is like a king. The outside of some temples have statues of various deities or scenes from important stories in Hinduism.
As there are so many gods in Hinduism, it is not possible for every temple to have a statue of each one. This means that each temple has statues of many popular gods, but also some statues of gods that are important to the people of that particular community.
Hindus believe the Ganges river is spiritually pure and embodied by the goddess Ganga. Rituals performed at the banks or in its waters will bring fortune and wash away impurity, including any previous bad Karma.
A devotional image, such as a statue or icon, of a deity or saint used during puja and/or in other customary forms of actively expressing devotion or reverence. It is a symbolic icon representing Divinity, not God itself.
A worship ritual performed by Hindus to offer devotional homage and prayer to one or more deities. It may honour or celebrate the presence of special guests, or their memories after they die.
A Hindu ritual employed in worship, part of a puja, in which light (from a flame lit using camphor, ghee or oil) is ritually waved for the veneration of deities. Aarti also refers to the songs sung in praise of the deity, when the light is being offered.