Hindu practices

• Puja

  Prayer/worship of the gods, offerings. Offerings are given to the murti.
• Puja

  Worship. An expression of respect and devotion to God. In Hinduism, puja is where God (Brahman) is represented personally (Bhagavan).
• Deities worshipped in puja

  • Vishnu or his avatars (Krishna, Narayana)
  • Shiva
  • Shakti
• Puja

  • Takes place in Hindu homes and in temples (mandirs)
• Items on a home shrine

  • Pot of water
  • Murti and/or pictures of a deity
  • Powders: kum-kum (red), turmeric (yellow) and chandan (golden) sandalwood paste
  • Flowers and leaves
  • Food, such as fresh fruit
  • Incense
  • Ghee (clarified butter) lamp
  • Aarti lamp
  • Bell
• Preparing for puja at home

  1. Washing

  2. Putting on clean clothes

  3. Chanting prayers

  4. Ringing the bell
• Murti

  Object of worship, represents God
• Treating the murti in puja

  1. Washing, sometimes in purifying milk

  2. Applying kum kum (red) powder and sandalwood paste

  3. Draping with garlands
• Aarti

  Ceremony involving lighting lamps, usually five, representing the building blocks of life: earth, air, fire, water, space
• Aarti

  • The lamps represent the power of God, and the transfer of light and warmth to humans and the desire to be enlightened
• Aarti ceremony

  Lamps on a tray are circulated, then worshippers hold their hands over the flame and bring them up to their eyes three times, touching the top of their head on the third time
• Darshan

  An important part of temple worship, when worshippers come into the presence of a god and make direct eye contact with the murti
• Prasad

  Food or drink offered by the pujari and then consumed by the congregation
• Branches of Hinduism

  • Vaishnavism (devotion to Vishnu)
  • Shaivism (devotion to Shiva)
• Bhakti yoga

  Practice of Vaishnavas, involving singing, chanting, meditating before murtis, and performing puja in worship of Vishnu
• Raja yoga

  Practice of Shaivites, focusing on deep meditation
• Lingam

  Symbolic representation of Shiva, usually made from stone or clay, representing the invisible Reality and Shiva's powers of regeneration and creation
• Shiva puja

  1. Offerings representing the five senses: milk, water, yogurt, honey, flowers, sandalwood paste, rice and incense

  2. Washing the lingam

  3. Chanting mantras
• Shiva puja is believed to destroy evil forces
• Mandir (Hindu temple)

  • Seen as the meeting place of God and human beings
  • Traditional mandirs have roofs with high domes (shikharas) like mountains, where the gods are thought to live
  • Often built close to natural features or places associated with divine traditions
  • The area underneath the dome may appear like a cave, containing a murti like a mountain-dwelling god (garbhagriha)
• The first Hindu temple in Britain opened in London in 1920. Today, there are over 200 temples serving a Hindu population of over a million.
• Mandirs in Britain


  • Many are conversions from existing buildings, but more are purpose-built in traditional Indian styles
  • Serve as social centres, information and advice hubs, educational provisions, and youth clubs, as well as places of worship
  • Some are multi-denominational, catering for different branches of Hinduism
• Many Hindus in India live in villages and worship at small outdoor shrines, rather than temple buildings
• In towns and cities in India, there are also shrines on the edges of roads or in public spaces, often with no priest but looked after by the local community
• Bhagavad Gita 3.19: 'Therefore, giving up attachment, perform actions as a matter of duty, for by working without being attached to the fruits, one attains the Supreme'
• Havan

  Presenting an offering and making it into sacred fire, a type of congregational puja to purify the worshippers and their environment
• Performing havan

  Kindling a fire on a square altar, making offerings of rice, seeds, incense and ghee which are burnt up as a sacrifice to the gods
• Aarti

  Ritual of making offerings to God, representing the five elements: fire, earth, water, air and space
• Darshan

  The practice of standing before an image or murti, a two-way interaction where devotion flows from the worshipper to the deity and divine blessings are received in return
• Japa

  Repetition of the name of a god or a mantra as a form of worship, can be chanted aloud, whispered or recited mentally, sometimes using mala (prayer beads)
• God's presence is not limited and can take on any form, which is why there are so many different representations of the divine
• God can be male, as Brahma, Vishnu or Shiva, or female, as Saraswati, Lakshmi or Parvati. Shakti is God revealed as feminine power
• Murtis

  Represent divine cosmic powers and human virtue and evil, forming a bridge between human beings and God
• Many Hindus believe that divine images are actually charged with God's energy, infused and filled with the divine
• Mantra

  Recited in japa
• God's presence is not limited
• Forms God can take

  • Male, as Brahma, Vishnu or Shiva
  • Female, as Saraswati, Lakshmi or Parvati
  • Shakti, God revealed as feminine power that works through both gods and goddesses
• Through different forms, worshippers are able to focus on different qualities or aspects of the divine: creativity, preservation, regeneration, knowledge, wealth or strength, for example
• Murtis

  Representations of the divine that are not gods, but represent divine cosmic powers and human virtue and evil, forming a bridge between human beings and God
• Many Hindus would say that divine images are actually charged with God's energy, infused and filled with divine powers