Puja Vidhi - A General Method Of Worship For All Hindu Festivals

Puja purifies our heart, mind and soul, we should perform it with full faith and devotion. But, sometimes we don’t know how to do it to gain maximum benefits. Here, “Pt. Deepak Dubey” will tell you everything related to how, when and why to perform Puja, so read on.

What Does The Term ‘Puja’ Signifies?

Rituals done with pure heart and devotion for our adorned God to fulfil any wish or to please them, is termed as ‘Puja’. The most important element of Puja is ‘true devotion’. In hinduism, ‘time’ has really a great importance and this fact lies in Puja as well. Hence, having the knowledge of when to perform Puja holds real importance. Puja is a pious deed; therefore, cleanliness of the devotee and the place where he/she worships is necessary.

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The Right Time For Puja

For different Pujas, different festivals and occasions are celebrated in our country. All these rituals are done to please a particular deity and attain happiness, wealth, disease free life, and majesty. All our festivals and occasions have a fixed date, which depends on our Panchang (Hindu calendar). Hence, Puja related to any festival is done on that fixed date only and other than some conditions, almost every Puja ritual should be done either early morning or evening.

Right Place For Puja

To conduct Puja, either choose East direction or North. Besides this, make sure that this place is peaceful and clean.

Right Direction For Puja

Face of the adorned deity should be toward the East, North or West direction. The person who is performing the Puja should also have his/her face in these directions only.

Puja Items

Be it any Puja, below given items are essential in all of them:

Water, leaves of Ashoka or mango, Roli (Tilak), Moli (sacred red thread), camphor (Kapoor), fruit-rosary, rice, barley grains, coconut, Kalash (stoup), earthen lamp, Dhoop, betel leaves, betel nut, clove, cardamom, yellow or red colored clothes for the deity, Deep Batti, pure Ghee (purified butter) to light the lamps or perform Hawan, wooden sticks for Hawan, Hawan Samagri, black sesame seeds, jaggery or sugar, cow’s milk, curd, honey, fragrance, seasonal fruits, offerings for the deity, etc. Quantity of all the items should be according to use and one’s ability.

The Right Puja Method

1. First of all, sit peacefully.
2. To concentrate, chant either ‘Om’ or Gayatri Mantra five times melodiously.
3. Take a sip of water.
4. Take water, rice and flower. Also, take vow for the rituals.
5. In every Puja; earth, Lord Ganesha, Goddess Gauri, all the nine planets, Varuna, lord of place, God or Goddess of family and ancestors should be remembered and worshiped.
6. Bathe the symbolic form of all Gods and Goddesses with water, milk, honey, and curd. After that offer sacred cloth, Tilak, flowers, Prasad, betel leaves, and betel nuts. Now, worship them with incense sticks.
7. After performing basic Puja, chant Mantras and Stuti associated with each and every possible deity.
8. Above mentioned Pooja Vidhi should be followed for the main god or goddess.
9. Read legend, story or chant Mantra associated with the prime deity.
10. After all this, perform Hawan.

11. In the end, do Aarti, Pradakshina, seek forgiveness for mistake, and ask them to return back to their abode and come back in the needed time.

Some Important Points

1. Always sit on Kusha or woolen stuff and never perform Puja by sitting on earth.
2. Never use Tulsi leaves when worshiping Lord Shiva.
3. Always place Kalash in front of the prime deity.
4. Main lamp should be kept on the right side of the prime deity and it should not be disturbed. Use a different lamp to perform Aarti and to serve lamp to the gods and goddesses, leave rice on the main lamp.
5. Keep incense sticks on the left side of the main deity.
6. During Puja, don’t allow negative or wrong thoughts strike your mind, as forgiveness for this is not possible.
7. Take light and vegetarian food before the Puja and if possible, don’t eat anything. You can do better Puja by doing so.
8. Make sure that items used in Puja are pure and of good quality, as Puja is not about quantity but purity.
9. Donation and alms should be according to your ability and with devotion. Always keep in mind that the offering you are making, should be usable. Here also, devotion is important and not quantity.
10. Donations should be made to the needy and deserved people and that too by you only.

I have given this prescribed Puja Vidhi, keeping in mind the busy lifestyle and domestic life. I hope this proves useful for you. I am awaiting your questions and suggestions.

Pt. Deepak Dubey