Pooja is a ceremony of gratitude or a religious ritual performed as an offering to various deities. It is done on a variety of occasions and settings, from daily puja done in the home, to temple ceremonies and large festivals, or to begin a new venture.
Here are some pooja generally performed by many hindus (Click on the media player or link to PLAY the audio file. You can DOWNLOAD the audio file by right clicking the link)
01. Punniyavachanam 02. RigVedha Punniyavachanam 03. Vinayaka Sathurthi Pooja 04. Annaprasanam 05. Aksharabyasam 06. Saraswathi Pooja 07. Varalakshmi Pooja 08. Gokulashtami Pooja 09. Sathyanarayana Pooja 10. Mahara Sankarandhi Pooja 11. Venkatajalapathi Pooja 12. Lakshmi Kubera Poojai 13. Subramaniya Swami Pooja 14. Navarathri Pooja 15. Maha Sivarathri Poojai
These are the steps commonly performed during poojas:
01. Avahana (“invocation”). The deity is invited to the ceremony. 02. Asana. The deity is offered a seat. 03. Svagata (“greeting”). The deity is asked if the journey has gone well. 04. Padya. The deity’s feet are symbolically washed. 05. Arghya. Water is offered so the deity may wash face and teeth. 06. Acamanıya. Water is offered for sipping. 07. Madhuparka. The deity is offered a water-and-honey drink. 08. Snana or abhisekha. Water is offered for symbolic bathing. 09. Vastra (“clothing”). Here a cloth may be wrapped around the image and ornaments affixed to it. 10. Anulepana or gandha. Perfumes and ointments are applied to the image. 11. Puspa. Flowers are offered before the image, or garlands draped around its neck. 12. Dhupa. Incense is burned before the image. 13. Dıpa or arati. A burning lamp is waved in front of the image. 14. Naivedya or prasada. Foods such as cooked rice, fruit, clarified butter, sugar, and betel leaf are offered. 15. Namaskara or pranama. The worshiper and family bow or prostrate themselves before the image to offer homage. 16. Visarjana or udvasana. The deity is dismissed.