Apr 29, 2018

Hari Om!

This week's blog is written by Nikhita Iyer. This is her second blog post for this year.

Last class, we learnt that God resides in the hearts of those who do Puja. So we learned how to conduct a Puja.The Puja was called the Sodasaupachara pooja. It was to honor Lord Rama.The idea behind it was to greet the Lord into our home.We chanted shlokas (phrases in honor of the God) while we were conducting the pooja.

At the beginning of any pooja, we always have to honor Lord Ganesha before any other Gods.This is because Ganesha is considered to remove obstacles. We used a plate to hold the Gods while we do the pooja. First, we placed a turmeric ball as a symbol of Lord Ganesha. Next, we washed the God’s feet and gave him a bath.We offered him clothes and jewelry.We put some Kumkum and Candanam (sandalwood) on the God’s forehead. We offered Atchadai (Rice mixed with a pinch of turmeric, and a little water) to the God, which we put it on his head. Next, we offered him fresh flowers. After that, we offered the Gods some food. We offered some panchamrutham ( 5 nectars food made of various fruits and honey) and some other foods. We filled a plastic cup with some water and used a plastic spoon to pour few drops of water on the offerings. We rang a bell so the God knows we are offering everything to him. The significance of ringing the bell is we are asking him to accept our offerings. Lastly, we did an arthi. We used a tea light instead of a real fire because we were doing the pooja in a high school classroom.This is when we would normally sing the arthi  song. The arthi song is to praise the Gods. At last, we ate the food that was now blessed by the Gods.This food is now called Prasad.

In this class, I learned to conduct a pooja.The next time I see a pooja, I will be able to follow along. I will know the significance of each ritual with regards to what they are doing and what it means.