Take a quiz on Hindu Rituals

Kumbhamela is another major pilgrimage on the eve of the solar festival Makar Sankranti. This pilgrimage rotates at a gap of three years among four sites: Allahabad at the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers, Hardwar near source of the Ganges, Ujjain on the Shipra river and Nasik on the bank of the Godavari river.^[314] This is one of world’s largest mass pilgrimage, with an estimated 40 to 100 million people attending the event.^{[314][315][316]} At this event, they say a prayer to the sun and bathe in the river,^[314] a tradition attributed to Adi Shankara.^[317]

The nature and place of rituals is an individual’s choice. Some devout Hindus perform daily rituals such as worshiping at dawn after bathing (usually at a family shrine, and typically includes lighting a lamp and offering foodstuffs before the images of deities), recitation from religious scripts, singing devotional hymns, yoga, meditation, chanting mantras and others.^[258]

Hindu rituals consist of many different forms. Some of them are :

• worship (puja)
• puja finale (aarti)
• two way viewing  (darshan)
• veneration of deity (sringaar)
• singing of hymns (bhajan)
• fire oblation (yajna)
• chanting (mantra)
• yoga (kriya)
• meditation (dhayana)
• pilgrimage (yatra)
• dip in holy rivers
• festivals
• rites of passage

A puja brings five things together:

1) a pot containing water, representing the body;

2)murtis (an image of deity);

3) prasad (a flower or fruit offering, representing nature);

4) yantras (a mandala, or sacred pattern representing the universe); and

5) a mantra , or chant.

The first four are optional. The last one is necessary. The mantra is viewed as essential to complete the ritual. Lighting incense sticks and ringing brass bells are a part of the puja ritual.

Pujas (meritorious actions) refers to all forms of Hindu worship: prayers, prayer rituals, and offerings. They can be simple acts by worshipers at a temple or elaborate rituals performed with the help of Brahmin priests to mark a special life cycle event. Puja usually involve chanting, bowing and leaving offerings before images.

Pujas are usually directed to a specific deity. They often are made in conjunction with a request for protection and help or an expression of thanks. Their ultimate objective is to become one with the deity to which the prayer is directed.

Yajna rituals-related texts have been called the Karma-kanda (ritual works) portion of the Vedic literature, in contrast to Jnana-kanda (knowledge) portion contained in the Vedic Upanishads. The proper completion of Yajna-like rituals was the focus of Mimansa school of Hindu philosophy.^[3]

A puja includes an offering to the lord. It begins with a mantra to the deity and ends with the worshiper smearing red vermillion paste or red powder (kumkum ) on the middle of the forehead of the deity being worshiped. A small portion of the offering is usually is taken back, regarded as blessed and auspicious, it is called Prasad. When offered, one has to accept Prasad with devotion and must deal with it respectfully.

Acceptance of Prasad is followed by blessings, sometimes a mark on the forehead, by a priest. Most people give the priest a small amount of money after receiving the blessing.

Darsan is an important aspect of visiting a temple. It is a two-way flow of vision. While the devotee sees his god, so too the god sees the devotee, and the two make contact through their eyes.

Hinduism has a long tradition of aarati songs, simply referred to as ‘Aarati’, sung as an accompaniment to the ritual of aarati. It primarily eulogizes to the deity the ritual is being offered to, and several sects have their own version of the common aarati songs that are often sung on chorus at various temples, during evening and morning aaratis. Sometimes they also contain snippets of information on the life of the gods.

The most commonly sung aarati is that which is dedicated to all deities is Om Jai Jagdish Hare, known as “The Universal Aarati” and is another common aarati song. Its variation are used for other deities as well such as Om Jai Shiv omkara, Om Jai Lakshmi mata, Om Jai Ambe gauri, Om Jai Adya Shakti, Om Jai Saraswati Mata, Om Jai Gange Mata, Om Jai Tulsi Mata and Om Jai Surya Bhagvaan. In Ganesha worship, the aarati Sukhakarta Dukhaharta is popular.

In Swaminarayan Mandirs, Jay Sadguru Swami is the aarati that is sung. In most temples in India, aarati is performed at least twice a day, after the ceremonial puja, which is the time when the largest number of devotees congregates.

Community Aarati is performed in the mandir; however, devotees also perform it in their homes.

Many people collect water from the Ganges in bottles. Some devoted Hindu take Ganges water to drink when they travel abroad.

Two silver urns were constructed under the direction of maharaja of Jaipur, Madho Singh II’s for his visit to London in 1902 to attend the coronation of Edward VII. Madho Singh II was poised and devout Hindu and required Ganges water for religious ceremonies and for driniking. The silver vessels were filled with water from the River Ganges and are referred to as Gangajalis (Ganges water vessels) and they caarried 8,000 L of water sufficient for Madho Singh II’s short visit to England.  [Reference]

There were usually one, or three, fires lit in the center of the offering ground. Oblations are offered into the fire. Among the ingredients offered as oblations in the yajna are ghee, milk, grains, cakes and soma.^[18]

Pilgrimages, are an important part of Hinduism.^[299] A Pilgrimage involves visiting a holy site called Tirtha, Kshetra, Gopitha or Mahalaya.^[300][301] The process or journey associated with Tirtha is called Tirtha-yatra.^[302] According to the Hindu text Skanda Purana, Tirtha are of three kinds: Jangam Tirtha is to a place movable of a sadhu, a rishi, a guru; Sthawar Tirtha is to a place immovable, like Benaras, Hardwar, Mount Kailash, holy rivers; while Manas Tirtha is to a place of mind of truth, charity, patience, compassion, soft speech, soul.^[303][304] A pilgrimage sites can even be  a mountain or forests or seashore or rivers or ponds, as well as virtues, actions, studies or state of mind.^[305][306]

Bhakti marga is considered in Hinduism as one of many possible paths of spirituality and alternate means to moksha.^[272] The other paths, left to the choice of a Hindu, are Jnana marga (path of knowledge), Karma marga(path of works), Rāja marga (path of contemplation and meditation).^[273][274]

Bhakti is practiced in a number of ways, ranging from reciting mantras, japas(incantations), to individual private prayers within one’s home shrine,^[275] or in a temple or near a river bank, sometimes in the presence of an idol or image of a deity.^[276][277] Bhakti is expressed in a domestic shrine which typically is a dedicated part of the home and includes the images of deities or the gurus the Hindu chooses.^[278]

The festivals typically celebrate events from Hinduism, connoting spiritual themes and celebrating aspects of human relationships such as the Sister-Brother bond over the Raksha Bandhan (or Bhai Dooj) festival.^[294][297] The same festival sometimes marks different stories depending on the Hindu denomination, and the celebrations incorporate regional themes, traditional agriculture, local arts, family get togethers, Puja rituals and feasts.^[293][298]

In large temples where there are a large number of attendants, the image is woken up in the morning and washed, fed and prepared with flowers and incense before it is placed on its throne in the shrine room for Darshan by devotees.

Yajna (IAST: yajña) literally means “sacrifice, devotion, worship, offering”, and refers to a ritual done in front of a sacred fire, often with mantras.^[1] Yajna has been a Vedic tradition, described in a layer of Vedic literature called Brahmanas, as well as Yajurveda.^[2]  Vedic rituals of fire-oblation (yajna) and chanting of Vedic hymns are observed on special occasions, such as a Hindu wedding.^[259] Other major life-stage events, such as rituals after death, include the yajña and chanting of Vedic mantras.^{[web 5]}

Major life stage milestones are celebrated as sanskara (saṃskāra, rites of passage) in Hinduism.^[262][263]

The rites of passage are not mandatory, and vary in details by gender, community and regionally.^[264]Gautama Dharmasutras composed in about the middle of 1st millennium BCE lists 48 sanskaras,^[265] while Gryhasutra and other texts composed centuries later list between 12 and 16 sanskaras.^[262][266] The list of sanskaras in Hinduism include both external rituals such as those marking a baby’s birth and a baby’s name giving ceremony, as well as inner rites of resolutions and ethics such as compassion towards all living beings and positive attitude.^[265]

Most Hindus observe religious rituals at home.^[257] The rituals vary greatly among regions, villages, and individuals. They are not mandatory in Hinduism.

Pilgrimage sites of Hinduism are mentioned in the epic Mahabharata and the Puranas.^[307][308] Most Puranas include large sections on Tirtha Mahatmya along with tourist guides,^[309] which describe sacred sites and places to visit.^{[310][311][312]} In these texts, Varanasi (Benares, Kashi), Rameshwaram, Kanchipuram, Dwarka, Puri, Haridwar, Sri Rangam, Vrindavan, Ayodhya, Tirupati, Mayapur, Nathdwara, twelve Jyotirlinga and Shakti Peetha have been mentioned as particularly holy sites, along with geographies where major rivers meet (sangam) or join the sea.^[313][308]

Aaraati

Aarti is finale of a Puja ritual and involves a flame or a light. It is usually performed at the end of a puja (in southern India) or bhajan session (in northern India). It is performed during almost all Hindu ceremonies and occasions. An ‘Aarati plate’ or ‘Aarati lamp’ is shown to the deity and is accompanied by the congregation singing songs in praise of that deva. At the end of the aarati, the priest circulates the plate or lamp to all those present. They cup their down-turned hands over the flame and then raise their palms to their forehead – the purificatory blessing, passed from the deva’s image to the flame, has now been passed to the devotee.

The aarati plate is generally made of metal, usually silver, bronze or copper. On it must repose a lamp made of kneaded flour, mud or metal, filled with oil or ghee. One or more cotton wicks (always an odd number) are put into the oil and then lighted, or camphor is burnt instead. The plate may also contain flowers, incense and akshata (rice).^[7] In some temples, a plate is not used and the priest holds the ghee lamp in his hand when offering it to the Deities.

The purpose of performing aarati is the waving of lighted wicks before the deities in a spirit of humility and gratitude, wherein faithful followers become immersed in God’s divine form. It symbolises the five elements:

1. space (akash)
2. Wind (vayu)
3. Fire (agni)
4. Water (jal)
5. Earth (prithvi)

(or in this sequence ‘Bh’umi (Earth),’A’gni (Fire),’G’agan (Space),’Wa’yu (Wind),’N’eer (Water) (BHAGWAN))

The major traditional rites of passage in Hinduism include^[264] Garbhadhana (pregnancy), Pumsavana (rite before the fetus begins moving and kicking in womb), Simantonnayana (parting of pregnant woman’s hair, baby shower), Jatakarman (rite celebrating the new born baby), Namakarana (naming the child), Nishkramana (baby’s first outing from home into the world), Annaprashana (baby’s first feeding of solid food), Chudakarana (baby’s first haircut, tonsure), Karnavedha (ear piercing), Vidyarambha (baby’s start with knowledge), Upanayana (entry into a school rite),^[267][268] Keshanta and Ritusuddhi (first shave for boys, menarche for girls), Samavartana (graduation ceremony), Vivaha (wedding), Vratas (fasting, spiritual studies) and Antyeshti (cremation for an adult, burial for a child).^[269] In contemporary times, there is regional variation among Hindus as to which of these sanskaras are observed; in some cases, additional regional rites of passage such as Śrāddha (ritual of feeding people after cremation) are practiced.^{[264][web 6]}

Hindu worship may include Puja, Aarati,^[281] musical Kirtan or singing Bhajan, where devotional verses and hymns are read or poems are sung by a group of devotees.^[282][283] While the choice of the deity is at the discretion of the Hindu, the most observed traditions of Hindu devotionalism include Vaishnavism (Vishnu), Shaivism (Shiva) and Shaktism(Shakti).^[284] A Hindu may worship multiple deities, all as henotheistic manifestations of the same ultimate reality, cosmic spirit and absolute spiritual concept called Brahman in Hinduism.^{[285][286][note 19]}