Methods of performing idol worship

One of the very important concepts of Indian culture is idol worship. It is one of the nine steps of devotion nava vidha bhakti. Idol worship is the way to establish loving relationship with God. It is all about establishing mental relationship with God. All great sages, devotees achieved success in their spiritual journey – a journey of spirit towards God – through idol worship. For spiritual development it is important to condition body, mind and speech. Idol worship greatly helps in this process. When performed with devotion it can bring positive transformation in individual and society.

There are two methods of performing idol worship. The main method is shodashopchar (shodash means sixteen and upachar means ritual) puja which is a detailed idol worship where sixteen rituals are performed and the other is panchopachar (pancha means five) puja where five rituals are performed.

Shodashopachar puja - This is a detailed puja in which following sixteen rituals are performed for God.

aavahan (inviting God), aasan (offering seat to God), padyam (washing God’s feet), arghyam (offering water to God and washing hands of God) , achaman (offering God water for drinking), snaan (offering bath to God), vastra (offering clothes to God), upavita (offering sacred thread to God), gandha (applying sandalwood paste to God’s forehead), pushpa (offering flower to God), dhup (waving an incense stick in front of God), deep (waving light in front of God), anna or naivedya (offering food to God), pradakshina (circumventing God), namaskar (offering salute) and visarjan (offering bon voyage to God)

Panchopachar puja – This is a puja in which following five rituals are performed for God. In fact one can quickly perform panchopachar puja by chanting following shloka and offering five rituals.

gandha (applying sandalwood paste to God’s forehead), pushpa (offering flower to God), dhup (waving an incense stick in front of God), deep (waving light in front of God), naivedya (offering food to God)

One can choose to perform a type of puja as per time available. Panchopachar puja takes hardly five minute, however these five minutes can bring gradual positive transformation in the performer of puja.