Puja is a worship ritual – it belongs to one of the 9 processes in Bhakti Yoga and is called Archana.
One can worship one’s personal deity in a puja, perform a guru puja in honor of the guru, or on certain festivals such as Krishnajayanti (Krishna’s Appearance Day), or Ganesh Chaturthi or Navaratri (9 Nights of the Divine Mother) the respective deity is worshipped. There are countless occasions to perform a puja.
One can do special pujas for a birthday, for healing, for New Year, for the inauguration of a project, or a house. There are innumerable occasions though where one can perform a puja.
On a bigger scale one can order a puja by a professional pujari to pacify certain karmic influences in one’s birth chart. Puja is part of every day life in India, as it is performed at home, in the workspace, as in temples alike.
For example the Aarati – a light ceremony – where camphor or light is waved clockwise in front of the altar accompanied by mantras – and sweets are offered – can be considered as a small puja, which can be done at home.
I am grateful that I learned to do small pujas by my Guru Leela Mataji and could perform regular Krishna Pujas at the Yoga Vidya Ashram in Westerwald while I was a sevaka there for two years.
The next Puja date which I will celebrate will be Krishnajayanti this year September 6th, 2023, while I am at Ananda Wellness, Terre Haute.
If you wish to know more about pujas, or have a small puja performed as an inauguration of your new home, new office, yoga studio, etc. please contact me (787) 464.5651.