पंचोपचार पूजा विधि

In a puja the deity is seen as an honoured guest, and each service to that guest is an upachara. The panchopachara followed in homes is these five, done in this order. Some texts and sects give a slightly different list of five, but this is the list most used in the daily puja of a household.

Gandha: fragrant paste. Usually sandal paste, and in the worship of the goddess many homes also use roli, kumkum or turmeric. A small tilak is placed on the picture or image, by custom with the ring finger. If the picture is under glass, put it on the frame or on a flower placed below. In many homes a few grains of akshat (unbroken rice) go with it.

Pushpa: a flower. A single flower is a complete offering. The tradition holds some things especially dear: durva grass and red flowers to Ganesha, bel leaves to Shiva, tulsi to Vishnu and Krishna, red flowers such as hibiscus to the goddess, the lotus to Lakshmi. Many homes do not offer tulsi to Ganesha or Shiva, or ketaki to Shiva, and in several Vaishnava traditions akshat is not offered to Vishnu. A flower that has fallen on the ground, been smelled or wilted is usually not offered.

Dhupa: fragrant smoke. An incense stick or dhoop is lit, shown to the deity with the right hand and then set in its holder. One stick is enough. It may be left out in a closed room or near someone with breathing trouble.

Dipa: light. A lamp of ghee or sesame oil with a cotton wick. In many homes the lamp is lit on sitting down and shown to the deity when its turn comes. It stands to the deity's right, which is your left.

Naivedya: the offering of food. Rock sugar, jaggery, fruit, raisins, milk, or the sattvik food cooked at home that day. Once offered, it is prasad. Naivedya contains no onion, garlic, meat or alcohol, and what is to be offered is not tasted first. On food offered to Vishnu and Krishna the custom is to place a tulsi leaf.

An easy way to remember the order: first the tilak, then the flower, then fragrance, then light, and last of all food. One explanation links the five to the five elements: gandha to earth, pushpa to space, dhupa to air, dipa to fire and naivedya to water. Some traditions link naivedya to amrita (nectar) in place of water. In this view the worshipper returns to the deity the five elements of their own body and of the world. If you slip in the order, do not worry; carry on from where you are.

Everything fits on a small plate or in a box: a picture or small image of your ishta, a small lamp, ghee or sesame oil, a cotton wick, matches, an incense stick and its holder, sandal powder or a small box of roli, a small bowl of water and a spoon, some akshat, one or two fresh flowers, and rock sugar, raisins or a fruit for the naivedya. A mat or a folded clean cloth to sit on. A bell is good to have, and nothing is lacking without one.

Mix two or three drops of water into the sandal powder to make the paste as you need it. Ready-made ghee wicks are sold in the market and save time. If any of this is missing, see the simple alternatives further down, under 'In a small flat', and do not put off the puja for what you do not have.

1. Preparing: bathe and put on clean clothes. At the place of worship remove yesterday's flowers, wipe the picture or image with a clean dry cloth, clean the lamp and set the ghee and wick in it, fill the bowl with fresh water and put the naivedya on a plate. Keep everything within reach so that you need not get up midway.

2. Sitting: sit on the mat facing east or north. If your knees or back trouble you, sit on a chair; there is no fault in it. Light the lamp and place it to the deity's right. Pour a little water over your hands to cleanse them. Take a few long breaths and bring the mind here, away from the day's worries.

3. Remembering Ganesha: with folded hands bow to Ganesha and say 'ॐ गं गणपतये नमः' (Om Gam Ganapataye Namah) three times. If you do not know it, simply say, 'Ganesh ji, may this puja be completed without obstacle.' If Ganesha is himself your ishta, do the steps that follow for him.

4. Avahana, inviting by name: close your eyes, bring the form of your ishta to mind and call them by name: 'Shiv ji, please come', 'Mother, please come'. Those who know it say the deity's short mantra, such as 'ॐ नमः शिवाय' (Om Namah Shivaya), 'ॐ नमो नारायणाय' (Om Namo Narayanaya) or 'ॐ दुं दुर्गायै नमः' (Om Dum Durgayai Namah). Then say in your own words why you are doing this puja, even if only 'This day is offered to you.' It needs no Sanskrit sentence.

5. Gandha: with the ring finger put a small tilak of sandal paste or roli on the picture or image, and offer a few grains of akshat if you wish. With each offering say in your own language, 'I offer you this sandal.' If you would like one Sanskrit word, say 'samarpayami', which means 'I offer'. Then put a tilak on your own forehead too.

6. Pushpa: with both hands or the right hand set the flower at the deity's feet and say, 'I offer you this flower.' If there is more than one picture, a petal for each is enough.

7. Dhupa: light the incense, wave the flame out with your hand (do not blow on it), move it before the deity a few times with the right hand and set it in its holder. If you have a bell, ring it softly with the left hand.

8. Dipa: lift the burning lamp, or leave it where it stands and gesture towards it with your hand, show it to the deity a few times and say, 'I offer you this light.' If you lifted it, return it to its place.

9. Naivedya: set the plate before the deity, with the spoon trickle a little water around it and say, 'Please accept this offering.' For Vishnu or Krishna place a tulsi leaf on it. Wait a few moments with your eyes closed, then offer a spoonful of water.

10. Mantra or recitation: as time allows, chant the mantra of your ishta eleven times, or recite a chalisa. In a ten-minute puja keep to a short chant; find time for recitation on a day off. The list of daily texts is below.

11. Aarti: with the lamp or camphor, moving clockwise, do the aarti and sing one stanza of your ishta's aarti. If you do not remember one, circle three times in silence or while saying the name. Then pass your hands over the flame and touch them to your eyes and head.

12. Closing: with folded hands say a one-line prayer for yourself and your family, ask forgiveness for any slip in the puja and bow. Take the prasad yourself and share it in the home. Do not blow out the lamp; if someone is at home let it finish on its own, and if everyone is going out put it out with a flower or a wave of the hand first. Do not leave the house empty with a flame burning.

The place: a separate puja room is not necessary. A small wall shelf, one compartment of a cupboard or a clean corner of a table is enough. If possible choose the north-east corner, so that you face east or north when seated. Many homes avoid a wall shared with a toilet and the space under a staircase. But if there is no other place, a clean corner is fine; it is far better than no puja.

Keeping the flame safe: stand the lamp on a small steel or brass plate. Keep it away from curtains, paper calendars and plastic flowers, and out of the fan's direct draught. With small children or pets, keep it above their reach. Where a flame is not allowed, as in some rented homes, some people keep an electric lamp and offer the dipa in the mind.

Smoke: in a small room even one incense stick can feel heavy. Open a window a little, or break the stick and light half. With asthma, an allergy or a newborn in the home, leave out the incense and show a fragrant flower in its place. Camphor too gives much smoke and a tall flame, so in a small home a ghee lamp is the safer choice.

If flowers are hard to find: one flower from the market, wrapped in a damp cloth and kept in a box, lasts some days, and one petal can be offered at a time. A pot of tulsi or marigold gives flowers and leaves at home. With no flowers at all, by the custom of many homes akshat is offered in their place; in homes that do not offer akshat to Vishnu, a tulsi leaf or a flower offered in the mind is enough. Without sandal paste, turmeric from the kitchen or kumkum from the home will serve, and the naivedya can be anything fresh and sattvik from the kitchen.

A shared room: in a hostel or shared home keep everything in one box and use its lid or a clean cloth as the seat for the deity at puja time. Keep the bell soft so that neighbours or room-mates are not woken. Mantras can also be said silently; the puja lies in the feeling, not the sound.

On a journey the rule of the puja does not break; its form changes. Keep a small picture of your ishta in a wallet or phone cover. In the morning after a bath if you can have one, otherwise after washing your hands and face, set the picture on a clean handkerchief and sit down. A train seat, a hotel chair or the edge of a bed will all do.

Do not light a flame in a hotel, on a train or on a plane; hotel rooms usually have smoke alarms, and on a train or a plane it is forbidden outright. In such places offer the lamp and incense in the mind. A fruit from breakfast, or rock sugar or dry fruit from your bag, can be the naivedya.

Manasa puja, worship in the mind: when you have nothing in hand, the whole puja is done mentally. Close your eyes, bring the deity's form to mind and think through the order: I am placing a tilak of sandal, offering a flower, showing incense, lighting a lamp, setting down food. The tradition does not count manasa puja as incomplete; many devotees in fact hold it in high regard. It takes only two or three minutes.

In hospital or in illness this manasa puja is the most fitting: lying in bed, without a bath, without any materials, with only the name. On returning home there is no need to make up any missed puja; simply take up the usual routine again.

The flowers and leaves taken down after being offered are called 'nirmalya'. They are removed the next morning before the puja. Many homes do not put them in the rubbish or throw them where feet will fall on them. Keep a separate bowl or bag for them.

The simplest and most respectful way is the soil. In a flat, bury dried flowers in the soil of a pot, or dry them on top of the pot and cover them with soil; slowly, over some weeks to a few months, they turn to compost. Take the thread out of a garland first. If there are many flowers, use a small compost bin or lay them near the roots of a tree.

Many temples and cities keep a separate container for nirmalya, from which the flowers go for composting. The old custom is to let them flow in a river, but putting flowers into a river in a plastic bag only fouls the river, and the river too is revered. So where a nirmalya container or a pot of soil is at hand, choose that.

The rest: pour the leftover water of the puja on the tulsi or into any pot. Incense ash and a burnt wick can also go into the soil of a pot. The naivedya is not thrown away; it is prasad, so eat or share it the same day, and finish cooked food before it goes stale. Wash the lamp and dry it each day.

Without a priest: the daily panchopachara puja needs no priest. Any member of the household, woman or man, young or old, can do it. It requires no initiation or special mantra. If you have no Sanskrit, saying the whole of it in your own language is enough.

The shortest form: when time is very short even a two-minute puja is complete: a lamp or an incense stick, a flower or some akshat, remembering the name, and a bow. If some of the five are left out, offer what remains with faith. A small daily puja lasts better than a large occasional one.

Health and routine: no fast is needed for this puja. The ill, the elderly, pregnant or nursing women, children and anyone on medicines may eat or take their medicines before the puja; health comes first. Those who have no time in the morning can do this same puja in the evening after washing their hands and face; many homes also have a separate custom of lighting a lamp at dusk.

During periods, the traditional view is that a woman does not touch the puja materials or the image; another member of the household does the puja while she sits nearby, joins the aarti and bows in her heart. Today many families hold that there is no bar to chanting inwardly and to manasa puja. Follow your family's custom and your own heart. In many families the puja is also paused during the sutak days after a birth or a death; ask the elders of the home about its rules.

When a priest: for rituals with a formal sankalp, griha pravesh, havan, the sanskaras and the consecration (prana pratishtha) of an image, it is right to take a priest's help. If a consecrated image is to be kept at home, ask them too about the rules of its daily care.

Shodashopachara means sixteen services, and panchopachara is its short form. Puja books commonly print this order: avahana (invitation), asana (a seat), padya (water for the feet), arghya (water for the hands), achamana (water to rinse the mouth), snana (bath), vastra (clothing), yajnopavita (sacred thread), gandha, pushpa, dhupa, dipa, naivedya, tambula (betel), pradakshina-namaskara (circling and bowing) and pushpanjali-visarjana (flowers and farewell). The list changes with the text, the region and the family's tradition; many lists, for instance, count dhyana (meditation) as the first upachara.

Look closely and the five offerings of panchopachara stand together in the later part of this list, in this same order. The difference is that shodashopachara first gives the full service of the guest's arrival, seat, washing of feet, bath and clothing, and closes with betel, circling and the farewell. Panchopachara begins at the moment when the guest is already seated. That is why our ten-minute method also adds the invitation by name and the bow.

Which, and when: for the daily puja panchopachara is enough. On a fast, a festival, a birthday or a special occasion, when there is time, shodashopachara is done. A middle form with ten offerings, dashopachara, is also followed. A shorter or longer puja does not make the feeling smaller or greater. The full sixteen-step method is on our 'Shodashopachara Puja Vidhi' page.

If you wish to add a short reading after the panchopachara, you can choose from this library by the day of the week. This is the order common in many homes of north India, not a binding one, and it changes from region to region: on Sunday the Surya Chalisa, Monday the Shiv Chalisa, Tuesday the Hanuman Chalisa, Wednesday the Ganesh Chalisa, Thursday the Vishnu Chalisa, Friday the Lakshmi Chalisa or Durga Chalisa, Saturday the Shani Chalisa or Hanuman Chalisa.

Many people do not change with the day; they recite one text of their ishta every day. Repeated daily, a text is slowly learned by heart, and then the puja needs no book. If time is short, read a few of its verses in place of the whole.

The tradition sees the fruit of daily puja not in the granting of any one wish but in a settled mind at the start of the day. For ten minutes a person sits with gratitude, says a prayer for everyone in their home and only then steps into the day. The deity lacks no sandal, flower or lamp; to offer is to accept that whatever we have has been given to us. It is a practice of faith and discipline, not a promise of results.

In a daily puja one stanza of your ishta's aarti is enough, and if there is time sing the whole of it. Ganesha's 'Jai Ganesh Deva', Vishnu's 'Om Jai Jagdish Hare', Shiva's 'Om Jai Shiv Omkara', the goddess's 'Jai Ambe Gauri', Lakshmi's 'Om Jai Lakshmi Mata' and Hanuman's 'Aarti Kije Hanuman Lala Ki' are all in this library with their full text. After the aarti pass your hands over the flame, touch them to your eyes and head, and share the prasad.