Places of worship

Puja in the home

For daily devotion, many Hindu families have a home , often in a corner of the best room in the house. It is a way of honouring the gods and goddesses. Worship at the shrine may involve the whole family, or sometimes it is done alone. A daily ceremony uses all the five senses. For this a Hindu needs the following:

Objects	Use in worship	Sensations
Bell	To awaken the god or goddess and symbolise the beginning of the worship.	Hearing
Food	To make a gift, fruit or other food is placed in the shrine as an offering to the deity.	Tasting
Murti	Viewing an image of the god or goddess being worshipped.	Seeing
Incense and flowers	Burning incense sticks fill the room with scent, symbolising the presence of the deity. Flowers are often placed in the shrine to honour the deity.	Smelling
Kum-kum powder	Making a coloured mark on the worshipper’s forehead shows honour to the deity and reminds the worshipper of their devotion throughout the day.	Touching

Objects	Bell
Use in worship	To awaken the god or goddess and symbolise the beginning of the worship.
Sensations	Hearing

Objects	Food
Use in worship	To make a gift, fruit or other food is placed in the shrine as an offering to the deity.
Sensations	Tasting

Objects	Murti
Use in worship	Viewing an image of the god or goddess being worshipped.
Sensations	Seeing

Objects	Incense and flowers
Use in worship	Burning incense sticks fill the room with scent, symbolising the presence of the deity. Flowers are often placed in the shrine to honour the deity.
Sensations	Smelling

Objects	Kum-kum powder
Use in worship	Making a coloured mark on the worshipper’s forehead shows honour to the deity and reminds the worshipper of their devotion throughout the day.
Sensations	Touching

Image caption,
A traditional Hindu shrine includes a bell, food offerings, murti, incense and flowers, and kum-kum powder

Typically, a worshipper will ring a bell to begin, before lighting some incense and washing the murti. Flowers or fruit are placed in the shrine and lamps are lit – usually a candle lamp. lamps often have ghee for fuel and have many wicks. The lamp is circled around in front of the murti, symbolising the light and love of the gods and goddesses. Hymns (bhajans) or are sung or said. Then the worshipper marks their forehead with kum-kum powder, and also marks the murti as a blessing.

Question

How are the five senses used in Hindu worship in the home?

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