How worship is actually performed

आवाहन · Invocation

Mentally invite the deity to take residence in the murti or yantra. Hand gesture: avahana mudra (palms cupped, drawing inward).

आसन · Offering of seat

Offer a flower or pinch of akshata as a seat. The deity is now seated as an honoured guest.

पाद्य · Water for washing the feet

A small spoon of water. The deity is treated as if just having walked in from a journey.

अर्घ्य · Water for hands

Water offered to wash the hands of the guest.

आचमन · Water for sipping

A sip of water for refreshment.

स्नान · Bath

Bathe the murti - water, milk, curd, ghee, honey, sugar (panchamrita), then water again. For metal/stone images. For paper/cloth images, just sprinkle water.

वस्त्र · Cloth offering

A small piece of new cloth - symbolic clothing for the deity.

यज्ञोपवीत · Sacred thread

Offer the sacred thread (for male deities) or appropriate ornament.

गन्ध · Sandalwood paste

Apply sandal paste to the feet and forehead of the murti.

अक्षत · Unbroken rice

Offer unbroken rice grains coloured with turmeric or kumkum. Symbol of completeness.

पुष्प · Flowers

Offer flowers - preferably fresh, locally grown, of the colour the deity prefers (red for Devi, white for Shiva, yellow for Vishnu).

धूप · Incense

Wave incense (agarbatti or dhoop) in three clockwise circles in front of the deity.

दीप · Lamp

Light a ghee or oil lamp and wave it in the same clockwise circles. Represents the deity revealing itself with its own light.

नैवेद्य · Food offering

Offer cooked food - fruit, sweets, full meal - covered with a plate, with water sprinkled around. The deity partakes of the essence (sukshma); the food returns as prasad.

ताम्बूल · Betel leaf and nut

Offer paan and supari, the traditional after-meal mouth refresher in India.

प्रदक्षिण नमस्कार · Circumambulation and prostration

Circle the murti clockwise (one to seven times depending on the deity), then prostrate. Conclude with the dakshina (offering to the priest, or any token to your chosen cause) and visarjana (mentally requesting the deity to return).

Represented by: Banalinga (river-rounded stone) from the Narmada

The principle of consciousness as it dissolves all forms. Shaivite households place Shiva at the centre.

Represented by: Saligrama (ammonite fossil) from the Gandaki river

The principle of consciousness as it sustains all forms. Vaishnava households place Vishnu at the centre.

Represented by: Svarna-rekha shila (gold-lined stone) - or any sacred yantra

The principle of dynamic energy (shakti). Smarta and Shakta households place Devi at the centre.

Represented by: Sona-bhadra shila (red-streaked stone) from the Sona river

The principle of beginnings and obstacle-removal. Always invoked first regardless of the household tradition.

Represented by: Sphatika (clear quartz) - symbol of the sun

The principle of the visible source of life. Saura households place Surya at the centre.

Mantras are the oldest of the three. Vedic mantras (Gayatri, Mahamrityunjaya, Purusha Sukta) are considered eternal sounds heard by the rishis, not composed. Tantric and Pauranic mantras (Om Namah Shivaya, Hare Krishna, Om Mani Padme Hum) are later compositions but use the same logic - repeated sound shaping consciousness. Bija mantras (Lam, Vam, Ram, Yam, Ham, Om) are single seed-syllables that activate specific chakras or deities. Practice modes are Vaikhari (audible), Upamshu (whispered), and Manasika (purely mental); manasika is held to be the most powerful.

Where it is followed: All schools. Vedanta and Smarta households centre on the Gayatri. Sri Vaishnava on Ashtakshari (Om Namo Narayanaya). Madhwa Vaishnava on Dvadashakshari (Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya). Shaiva on Panchakshari (Om Namah Shivaya). Shakta on the Lalita Sahasranama. Gaudiya on the Maha Mantra.

A yantra is a precise geometric drawing - usually involving triangles, circles, lotus petals, and a central bindu (point) - that is treated as a body of the deity, equivalent to a murti. The most famous is the Sri Yantra (Sri Chakra), nine interlocking triangles forming 43 smaller triangles around a central bindu, representing the cosmic union of Shiva (downward triangles) and Shakti (upward triangles). Yantras are consecrated by mantra (the yantra without mantra is held to be inert) and worshipped with the same 16 upacharas as a murti. Drawn correctly on copper, silver, or gold, or simply on bhurja patra (birch bark) for portable use.

Where it is followed: Primarily Shakta (Sri Vidya tradition). Also used in Shaiva tantra, Vaishnava Pancharatra (Sudarshana Yantra), and Saura traditions (Surya Yantra). Smarta households often keep a Sri Yantra at home. Each major deity has its own yantra.

The word tantra means “loom” or “system” - a tantra is a structured body of practice. There are three principal classes: Shaiva tantra (Kashmir Shaivism, Shaiva Siddhanta, Nath sampradaya), Shakta tantra (Sri Vidya, Kalikula, Dasha Mahavidya worship), and Vaishnava tantra (Pancharatra Agama). Tantra is misrepresented in Western popular culture as primarily about sexuality; in fact, sexual practices are a small specialised branch within only some of the “left-hand” tantric schools. Mainstream tantric practice is daily worship, mantra repetition, yantra meditation, and meditation on the deity-as-self. Most South Indian temple worship - Pancharatra, Vaikhanasa, Shaiva Agamas - is technically tantric in origin.

Where it is followed: Shaiva tantra (Kashmir, Shaiva Siddhanta, Nath, Aghori), Shakta tantra (Sri Vidya in the south, Kalikula in the east, Mahavidyas across the country), Vaishnava tantra (Pancharatra in Sri Vaishnava temples, Vaikhanasa in temples of Tirupati and other ancient Vishnu shrines), and the Shabar tantra of folk practice.