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A young Hindu called Pranathi explains how all the items on a puja tray are used during worship.

Component 1: The study of religions: beliefs, teaching and practices: Hinduism - Different forms of worship: puja and arati - The rituals of puja and arati and their significance for Hindus.

Area of Study 2 – Hinduism - Section 3: Living the Hindu Life - The nature and purpose of prayer in the temple and the home: the nature, features of use and purpose of the different forms of worship, including meditation, puja, havan, darshan, arti, bhajan, kirtan and japa, with reference to interpretations of Bhagavad Gita 6.44–47; divergent understandings of the benefits for Hindus of having different forms of worship.

Component Group 1 - Beliefs and teachings & Practices - Hinduism - Approaching deity •Different Hindu understandings of the role,forms and importance of the following types of worship: •• Havan or homa •• Puja •• Meditation •• Japa •• Bhajan or kirtan •• Darshan • The nature and importance of sacred places and spaces for Hindu worship: •• Temples •• Shrines •• Sites of pilgrimage •• Outdoors •• Hills and rivers

2.1 Unit 1 PART A - Hinduism - Core beliefs, teachings and practices - Practices Worship  Features and importance of daily puja in the home: (Bhagavad Gita 3:19, 4:38)  Features and importance of congregational puja in the mandir (including devotions to the murti, arti and havan)  Diversity in Vaishnavite and Shaivite worship  Significance of bhakti  Role, importance and features of pilgrimage to Varanasi

2.3 Component 3 (Route A) - Option 2: Hinduism - Places of worship in Britain and elsewhere ➢ Features and importance of daily puja in the home ➢ Features and importance of congregational puja in the mandir ➢ Diversity of views and practices: Vaishnava and Shaiva bhakti ➢ Hindu mandirs in Britain compared to those in India ➢ Features and importance of worship at outdoor shrines Worship/meditation ➢ The significance of different forms of worship/meditation; havan, puja, arati, darshan Bhagavad Gita 9.26, bhajan/kirtan, japa: Bhagavad Gita 3.19, 4.38, 6.11–12 ➢ The importance of focuses of worship and representations of the divine; one god, other deities, holy land, plants and animals: Bhagavad Gita 16.24 ➢ Honouring Gurus and elders

Holy Cribs – The Vimana and Puja Tray

Pranathi: A murti is a statue of a deity, a god or goddess. And Hindus like me use these to help us worship. This is Ganesha, the elephant headed God of wisdom, and he has his own vimana or shrine, which is a small space dedicated to him containing all the things we use to worship him. The murti's are treated as honoured guests and they'll be washed, decorated and given offerings of food every day as signs of respect to the deities they symbolise. Each one of the deities represents one aspect of the personality of the one unseen spirit. Brahman Puja is the name we use for worship or prayer. We often use a tray to hold all things we use in puja. There might be fruit, rice, flowers. Water, a lamp, ash, Kumkum, powder, incense, a bell, all kinds of things to touch, taste, smell here and look at. All five senses are involved as a symbol that the whole person is devoted to the deity. We ring a bell to wake up the murti and to bring people to join in the puja. We have a lamp because light symbolizes enlightenment or understanding. We often use a lamp that burns ghee, which is clarified butter and it smells great. Incense smells great, too. And we burn it in the Mandir and in our homes to purify the air, hiding any nasty smells. It also creates the sort of atmosphere that I've grown up associating with worship. So it helps me get in the right frame of mind. The flowers also smell nice and bring color to the Vimana. A water pot called a kamandalu, and the spoon are used to wash the muthi. And a red powder called kumkum and sandalwood paste are used to anoint the muthi and to make the tilaka marks on our foreheads to show we have been blessed. Prasad is food like fruit nuts or sweets that are offered to the murthis and then shared out to the worshippers after puja. We believe that the deity blesses the food during the puja, so when we eat the Prasad, we receive the blessing.

Hinduism: The Puja Tray

Video length - 03.00
Published date - May 2023
Keystage(s) - 3 and 4
Downloadable resources

Holy Cribs: The Mandir

Pranathi gives TrueTube a tour of The Shree Ghanapathy Mandir in South London, explaining its most important features and her beliefs as a Hindu.

Component 1: The study of religions: beliefs, teaching and practices: Hinduism - Different forms of worship: puja and arati - The rituals of puja and arati and their significance for Hindus.

Area of Study 2 – Hinduism - Section 3: Living the Hindu Life - The nature and purpose of prayer in the temple and the home: the nature, features of use and purpose of the different forms of worship, including meditation, puja, havan, darshan, arti, bhajan, kirtan and japa, with reference to interpretations of Bhagavad Gita 6.44–47; divergent understandings of the benefits for Hindus of having different forms of worship.

Component Group 1 - Beliefs and teachings & Practices - Hinduism - Approaching deity •Different Hindu understandings of the role,forms and importance of the following types of worship: •• Havan or homa •• Puja •• Meditation •• Japa •• Bhajan or kirtan •• Darshan • The nature and importance of sacred places and spaces for Hindu worship: •• Temples •• Shrines •• Sites of pilgrimage •• Outdoors •• Hills and rivers

2.1 Unit 1 PART A - Hinduism - Core beliefs, teachings and practices - Practices Worship  Features and importance of daily puja in the home: (Bhagavad Gita 3:19, 4:38)  Features and importance of congregational puja in the mandir (including devotions to the murti, arti and havan)  Diversity in Vaishnavite and Shaivite worship  Significance of bhakti  Role, importance and features of pilgrimage to Varanasi

2.3 Component 3 (Route A) - Option 2: Hinduism - Places of worship in Britain and elsewhere ➢ Features and importance of daily puja in the home ➢ Features and importance of congregational puja in the mandir ➢ Diversity of views and practices: Vaishnava and Shaiva bhakti ➢ Hindu mandirs in Britain compared to those in India ➢ Features and importance of worship at outdoor shrines Worship/meditation ➢ The significance of different forms of worship/meditation; havan, puja, arati, darshan Bhagavad Gita 9.26, bhajan/kirtan, japa: Bhagavad Gita 3.19, 4.38, 6.11–12 ➢ The importance of focuses of worship and representations of the divine; one god, other deities, holy land, plants and animals: Bhagavad Gita 16.24 ➢ Honouring Gurus and elders

Holy Cribs: The Mandir

Pranathi: Welcome to the Shree Ghanapathy Temple. My name is Pranathi and I'm a Hindu. This is a temple or mandir and my dad is one of the priests here, so it's like a second home to me. We come here to worship Brahman, the one supreme spirit which we believe lives in all things. We worship many forms of Brahman, but this temple is especially dedicated to Lord Ganesha. Traditional mandirs usually have a gateway or a tower called a gopuram, which lets you know you're entering a special place. You may also find a statue of an animal or god outside. This is Ganesha, the elephant headed god of wisdom. This is the normal entrance for the mandir. The word mandir comes from the word 'house' in the ancient Indian language of Sanskrit. We think of the temple as a home for the deities, what we call the gods and goddesses that are inside. When we come into the temple, we respect it like you would when entering the home of a very important person. The entrance area of the mandir is called an ardhamandapa. It's where we take off our shoes and leave them in these racks. This is so we can keep the inside of the building as clean as possible, as another sign of respect. Also, some girls and women like to cover their heads when they come into the mandir. As people enter, they will often ring a bell to announce their arrival, just like you would ring on someone's doorbell.

On special occasions, we will open the main doors of the temple and you'll often see people bending down to touch the steps before they enter. In India, it's tradition that we touch the feet of those we respect, and the step represents the feet of the deities. By the door, this is Bhairavar. He is the protector or guardian of our temple. This is the mandapa, the main prayer hall of the mandir. All around the mandapa, there are deities. Each one has a shrine or vimana, which is a small area of worship. A statue of a deity is called a murti. We treat them as honoured guests, and so they are washed, decorated and given offerings of food every day, as signs of respect to the gods or goddesses they represent. I said outside that we worship one supreme spirit called Brahman who was a part of all things. So each one of the deities is Brahman in human or animal form. They show us many different ways to understand Brahman.

 

This mandir is dedicated to Ganesha, but most mandirs will have a murti of Ganesha near the door. He is a very popular deity because he removes obstacles or problems in people's lives. This is Shiva with his wife, Parvati. We also have murtis of Vishnu and we believe he has come to Earth in different forms. So here he is, as Krishna with Radha. And as Rama with Sita. Puja is the Hindu name for worship or prayer.

A tray is often laid out with various objects to help Hindus in their worship. Fruit, rice, flowers, water, a lamp, holy ash and kumkum powder, incense, a bell. There will be items to touch, taste, smell, hear and look at. All five senses are involved as a symbol that the whole person is devoted to the deity. Prasad is food like fruit, nuts or sweets that is offered to the murtis and then shared out after the puja. We believe that the deities bless the food during the puja. And so if we eat the prasad we will be blessed too. Take a sniff. Incense is burned in mandirs to purify the air, hiding any nasty smells. It also creates an atmosphere that always makes me think of puja. So it helps me to get in the right frame of mind to pray. The main shrine at the front of the mandapa is called a garbha griha, which means womb house. It symbolises the womb or heart of the body because we believe it gives life to the whole mandir. Inside the garbha griha will be a murti of the main deity that the mandir is dedicated to; the deity that most people come to this mandir to worship, which in our case is Ganesha. There is a space or corridor around the garbha griha called the pradakshina. This is so people can walk clockwise all around it. It shows that just like the shrine is at the centre of the circle I'm making as I walk around it, Ganesha is at the centre of my life. Directly above the garbha griha, some mandirs have a spire on the roof called a shikara, or they might even have several shikaras above all the different shrines. They symbolise the Himalayas, the mountains in India, where the deities were believed to live. In fact, shikara means 'mountain peak'. Some mandirs have flags, and the colour of the flags show which deity the mandir is dedicated to. So orange for Shiva and his family, which includes his son Ganesha; and red and white stripes for Swaminarayan.

 

Our priests traditionally come from the Brahmin varna, the top varna or caste in the Indian class system. He's called a pujari, someone who leads puja. This is the arti ceremony. The pujari uses a lamp with five wicks to symbolise the five traditional elements of earth, air, fire, water and space. He waves it in front of the murtis while chanting a prayer. And people ring bells and blow a shankha. A shankha or conch is a huge seashell. And if you blow into it properly, it makes... That sound. The lamp is blessed by the deities during the arti prayer, and then it's taken round the mandapa for us to pass our hands over the flames and then touch our heads to show that we are accepting the deity's blessing.

Mandirs are usually full of decorations and symbols. This one is called the Om, which represents Brahman, the one unseen spirit. The lotus flower grows out of a muddy riverbed to float on the surface, looking all beautiful. So it symbolises that we should try to be pure, even when the world around us is often polluted. And the swastika which represents the sun and God's blessings. Although this one is often misunderstood because it was used by the Nazis in the Second World War, it's a shame because the symbol of blessing was turned into a symbol of hate. But that's not what it means to me. Many mandirs have a hall or other rooms attached that can be used for meetings, education, festivals and lots of other events. And that's it. Thanks for coming to the Shree Ghanapathy Temple. Don't forget your shoes. Thanks for coming, guys. Bye.

 

Holy Cribs: The Mandir

Video length - 08.24
Published date - May 2023
Keystage(s) - 3 and 4
Downloadable resources

A Day in the Life of a Hindu Priest – How does a Hindu Priest fill his time? To find out, TrueTube followed Krishan around with a camera for a day.

A Day in the Life of a Hindu Priest

Video length - 08.28
Published date - Feb 2018
Keystage(s) - 3 and 4
Downloadable resources

Charlie and Blue Hear all about Hindu Worship – Zippity-zip, let’s go on a trip! Charlie and her favourite soft toy (and best friend) Blue visit a Hindu Mandir where Geetha shows them how Hindus use their senses of sight, hearing, taste, touch and smell in worship.

TrueTube films are designed for use in a number of ways. Some ideas of where this film could link to your curriculum are below:

AQA

Component 1: The study of religions: beliefs, teaching and practices: Hinduism - Worship and festivals: places of worship - The importance of places of worship - Worship in the home, the temple, outdoors (such as shrines, and in the space of the heart.

Edexcel

Area of Study 2 – Hinduism - Section 3: Living the Hindu Life - The importance of Hindu places of worship: the nature, features of use and purpose of worship in different places, including in the temple, in the home, outside, including shrines and festival celebration and in the space of the heart, with reference to interpretations of Bhagavad Gita 9.13–27; the benefits for Hindus of having different places to worship in.

OCR

Component Group 1 -Hinduism- Beliefs and teachings & Practices - Approaching deity •Different Hindu understandings of the role,f orms and importance of the following types of worship: •• Havan or homa •• Puja •• Meditation •• Japa •• Bhajan or kirtan •• Darshan • The nature and importance of sacred places and spaces for Hindu worship: •• Temples •• Shrines •• Sites of pilgrimage •• Outdoors •• Hills and rivers 

WJEC

2.1 Unit 1 PART A - Hinduism - Core beliefs, teachings and practices -Practices - Worship  Features and importance of daily puja in the home: (Bhagavad Gita 3:19, 4:38)  Features and importance of congregational puja in the mandir (including devotions to the murti, arti and havan)  Diversity in Vaishnavite and Shaivite worship  Significance of bhakti  Role, importance and features of pilgrimage to Varanasi 

Eduqas

Component 3 (Route B) - Option 2: Hinduism - Beliefs and teachings -Practices -Places of worship in Britain and elsewhere ➢ Features and importance of daily puja in the home ➢ Features and importance of congregational puja in the mandir ➢ Diversity of views and practices: Vaishnava and Shaiva bhakti ➢ Hindu mandirs in Britain compared to those in India ➢ Features and importance of worship at outdoor shrines Worship/meditation ➢ The significance of different forms of worship/meditation; havan, puja, arati, darshan Bhagavad Gita 9.26, bhajan/kirtan, japa: Bhagavad Gita 3.19, 4.38, 6.11–12

Charlie and Blue Hear All About Hindu Worship

Charlie       Wake up blue.

Blue           Hello, Charlie. Hello, you.

Blue           It's dancing time.

Charlie       Blue. Blue!. Sorry, Blue. Did I scare you?

Blue           What do you think? Did you want something?

Charlie       I just wanted to know what you were listening to.

Blue           Oh, why didn't you ask?

Charlie       I tried, but you didn't hear me. Hmm.

Blue           Why are our senses so important?

Charlie       Because without them, we wouldn't be able to see, or hear, or feel, or anything. Hindus use all of their senses when they go to the temple to pray to God. I learned about it in school today. This is a picture of a Hindu god called Ganesha in a shrine. That's a special place for praying to God.

Blue           What do they do with all those things?

Charlie       Why don't you come with me and find out?

S3               Zippity zip. Let's go on a trip.

Geetha       Hello, Charlie. Hello, blue.

Charlie and Blue         Hello, Geetha.

Geetha       Welcome to the Sri Ganapathy temple. Now, when we normally come to the temple, we always wear some special clothes. So would you like to have some as well?

Charlie       Yes, please.

Blue           Yes, please.

Geetha       Right. So for Charlie we've got a lovely shawl. And it's blue as well. Then we've got a special shawl for Blue. Two bangles. We have a special bindi or pottu that we put on our forehead. Now, would you like to come in and see the temple?

Charlie and Blue         Yes, please.

Geetha       Come on.

Blue           Who's that?

Geetha       This is Lord Ganesha. As Hindus, we believe that God comes in many different forms and he's one of the most important ones, because all Hindus pray to him, and we pray to him to remove all the problems that we have in our lives. Many Hindus will have a statue of him in their homes.

Blue           Why does he have an elephant's head?

Geetha       Well, when we think of elephants, we always think of them as being kind and strong and wise, and hopefully we will try and bring those things in ourselves as well. And we know that he'll be strong enough and wise enough to help us remove all those problems in our lives.

Blue           Why is there so much stuff all around him?

Geetha       Well, this is a special place called a shrine, and it's where we worship God. And all the things that you see in front of you are the things that we offer to him, when we do our prayers. And we use all our senses so that we can concentrate fully on our prayers to him.

Blue           What are senses?

Geetha       Well, they're the things that help us make sense of the world, um, and so we have five of them, and they are sight, hearing, taste, touch and smell.

Blue           So I can see the statue.

Geetha       Yes, it's called a murti. It's an image of God, and you can see all the beautiful flowers and the lamps, the garlands and the clothes and the beautiful jewellery. It makes our sense of sight happy. What can you smell?

Blue           So I can smell something smoky and sweet and flowery.

Geetha       Well, that's the incense, and also the strings of flowers, which we call garlands.

Blue           But I can't hear anything.

Geetha       Well, it's quiet now, but when we do our service, then we might play music, or we may sing, or we'll have the bell ringing, or we might blow a conch.

Blue           What's a conch?

Geetha       Well, it's a seashell which is found in India, which is where our religion began, and if you blow in it hard, it can make a really loud sound like a trumpet.

Blue           What do you touch?

Geetha       Well, in our shrines at home, we're allowed to touch the murtis. Here at the temple. We're not allowed to do so, but the priests will touch them. And we treat them as the most important person in our lives, so we bathe them daily. We put new beautiful clothes on them and all the garlands to make them look beautiful. We also put special powder on our forehead, which is called a bindi or a potu, um, and then we also put our hands together in prayer and that makes our sense of touch happy.

Blue           What do you taste?

Geetha       Well, that's the bit that everybody enjoys. We make special sweets, which we offer to God, and also all the sorts of fruits that we can think of. And once it's been blessed, then we give it to everybody to share, and it's called prasad.

Blue           Yummy.

Charlie       Time to go home now, blue.

Blue           Thank you for answering my questions.

Geetha       You're welcome. This is a special flower to remind you of your visit to the temple.

Blue           Thank you.

Charlie       What did we learn today?

Blue           Well, today we went to a mandir that's a Hindu temple. And we learnt that, Hindus believe that God can be seen in many different forms. Murtis are statues of gods that Hindus use in worship. Sight, sound, smell, taste and touch are all used when Hindus worship.

Blue           Shh. Guess who.

Charlie       Blue, I told you before, this game doesn't work when there's only the two of us!

Blue           I wish I knew why.

Charlie       Good night. Blue.

Blue           Night, Charlie.

Charlie and Blue Hear all about Hindu Worship

Video length - 7.17
Published date - Jun 2016
Keystage(s) - 1
Downloadable resources