Puja: Virtual Hindu Temple

Puja is a prayer ritual performed by Hindus to host, honour and worship one or more deities. Pujas are performed daily at temples and Hindu homes. On auspicious occasions it becomes more elaborate..This app aims to allow the devotee to perform puja tasks (puja vidhi) representative of the real one in the mobile/tablet. Most of the popular Hindu deities are included:.Ganesha (Ganapati, Vinayaka)VishnuShiva (Siva, Mahadeva, Pashupati, Nataraja, Vishwanath, Bhole Nath)RamaKrishna (Krsna, Vasudev)HanumanSaraswatiDurga (Kali, Bhavani, Amba, Mata)Lakshmi (Mahalakshmi, Laxmi, Lalitha)Muruga (Kartikeya, Skanda, Murugan, Subramaniyan)SuryaGayatriTirupati Balaji (Venkateswara, Srinivasa, Veṅkatachalapati)JagannathAyyappan (Sabarimala Swami Saranam, Sastavu , Manikandan, Hariharasutan)Mookambika Devi (Parvati)Madurai MeenakshiGuruvayurappan (Guruvayoor Appan).All the puja accessories are available in unlimited supply. These include:Pushpa (Flowers)Dhupa (Agarbathis, Incense sticks)Diya (Lamp) for AartiNaivedya/Vastra (Food, clothes, ornaments...)Water for Padya, Snana & ArgyaAbhishek (Ghee, Sandal, Milk)Lights for decoration of deityTemple BellShankha (Conch shell sound)Tanpura (Tambura) for puja ambience.An auto/demo puja mode is available if you wish to just pray while the various puja rituals are being performed as if by a virtual temple pujari (priest)! It remembers the last God (deity) that you worshipped..Information is provided regarding the significance of the Puja tasks if you are not familiar with the same. Some basic info on the God (deity) is also supplied for your easy reference. .The interface is very simple and menu-free. All tasks can be performed with one-touch. It is lightweight (<3MB) and does not require any special device permissions..Take your puja room or favourite temples and Gods along with you, wherever you go!..Most Indian/Hindu festivals involve one or more pujas and many have associated main deities. Some are given below:.Diwali (Deepavali) - Goddess LakshmiVinayaka Chathurthi (Ganesh Chaturthi), Pongal, Makar Sankranti - GaneshaDurga Puja, Dusshera (Vijayadashami) & Navaratri - DurgaSree Krishna Janmashthami, Bhai Dooj - KrishnaShiv Ratri (Shiva Rathri) - ShivaVasant Panchami (Saraswati Puja) - SaraswatiOnam, Holi - VishnuRama Navami - RamaUgadi, Vishu, Bihu, Baisakhi, Gudi Padwa - Lakshmi, Krishna, Saraswati etc.Chhath Puja - Surya & Chhathi Maiya..Significance of Puja~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~In the earliest texts describing Vedic puja, the significance of puja was to host the priest so that he could make direct requests to the gods..Later, the significance of deity pujas shifted from petitions and external goals to the experience of oneness with the deities and their spiritual essence. It became a form of yoga whose final result aimed to be the consciousness of god through homage to god..Nevertheless, for many people, puja continues to be a vehicle to petition desires and appeals, such as for good health of one's child, speedy recovery from illness, success in venture envisioned or such to God..Pujas are usually accompanied by chanting of hymns, stotrams and mantras associated with the deity. A full home or temple puja can include several traditional upacharas (attendances)..Typically, the deity is invited as a guest, the devotee hosts and takes care of the deity as an honoured guest, hymns and food are offered to the deity, after an expression of love and respect the host takes leave and with affection expresses good bye to the deity. Some or all of these ceremonies form part of an elaborate puja:Avahana (invocation)Asana (seating)Padya (washing feet)Arghya. (wash mouth)Snana/Abhisekha (bathing)Vastra (clothing)Mangalsutra (sacred thread)Anulepana (apply perfumes)Pushpa (offer flowers)Dhupa (burn incense)Dipa / Aarti (waving lamp)Naivedya (offer food)Namaskara / pranama. (homage)Parikrama or Pradakshina (Circumambulation)