To worship the Lord, upacharas (services) are offered and performed to the Lord as an act of love to invoke His grace and blessings. These upacharas, as suggested in the Vedic Agamas, may be simple – in the quantity of services offered – or very elaborate; depending on how much time we have available to dedicate to the Lord. Listed below are the different upacharas presented on this website.

• pancha upachara puja = 5 services of worship
• shodasa upachara puja = 16 services of worship
• raja upachara puja = great number of services of worship
• sri thiruppugal vidhana shodasa upachara puja = 16 services of worship WITH the sacred Thiruppugal songs

Any of the above services may be adopted for daily sadhana. For interested sadhakas/devotees, it is suggested they adopt a puja method from the above list that suits their life-style – depending on the amount of time they are able to commit towards daily worship. Satguru Sivaya Subramuniya Swami, founder of the Himalayan Academy, states in his book, “Dancing with Siva,” that “consistent daily sadhana is the most effective method of mitigating karma.” Hence, whatever the amount of time we commit, it is the quality – not quantity – and the consistency of our love that we offer to Lord Murugan that is important. The key components of quality sadhana are: faith, love, and consistency – same time, same place. By so doing, we obtain the discipline needed to propel forward in other more difficult spiritual practices such as dhyaanam (meditation), which cannot be done without a disciplined one-pointed mind. Puja allows the development of this one-pointed concentration and forms the basic foundation of bakthi yoga – which is the basic fundamental starting point of spiritual practice in Saiva Siddhantam. This is an atmartha puja performed in the home for the benefit of one’s self and family. Any mistakes/shortcomings performed in the puja are accounted for at the end of the puja in the step – kshamapanam. In this step of the puja, one offers apologies & requests pardon for any shortcomings of one’s puja. Learn the puja and then teach it to your children (if you have any) or to eager spiritual aspirants. They will benefit for the rest of their lives with an open channel to Lord Ganesha & Lord Murugan, who will bless them everyday.

READY TO BEGIN?

1st – Pray to Lord Ganesha & Murugan – ask them to help you and bless you in your sincere endeavour to realize and develop a close relationship with God. 2nd – Decide on how much time you are willing to commit everyday (towards your spiritual sadhana/exercise).

1. – 30 minutes = pancha (upachara puja)
2. – 60 minutes = shodasa (upachara puja)
3. – 90 minutes = raja (upachara puja)
4. – 90 minutes = thiruppugal (vidhana shodasa upachara puja)

3rd – Click on the type of upachara puja you want to do (from the menu on your left-hand column) beneath the title: “Sri Skanda Jyothi Puja Vidhanam.”