Pujas Not Conducted By A Brahman Purohita

Temple Visits

We have remarked the minimal puja act, the offering of kiga :, which may be added to respect gestures and circumambulation when passing temples and shrines. Purposeful visits to temples and shrines for worship, most commonly visits to the local Ganesa^[*] shrine necessary before most other family worship, entail a more elaborate procedure that is essentially the same as the basic daily household puja . Women bring the necessary materials (kiga :, flowers, incense, a wick, which has been soaked m oil or purified butter, and other optional offerings) on a shallow metal dish, a puja bha :, or in a shallow bamboo container, a swalyaca , a grain winnowing basket. Men bring the supplies in a small box, a kiga: batta , a "kiga : box." The worshiper first washes himself or herself—ideally at the river—and then proceeds to the temple (or temples). First he^[1] presents kiga : and, usually, flowers, ideally visualizing the deity as seated or standing in his chest. Then he may offer other offerings—burning incense, a burning wick, and so on. Then, if it is spatially possible, the worshiper circumambulates the temple or shrine.

Home Pujas

Daily Worship. Nitya Puja The household deities who are the focus of daily worship have been listed in chapter 8 and the location of the worship area in houses noted in chapter 7. The worship area is purified each morning. Household members (including girls after their mock-marriage ceremony, and boys after their Kaeta Puja ceremony) come to worship at the household shrine before they have taken any food. They come in no particular order, depending on their daily schedules. Worship is usually done rapidly, and takes only several minutes. In contrast to other kinds of household pujas where there is usually one deity who is the central focus of worship, this puja is directed to all the household gods. The necessary equipment and supplies are arranged near the worshiper and in front of the god images. In a typical sequence the worshiper pours one kind of pure water, nina :, on his right hand, and using the dampened fingers of his right hand, washes the images' faces. He then applies either a white or yellow sinha(n ) pigment to the forehead of each image, using the ring finger or little finger of the right hand and then, using the same finger, applies a red pigment. Then he places some grains of kiga : on the sinha(n) spot. Next flowers or flower petals are placed on the images' heads, or a sprig of flowers long enough when placed on the ground to touch a deity's head may be leaned against the statue. Next burning incense is offered. The incense is constructed of fragrant materials twisted into a cord. The cord is folded in the middle and twisted again, so that one end is now constituted by the fold and the other by the two cut open ends. Newars, at least those with Brahman family purohitas , burn the rounded end, which quickly splits and separates

to produce two flames, representing Siva and Sakti. This is thought to be a specifically Newar (i.e., non-Indo-Nepalese) custom. When the incense is lit a bell is rung, and the incense is held m turn toward each god as an offering of a pleasant smell. The bell, an offering of music, also captures the attention of the god who is meditating or whose attention is elsewhere. Next the wick is lit, the bell is rung again, and the lit wick, as an offering of light, is held in turn toward each god. The incense and the wick are then placed on a mound of kiga : in front of any of the god images. A small bowl containing baji and sweetcakes is taken and, held in joined hands, presented to each deity m turn. This represents a feeding of the deifies, who are said to be hungry in the morning. The bowl is then placed somewhere in front of the images.

The next step is the climax of the puja . The bell (or sometimes a small drum, or a conch trumpet, instruments more usually used m Brahman-assisted pujas ) is sounded, then a respect gesture is made with joined palms, some grains of kiga : being held between the palms. If the worshiper knows an appropriate Sanskrit phrase or verse he will say it, otherwise he will say the god's name, trying to visualize the deity as present in his chest. The worshiper may call all the gods' names, he may just say bhagavan , "god," or may just name Visnu^[*] or Siva as representing all the deities. He may add, "be happy," or "protect us," or mention some personal concern. He will then do the elemental puja yagu act, flicking some kiga : at the deity.^[2]

Now the worshiper takes some of the water that had been offered to the deities and sprinkles it on his own head. He takes some of the pigments on the tray—which had been touched by his finger as he decorated each deity in turn, and puts it on his own forehead. He takes some of the flowers that have fallen to the feet of the gods and places them on his own head. If there had been a food offering he would also take a bit of the food and eat it. This taking of "prasada "^[3] concludes the puja .

Optional Household Worship When a household or one of its members feels that they should do some special worship beyond temple visits or daily pujas , but one that will not require a Brahman's participation, the puja variously named apasa(n) cwanegu, brata cwanegu , or, simply, dya puja , "god puja ," is done. The first two terms (the first term, derived apparently from the Sanskrit upavasa , "fasting," and the second from vrata , "austerity") mean to undergo a fast or an "austerity" of some kind. Typical motivations for such pujas might be to overcome an illness, to seek an improvement in farming or business affairs, for success in an upcoming school examination, so that a household girl will find a good husband, and so forth. These are usually done by the person concerned or by a household woman for the household. Often the supplicant vows to do a regular series of such pujas , once a week, twice a month, and so on, during a given period. Occasionally the family purohita may assist in the puja , but this is optional and does not make it equivalent to the more elaborate and costly pujas , which require a Brahman's participation. In contrast to the daily morning pujas , these pujas are principally addressed to a particular deity, usually Visnu/Narayana^[*] or, sometimes, Ganesa^[*] .

The puja is usually held in the late afternoon, and participants cannot eat or

drink before the puja ; hence the nominal fast or austerity suggested by the name. After the puja is completed the participants eat a meal usually constituted of rich, sweet foods, such as milk, curds, sugar, and sweetcakes. For this kind of worship additional steps or elements are added to the sequence of the basic daily household puja , essentially by adding more elegant offerings. These vary somewhat, but typically include the following. The gods' faces are washed in addition to the usual nina : with "five nectars" (milk, clarified butter, honey, curds and sugar), then with milk, then again with nina :, and finally with Ga(n)ga^[*] jal . Instead of simple kiga :, a mixture of akye , barley, and sesame seeds, is added to the sinha(n) spot on the deities' foreheads. Before flowers are presented to the deities, white threads representing sacred threads are put over the shoulders of the images, and after the flower presentation flower garlands may be placed around their necks. If men are doing the puja , they are more likely to blow a conch shell or rattle a drum than they would be in a simple household puja . Fruit is always added to the food offerings. The light offering now will be not just wicks, but oil lamps and burning sticks of camphor, and an offering of small coins is added to other offerings. At the end of the puja , just before taking prasada , the worshiper will rise and circumambulate the puja area, or if the spatial arrangements make this impossible, he visualizes the act, or stands and rotates his body in the auspicious direction.