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Pujas Conducted By A Brahman Purohita

The basic and most common Brahman-assisted household puja is usually called a dhala(n) danegu , or sometimes an "important" or "great" (tarha[n]gu ) apasa(n) cwanegu or brata cwanegu , to distinguish it from the non-Brahman-assisted special household pujas . The etymology of the term dhala(n) danegu is variously explained. In what may be folk etymology it is locally related to the term dhala :, a list or inventory, and said to mean to perform rigorously by following a list of procedures.[4]

These are the most elaborate pujas that a household without Tantric initiation (and thus all households at the Jyapu or lower levels) will usually do. Households in those upper-level thars who can do Tantric pujas often do dhala(n) danegu pujas rather than Tantric pujas for many purposes, because such pujas are easier to arrange and people within the family without Tantric initiation can participate. In contrast to simple household pujas , in dhala(n) danegu and other Brahman-assisted pujas groups of people, household members, relatives coming from outside of the household and, sometimes, friends often participate.

There are certain days in the annual calendar in which a dhala(n) danegu may traditionally be offered to one or another of the focal deities of the day (chaps. 13 to 15). The noncalendrical dhala(n) danegu pujas are generally directed to Visnu/Narayana[*] . The expressed motives for such pujas are various. They may be in fulfillment of a pledge, or more vaguely as an expression of thankfulness because the family's life has been going well, or to "support the dharma, " or for a good next life for the participants, and so on.


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The Brahman's paddhatis , written guides for the performance of various kinds of pujas , give sixty stages in the sequence of dhala(n) danegu pujas . The first seventeen are the preliminary work to be done by the Brahman purohita , the remainder are for the client, the jajman , as instructed and sometimes aided by the purohita . The puja takes place in the late afternoon or evening. The participants must fast from the morning, and must have a bya(n)kegu purification (chap. 11). This was formerly a major purification, but in recent years it is often a minor one. The clothes worn by participants must all have been washed since their last use. As many people may attend, the puja will be held in an open area, not the crowded and restricted area of the household shrine. It may be given in the open area of the cwata floor or, sometimes, in a courtyard outside of the house. Depending on the number of people who participate and its optional elaborations, the puja may take from roughly two-and-one-half to five hours to complete.


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