Transcript darshan lesson ( puja) (1)

If you had a magic wand and
could conjure up one person who
you most wanted to meet in your
life – who would you want to
meet?
 Hepworth 2005
Now imagine this person is coming
to visit your house ……
• How would you prepare for their visit?
• How would you prepare your house and
also yourself???
Darshan – to “ be seen by God”
L.O To enquire into the concept of
Darshan (being seen by God) – the
Hindu idea of worship
Hindu Gods
• We have already
learned that Hindus
worship many deities
(gods) – who are all
part of the ONE god –
just different aspects.
Hanuman
Some of the gods
1. Shiva & Parvati
2. Lakshmi
3. Durga
Temples – places of worship
A Hindu temple is believed to be
the earthly seat of a god and the
place where the god waits for its
worshippers.
As such, temples are sacred spaces
where people can be with the gods.
Many temples look like palace
architecture; this is not surprising,
as deities are often considered
kings.
Looking after the gods
• Hindus believe that if
proper care is not taken of
the temple's gods they will
abandon the temple.
• Priests live at the temple
and take care of the gods'
needs.
• Each day the god is
washed, their clothes
changed and offerings are
brought to them.
But Hindus don’t have to worship at a temple!
• The heart of every Hindu home is its shrine: the
sacred space set apart for honouring and worshiping
the gods.
• While a particularly devout Hindu may visit a
temple every day, others go there only to request a
favour from the god or on festival days.
• Temple worship needs a priest to speak to the god
for you, so most Hindus prefer to worship at home.
Puja – worshipping God at home
• The pujas that take place in the
household shrine are the
foundation of all family
actions and decisions.
• In the home the contact
between devotee and deity is
direct.
• The size and decoration of a
household shrine do not
matter. The shrine may be
large and impressive, an entire
room or a or it may be simply
a tiny niche, or even just a row
of religious prints pasted on a
wall.
Praying every day
• Everyday, one or more people in the family will
honour the family’s god or goddess at their home
shrine.
• To worship the god properly at home you have to
connect to god with all your senses – worship
becomes a multi sensory experience.
• Prayers will be chanted to the god or goddess,
people bow before the god .
The five senses
The five main things used in Puja
Can you match the item
to the sense it uses
Let’s check your answers
Why do you think it might be
important to use all the senses when
worshipping God
Here’s one Hindus description of
Puja
I perform Puja before I go to school. First I wash myself
and then I wash the Murti. On my shrine the Murti is the
Goddess Saraswati – the goddess of learning. I place a
mark on the Murtis forehead with Tikka powder.
The arti tray is placed in front of the Murti. I make
offerings of flowers , fruit and holy water and burn
incense sticks. I light the arti lamp and ring the bell to let
saraswati know I am ready. We turn around three times to
show God is all around us. Then we pray or meditae.
Afterwards we share prashad ( holy food)
Explain the similarities between
this and how you prepared for your
special visitor.
Evaluation
If Hindus believe Brahman is
everywhere and in
everything – is there any
point in performing Puja?
• On the hand performing puja is important
because………………
• On the other hand performing puja is not
important because…………
• Overall I think puja is/is not important
because……………..