Originally Posted by
MormonGuy
. I noticed one girl was circumabulating (sp?) the Ganesh shrine repeatedly, and was noting each full circle she made on a piece of paper.
New questions:
1) If I decide I'd like to offer something to a deity, how would I go about doing that? Would I just bring, for example, some fruits and ask a priest that I'd like to offer them to Vishnu, for example? I think I noticed some people bringing their offerings just in a plastic bag, so I'm assuming that's okay? I also noticed that there was like a blue mat or something near certain shrines and a sign that said to leave your offering there. So I'm guessing I could just leave it there instead of directly giving it to a priest? Are there specific items that should be offered to specific gods? Basically, what is the offering process like? Oh and there are boxes that say "Hundu" (if I remember correctly). Is that just for offering money?
2) Next to the Ganesh shrine there's a table with various things like, I'm assuming, ash and kumkum? Why would you apply these on your forehead? How? When? From my viewpoint, it seemed like people would just go up and apply them.
3) Down the road, let's say that I'd like a ritual done for myself. Apparently you need to give the priest your name, birth star, and lineage/gotra? How would I find out the latter two? I mean, I'm assuming that birth star can be figured out, but what about gotra for those not in a Hindu family?
I'm sure I have a lot more questions, but that's all I can think of right now. Time to start reading my copy of "What is Hinduism?" by the Himalayan Academy that just arrived today!
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