Originally Posted by
sarabhanga
Namaste ThouArt,
Traditional Hindu worship is not “congregational” in the way of other religions such as Christianity. Of course people meet at the temple, but the important contact is with the Deity that is installed there and the presence of other people is merely a distraction. There is, of course, more social contact in sessions of group discussion, recitation, singing, chanting, etc., but this is usually distinct from times of formal Puja (ritual worship), and likely to be led by local Pundits rather than by the temple Pujari.
Homa is a very traditional Vedic ritual, and there are some details required by the officiating priest(s) which, as a recent convert to Hinduism (without Hindu parents or a Hindu Guru), you would be unable to supply. For example: What is your given Hindu name? What is your father’s Hindu family name? What is your Gotra? What is your particular Charana?
I would imagine that the priest was not particularly angry with you, but with the impossible situation in which he found himself. Very superficially I suppose this might be termed “caste prejudice”, but the discrimination is not unfounded.
If your own birth is not Hindu, the above details can only be supplied after marriage into a Hindu family or after initiation with a Hindu Guru. A Guru will bestow an appropriate name, and you will become an heir to his own spiritual lineage (including Parivara, Parampara, Gotra, and Rishis).
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