More questions on being Hindu

[ThouArt]

Namaste:

While looking for proper ways to perform daily devotion to Sri Ganesh I have found numerous and sometimes conflicting methods. Questions:
1. Why is incense placed to the left?
2. Does the lamp with ghee have to burn throughout the puja? Can it stay lit after the puja to light the way for my household?
3.Is prasad only done in the number 5? (do I only place five items before the deity or can there be more or less?)
4. Why must the deity face east? What if this isn't possible?
5. Can I perform prayers in a whisper? I read somewhere prayers must not be loud but they cannot be whispers either.
6. Can I eat food before doing prayers/prasad? Sometimes this is not possible due to work commitments.
7. Most important: After doing a puja at home (to Lord Shiva) can I place a bhindi to my forehead? When I've received this great blessing at temple I feel lifted and bouyant with the blessings of God.

I also would like to know if I can wear a sari as a new devotee. the temple I attend has Durga saris and a woman temple member told me the shirt underneath must be made. Can it be store bought? She never answered this question.
Are there different types of saris?

Unfortunately for me I am a new American Hindu in a "vaccum". I do not feel welcome at the temple I attend and have given up trying to feel that welcomeness. Now I go and attend puja etc, but do not make any effort beyond courtesy which is not my personality. I am a friendly person and I like to chat people up even if it's a simple "hello".

Thank you for your help and understanding.

[atanu]

Namaste:

While looking for proper ways to perform daily devotion to Sri Ganesh I have found numerous and sometimes conflicting methods. Questions:
1. Why is incense placed to the left?
2. Does the lamp with ghee have to burn throughout the puja? Can it stay lit after the puja to light the way for my household?
3.Is prasad only done in the number 5? (do I only place five items before the deity or can there be more or less?)
4. Why must the deity face east? What if this isn't possible?
5. Can I perform prayers in a whisper? I read somewhere prayers must not be loud but they cannot be whispers either.
6. Can I eat food before doing prayers/prasad? Sometimes this is not possible due to work commitments.
7. Most important: After doing a puja at home (to Lord Shiva) can I place a bhindi to my forehead? When I've received this great blessing at temple I feel lifted and bouyant with the blessings of God.

I also would like to know if I can wear a sari as a new devotee. the temple I attend has Durga saris and a woman temple member told me the shirt underneath must be made. Can it be store bought? She never answered this question.
Are there different types of saris?

Unfortunately for me I am a new American Hindu in a "vaccum". I do not feel welcome at the temple I attend and have given up trying to feel that welcomeness. Now I go and attend puja etc, but do not make any effort beyond courtesy which is not my personality. I am a friendly person and I like to chat people up even if it's a simple "hello".

Thank you for your help and understanding.

Actually love is the only requirement and you have that in abundance.

Om Namah Shivayya

[Bhakti Yoga Seeker]

Namaste:

While looking for proper ways to perform daily devotion to Sri Ganesh I have found numerous and sometimes conflicting methods. Questions:
1. Why is incense placed to the left?
2. Does the lamp with ghee have to burn throughout the puja? Can it stay lit after the puja to light the way for my household?
3.Is prasad only done in the number 5? (do I only place five items before the deity or can there be more or less?)
4. Why must the deity face east? What if this isn't possible?
5. Can I perform prayers in a whisper? I read somewhere prayers must not be loud but they cannot be whispers either.
6. Can I eat food before doing prayers/prasad? Sometimes this is not possible due to work commitments.
7. Most important: After doing a puja at home (to Lord Shiva) can I place a bhindi to my forehead? When I've received this great blessing at temple I feel lifted and bouyant with the blessings of God.

I also would like to know if I can wear a sari as a new devotee. the temple I attend has Durga saris and a woman temple member told me the shirt underneath must be made. Can it be store bought? She never answered this question.
Are there different types of saris?

Unfortunately for me I am a new American Hindu in a "vaccum". I do not feel welcome at the temple I attend and have given up trying to feel that welcomeness. Now I go and attend puja etc, but do not make any effort beyond courtesy which is not my personality. I am a friendly person and I like to chat people up even if it's a simple "hello".

Thank you for your help and understanding.

Unfortunately I don't have the answers for the specific requirements of pujas for this in part varies from one puja to another. Hopefully someone here can answer those. On the other hand, you can wear a sari wherever you want including inside a temple as well as outside of it. I would consider it a form of devotional clothing at least compared to the typical western dress of jeans and a shirt. I believe the volume of the prayers is irrelevant. You should be able to whisper if it is necessary but I'm not 100% sure as the requirements vary from puja to puja. Personally, I don't see anything wrong with it. It is the contents of your heart and mind that go into the prayer and puja that should count most although the rituals should be followed correctly at the same time to avoid offenses. Same with eating. I generally have not observed fasting for these occasions although I have heard it recommended a number of times. Back to the sari question, I have never heard anything about requiring man-made material. Are you wearing it in the general sense or specifically as devotional clothing? As to the bindhi question, I believe that a bindhi is what is the small dot that is worn at all times (not just in temple) and is usually smaller than what they put on your forhead at the temple. What you receive during a puja is usually much larger in size and just stays on momentarily as it gradually fades away. This is known as a tika or tilak. Many pujas require that you apply the tika to your forehead some point during the puja. The bindhi is often just a sticker that mostly just women wear around the house and in public. Hope this helps. ~BYS~

[orlando]

Namaste all.
Dear ThouArt you can find informations about Lord Ganesha's puja at http://www.hindubooks.org/puja/ganapati/index.htm

Regards,
Orlando.

[ThouArt]

Unfortunately I don't have the answers for the specific requirements of pujas for this in part varies from one puja to another. Hopefully someone here can answer those. On the other hand, you can wear a sari wherever you want including inside a temple as well as outside of it. I would consider it a form of devotional clothing at least compared to the typical western dress of jeans and a shirt. I believe the volume of the prayers is irrelevant. You should be able to whisper if it is necessary but I'm not 100% sure as the requirements vary from puja to puja. Personally, I don't see anything wrong with it. It is the contents of your heart and mind that go into the prayer and puja that should count most although the rituals should be followed correctly at the same time to avoid offenses. Same with eating. I generally have not observed fasting for these occasions although I have heard it recommended a number of times. Back to the sari question, I have never heard anything about requiring man-made material. Are you wearing it in the general sense or specifically as devotional clothing? As to the bindhi question, I believe that a bindhi is what is the small dot that is worn at all times (not just in temple) and is usually smaller than what they put on your forhead at the temple. What you receive during a puja is usually much larger in size and just stays on momentarily as it gradually fades away. This is known as a tika or tilak. Many pujas require that you apply the tika to your forehead some point during the puja. The bindhi is often just a sticker that mostly just women wear around the house and in public. Hope this helps. ~BYS~

Yes thank you! I would particularly like to wear a sari when I attend temple (Mandir-is that the proper Hindi word?). currently I wear western clothing such as shirt and pants and there are very few (only one woman I can think of- now the teens wear western clothes alot). And I feel my clothing may be off-putting for some reason.
I didn't know there was a difference between bhindi and tilak- again, thank you for the enlightenment.
My heart is full of love for for God and that's one reason I want to send my prayers and love to him (I've read things like praying on bare ground sends devotions into the ground so are a waste of time; prayers spoken incorrectly bring negative influence onto the person performing the prayers..)
My personal belief is God hears me no matter how softly I pray and also no matter what language (I am beginning to learn Hindi on my own) I pray to him in. But, again, as I take on Hinduism as my religion and as a way of life for my household I want to do my best at honoring and respecting the culture and history of this most brilliant of religions.

[satay]

Yes thank you! I would particularly like to wear a sari when I attend temple (Mandir-is that the proper Hindi word?). currently I wear western clothing such as shirt and pants and there are very few (only one woman I can think of- now the teens wear western clothes alot). And I feel my clothing may be off-putting for some reason.

If I may suggest something...why not wear a punjabi suit instead of sari? Sari may be too complicated to wear?! I know my wife (not an indian) still can not wear sari properly... so she takes the easy way and that is to wear a suit. It is also known as 'salwar kameez' you can find them easily at any indian clothing store already built to wear. I would not spend more than a 100 or so on them. In fact sometimes they have sales etc. so you can get them at reasonable cost. But this is only if you wish to wear something indian looking but who cares if you go to mandir in jeans and shirt? People might turn their heads a bit but who cares about that?

I didn't know there was a difference between bhindi and tilak- again, thank you for the enlightenment.

Bindi is something of a 'fashion' or a 'makeup' thing for only women. You can get a pack of bindis (just stickers) that you can stick in the middle of your eyebrows. Mostly women wear matching bindi to the color of whatever they are wearing e.g. blue for blue clothing etc.

The tilak is what the pujari normally will put on your forehead (sometimes on top of your bindi if you happen to be wearing one!) after the puja. It is made up of 'red' powder called 'sindoor' (usually or some temples have kind of off white tilak made up of chandan)

I've read things like praying on bare ground sends devotions into the ground so are a waste of time;

Never heard of such a thing !

prayers spoken incorrectly bring negative influence onto the person performing the prayers..)

Let's put it this way...if you have a 18 month old child and he or she is asking for a bottle of milk but can not say the word milk properly would you as his or her mother not understand what he/she is asking for?

ma me meeeelk. Is that so hard to understand for a parent?

obviously you would be proud if he/she actually requested in a normal sentence but you will still understand his gibbrish if he spoke like that. wouldn't you? and you are only human. eh? what about God?

[sarabhanga]

Namaste ThouArt,

Tilaka is a more general term, indicating any sectarian or ornamental mark (including the bindu) made on the forehead; whereas the term bindu refers particularly to a colored droplet or spot, marked on the forehead between the eyebrows.

And a sari is no more “devotional” than any style of clothing! The only requirement for entry into a mandir is that you are clean (preferrably freshly washed) and you leave any footwear outside.

And, regarding the dipa (lamp), it should burn at least for the full extent of the puja.

[sarabhanga]

Most temples would also ask that no leather articles be taken inside. And there are a few very orthodox temples (especially in South India) that certainly do insist on fully traditional Indian attire.

[nekozuki]

Being a new Hindu myself I can only explain so much. I'm not much of a puja person, I like doing yoga and meditation more but if you have any questions PM me we can learn a lot from each other.