The Japa, Parayana, Pooja and Yagya

You already read about the yagya on home page. Except yagya we can worship the god/goddess in some other ways too. They are:

Japa

Japa  is a procedure asserted in the veda and tantra to please a particular God or Goddess by repeatedly chanting the ‘mantra’ of that god or goddess to obtain the blessings of that God or Goddess. A powerful ‘Mantra’ with limited syllable is called as ‘Japa’.

Parayana

Parayana’ is the way of chanting clearly and with proper perception  of meaning of a particular ‘Veda’ or a part of‘Veda’,’Purana’ or a part of it, a ‘Kavya’ or a part of it in accordance with the method shown by ‘Rishi’s or ‘Muni’s.(There is no limitation of syllables. It will be comprised of various ‘Shloka’s or ‘Anuvaka’s.

Pooja

While performing ‘Yagya’, ‘Japa’ and ‘parayana’ the presence of Gods on such occasions is usually achieved by temporarily establishing a holy pot called ‘Kalasha’ or an idol and invoking the concerned God into it. There are ways and means told in the ‘Veda’s and ‘Tantra’s. This is called ‘Pooja’.Pooja is a sacred practice that Hindu people perform on different occasions to worship,pray or show respect to their deities. Pooja is considered as an act of showing reverence to the almighty through invocations, prayers (Mantra, Shlokas), songs(Bhajans), and rituals. According to Hinduism pooja makes a spiritual connection between the deity and the devotee.