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Pooja ritual-offerings

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I am confused and would like some answers to see what is happening is right!!

1- when we offer "wastra" the clothing to god at the time of pooja after giving them a bath with water , panchamitr etc. is that clothing to be left with the family doing the pooja or should the pundit take it? At the moment I find all are taken by the pundit. What that means to me is that the god is left with no clothing.

2- when we do "arti" after pooja in our home, the money offered by the devotees and all at the time of arti is collected by pundit and taken by him as his right to take. Is that right? or should that belong to the family to use in next pooja or as the family sees right?

Please note this in no way is pointing fingers to anyone in particular but is based on what I see is happening even in my house.

Thanks you all for you honest input.
 
I am confused and would like some answers to see what is happening is right!!

1- when we offer "wastra" the clothing to god at the time of pooja after giving them a bath with water , panchamitr etc. is that clothing to be left with the family doing the pooja or should the pundit take it? At the moment I find all are taken by the pundit. What that means to me is that the god is left with no clothing.

2- when we do "arti" after pooja in our home, the money offered by the devotees and all at the time of arti is collected by pundit and taken by him as his right to take. Is that right? or should that belong to the family to use in next pooja or as the family sees right?

Please note this in no way is pointing fingers to anyone in particular but is based on what I see is happening even in my house.

Thanks you all for you honest input.

Shri usahindu,

In both cases the prevalent practice is to allow the priest to "swallow" whatever he can and wants, lest he refuses to come and do the pooja next time. But this practice of collecting money in the 'arti' plate is a recent import from the north; in our younger days no tabra will put cash in the arti plate; if at all it was a community pooja like those in the Brahmana Samooha Matham, there would an 'undial' i.e., kuDam with its mouth tightly tied and the knot sealed with sealing wax and properly sealed, and devotees would put their offerings into that. The total collection will be counted after the pooja, or the next day in the presence of the office bearers and will be accounted properly as income of the enterprise behind the pooja. The only loophole used to be that some bhaktas will deposit ஆள் ரூபம், கை, கால், மூக்கு, காது, etc., shapes pressed on to thin silver (rarely, gold also) as part of their நேர்த்திக்கடன் and in assessing those there will be undervaluation!

You may try taking the Arti plate yourself among the invited people, count the total collections at the end and reduce it from the "dakshina" which you have agreed upon to pay to the poojari; if he agrees to this fair trade practice, he must be appreciated; but imho, he won't most probably. And since our so-called devotion to god requires that these poojaris or pundits do their mumbo-jumbo, they have to be given their dues.

Regarding the "vastram", the time-honoured hindu concept has been that you should cultivate non-attachment; so whatever you offer to God is not yours any longer and it goes to the poojari since he is the mediator between you, the ardent devotee, and the god, and since without the poojari's actions which alone could result in the pooja and through which you are very particular to invite that god to your home, the middleman has to get his due commission.

“Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s” ;)
 
As "sangom" has pointed out the prevalent mentality of the priestly class when they officiate pujas in our homes, i will just make observations on the practices..a) there is no compulsion in the TamBrahm community to put any dakshina on the aarti plate for a puja done at home.am surprised that such an activity is gaining momentum, from whatsoever influence! we can dissuade our family & friends from starting such practices.b) unless u r doing vastra daanam to the priest, the clothe that u adorn the god with belongs to the family of the karta or yajamana as the doer is known.do not volunteer to part with it. c)reason with the priest earlier about his fee for the puja and ensure it is given to him.
 
In our house, when we do Ganapathi Homam, Navagraha Homam, etc., Vadhyars mention a
rate and perform the Homams. He takes Change for nearly Rs.50/- and he rotates it until
the end of the Homams. After the Homams are over, he asks for total amount to be given
to him and then he distributes according to his choice as the Dakshina for the people who
were associated with the chanting of Mantras. The Assistant who comes with him collects
all the material that is used for Ganapathi Homam and Navagraha Homam including Vastrams.
They say giving Vastrams is peeda pariharam only including Pillaiyar Veshti and Kalasa Veshti.
Sometimes, they do not wait to eat with us and move away.

Balasubramanian
Ambattur
 
Thank you.

I see your point in (1).
As far as vastram is concerned I am thinking that same is as parsadam. We offer to god , eat ourselves and distribute to all present.
By the way I did not mention but we do pay pundit at the end as a seperate daanam to pundit, which includes raw food items (we call seedha) together with money that is considered payment to him for his help in performing the puja. The money is always US$100 or more. Some also give separate vastram with that.
 
I love Mr. Sangoms very sane advice. He is truly one of a kind in this forum to give worldly advice.

The pujari who comes to home to do the puja is generally a professional. You pay for his services and some tips. What you pay is as per contract (may be verbal), plus the tip based on how satisfied were you with the service. In US majority of the contracted fee goes to Temple or the group providing green card service. The pujari may get a set fee from the organization, but generally has to be satisfied with the tips.

The vastra, and arti money should be collected by you and disposed according to your convenience and prevalent practice in your community.

This is the practice in my community.
 
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