#  puja 

 



For the religious traditions of India, the term *puja* simply means “worship.. For Hindus, *puja* is the sequence of hospitality rites through which worshippers honor a deity with offerings such as water, fruit, a coconut, cloth, incense, and an oil lamp, and receive the “grace” of God in return. For Jains, especially Murtipujak Jains, *puja* may be offered before an image of a Tirthankara or Jina, but Jains do not believe that the beings represented by the images actually receive the offerings made. Instead, the acts of worship are among the ways in which those who perform them purify themselves, emulate the qualities embodied in the Jina, and turn the mind toward liberation.