Hinduism For All

The Forms Of The Lord

The worship of the Lord who manifests Himself in the temples is called Saamuhika pooja or Parartha pooja, i.e. collective worship. Whereas at an individual level, (vyaktika pooja) the devotee needs an object to worship and adore.

Invoking the Lord in lamp, kalasha etc. are practiced by devotees who have reached a particular stage of maturity. But commonly an idol (vigraha), yantra (diagrammatical representation), bimba (an abstract object), chitrapata (picture) etc. are made use of for daily worship.

Vigraha :

A small idol of the Deity of devotee’s choice, moulded as per the canons of sculpture is used for worship. It can be metallic, stone or at times wooden.

Yantra :

It is a diagrammatical representation of the deity on a metal sheet (mostly copper, silver or gold). The diagram involving series of concentric circles, triangles, dots, squares, lotuses etc. are drawn, in accordance to Mantra Shaastras.

Usually a devotee who is initiated into a mantra – japa (repetition of a holy syllable pertaining to a divinity) by Guru (Master) is eligible to worship the yantra of the deity.

Srichakra is one of the most phenomenal yantra, also called yantra-raaja i.e. the king of the yantras,

because of its schematic representation of the entire cosmos with all its divinities within it. The deity presiding over Sriyantra is Lalita-Mahaatripurasundari. People who are initiated into Srividya mantra of Lalita, alone are deemed fit to ceremoniously worship the Sriyantra or Srichakra. The special pooja performed on the Sri Yantra is called Navaavarana Pooja.

This article is a snippet from the Book Hinduism For All, Authored by TS Srinivasan and Edited By Dr Ramchandrashekar. Hinduism for All is available online at www.giri.in & across Giri Trading Agency Private Limited, A chain of Speciality Stores dealing in all kinds of products needed in Indian Culture & Tradition.

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