Ritual

Published on 16th November, 2016 on dailyo.in. Hinduism is full of rituals. There is the Vedic yagna, where formless celestial deities are invoked. There is Agamic puja, where divinity is seen in an icon that is treated as a guest — invited, bathed, clothed, fed and adored. There is the samskara - the rites of passage like marriage, birthdays and death. There is the utsava - the festivals celebrated annually. There is vrata or disciplines observed on particular days. Some are obligatory, some voluntary. Some rituals are fixed by the movements of the sun and the moon, and others are unplanned. Rituals are full of ..