The word puja is commonly translated as worship or adoration. It is the act of showing reverence to a god, a spirit, or another aspect of the divine through invocations, prayers, songs, and rituals. During puja, an image (murti) or other symbol of the deity often serves as a means of accessing the divine. The icon is not the deity itself, but rather a focal point for honoring and communicating with the divine.
Puja often includes aarti (the waving of lights and incense around an image), mudra (devotional gestures), mantra (chanting), and recitations from sacred texts.
The word puja can also refer to an altar featuring images of the Guru and/or deity, along with many of the ritual objects used in worship.
Within the International Nath Order, puja is work toward attainment, not devotion for its own sake. It is done in the zonule, among the daily disciplines asked of a petitioner—mantra, japa, puja, and meditation. The rite is built as a transit: ordinary awareness is carried into the Sanctum and brought back again. Shri Gurudev Mahendranath’s own public form of this is The Puja of the Three Super Faculties, addressed to Insight, Intuition, and Imagination and to the Cosmic Spirit. At Melas and retreats, evening puja and the dhuni are paired operations of the same sadhana. The aim is awakening. It is not a religion, and it is not the same rite as the dhuni.