Puja and Samskara

This book treats two representative Hindu rituals of contemporary India,

Puja (offering service) and Samskara (initiation rituals at important

occasions of life). Samskara rites are performed at significant junctures

of an individual's life, from birth to death, by the individual's family.

Puja rites, rather than being performed in relation to the life cycle of an

individual in a family, are more deeply related to the annual rituals of

the cult to which an individual or the person's family belongs. Persons may

go to a temple and request priests to perform puja rites, or they may

perform them themselves at home.

For people living in India, Puja and Samskara are not at all uncommon.

Puja rites are performed everywhere-at temples, in private homes, on

street corners-and although in recent times families observing all the

traditional Samskara rites have declined in number, almost all Hindu

families still perform the major Samskaras. it is difficult, however, for

those living outside India to know how these rites are performed. Hence,

this book presents a large number of photographs that enable readers to

gain an accurate grasp of them and indicates the place of ritual in the

total structure of religion.

Review(s)

"Ther is no doubt that the author has done a very appreciable job and I

have no hesitation to agree with him.....The importance of such a work is

valued in the field of sociology as it covers the social and cultural

aspect of today's Hindu religious