Video:How to Pray

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Transcript:How to Pray

Hi. I’m Koti. I’m a volunteer at the Hindu Temple of Greater Cincinnati for the past fifteen years. Today I’m with About.com, and I’m going to talk to you about how the Hindu Prayer.

The Typical Hindu Prayer Consists of Four Parts.

The first part is invoking the deity or the particular lord you want to pray to. You usually start it with some kind of hymn for the deity, or any kind of universal prayer. This is the typical posture for prayer. Once you invoke the lord, and it is like a guest who has come to your house, and then you treat the guest with lighting the lamp. You also light incense, to make the room filled with good aroma.

Prayers Include Offerings to the Deities

For each step, you ring the bell. And you offer different goodies, depending on whatever you have prepared, and allow the god to consume this fruit, and slowly ringing the bell to keep the lord amused. And once the lord has finished with the food, whatever is left you take with you. And that is the Hindu kosher: anything we eat should first be offered to the lord. And whatever we eat is a remnant of the lord already haven tasted it.

By Prostrating During the Prayer, the Lord is Welcomed Back

And after we have done this, we ask the lord to come back again, and we seek blessings from the lord by prostrating in front of the lord. Prostration is done where the eight limbs of your body touch the ground. Finally you bid farewell to the lord, and then you offer the Aarti. The Aarti is when you light the lamp like this, and you wave it in front of the lord at least three times. That is how simple the Hindu prayer is. It can go as long as you want, it depends on how many chants you included in the prayer. It can be as short as five minutes or as long as five days.

Friends, thanks for joining us today. If you need anymore information, please feel free to go to About.com