Throughout India, the day begins with prayer, acknowledging the Divine in innumerable forms.

The principal aim of any puja is the feeling of personal contact with the deity. All three religions use one term to define their primary experience of the Divine: Darshan, literally translated from Sanskrit as "seeing and being seen by God", or "Meeting God". It is that moment when the entire focus of the worshiper is receptive to recognition by the God or Goddess. Darshan may be achieved in a wide variety of ways. It may be felt by an individual in his or her own daily household pujas or meditations, when the contact is made alone. A person may experience darshan simply by viewing a particularly sacred sculpture or holy spot, perhaps during a pilgrimage or at a festival. Or, the individual may feel that special communication with the deity through the intervention of a priest during a strictly regulated temple ritual. Through whatever means it comes, darshan brings both peace, contentment and blessing to devotees and through it, they believe, miracles can and do occur frequently.

Comunity Shrines

Each Hindu community in the Indian subcontinent has its own gramadevata, the deity regarded as synonymous with the locality and everything within it. Every house, every street, all of the shops, the craft studios, the barns, the farms, the trees and bushes, the wells, the reservoirs and/or streams, the inhabitants (people, animals and insects), the spirits of those that have lived and died there previously, and even the activities, thoughts and emotions of everyone living there, all are part of one great spirit identified as a deity, a gramadevata. This deity is the community just as the community is the deity. They are inseparable. Most gramadevatas are feminine associated with the earth, fertility, healing, and protection. Their names often reflect their association to the Mother Goddess: they are usually prefixed or suffixed with Ma, Mata, Matrika or Amman (each a regional translation of Mother), Ben or Bai (Sister) or Rani (Queen). Sometimes their regional identities have been merged with that of a greater pan-Indian deity, such as Durga or Mari.

Although gramadevatas are indivisible from their entire communities, their worship requires that each has a focal point, a specific place or object upon which to direct attention. The shrine of a gramadevata is usually associated with an important element of nature: a hill, a boulder, a stream or pond, or a tree or grove of trees. Trees are by far the most common: there are hundreds of thousands of sacred trees in constant worship in India. Most are ancient, venerated as gramadevatas for untold centuries. The appearance of these tree sanctuaries is as varied as the communities themselves: sometimes there are several trees together, or a single tree with a large platform built around it, or one marked with flags and banners or with its trunk dressed like the Goddess herself.

Temple Festivals

Festivals provide a sense of identity and unity for each member of society regardless of family, income or position. They meld personal needs with communal awareness. The temple may be seen in a very real way as an extension of the individual. Its activities are directly related to the character and personality of the devotee. The transfer of the deity from the inner sanctum to the street, from the dark womb of the temple in the center of the city to the thronged parameters of its businesses and residences symbolizes the opening of the heart and mind of each individual through participation in this annual celebration. For a country where much of the population lives near the poverty line, these festivals enable devotees to share in the wealth and glory of their Gods. In many ways community abundance, and its consequent reflection in the wealth and grandeur of its temples and festivals, is viewed as personal abundance. It may be argued that most Hindus experience poverty differently from many in the West. For them the deities and their individual personalities are very real and approachable and the opulent celebration of the gods is a vicarious extension of the devotees themselves. The more extravagant the festival, the better it is.

Ephemeral Shrines and Images

Each Hindu's year is punctuated by many ephemeral rituals that include shrines and even images of deities that are created only for the brief duration of worship. Deities are particularly associated with certain auspicious days when their worship is believed to bring special merit. Temporary shrines will be built either within the home or alongside the street. As the entire purpose of these structures is to honor the Gods, their production is often elaborate and very creative. Remarkably beautiful buildings may be designed and constructed, only to be torn down a few days later, and all of their elements recycled. The images may be created by the householder or they may be purchased in a market or commissioned to be sculpted by a craftsman or artist. In most cases, purchased or commissioned images will be sculpted in unfired clay as they are intended to be ritually dissolved by immersion in water when the pujas are complete.

Recycling is a concept essential to traditional Hinduism. Until only a few years ago, nothing was wasted. Paper, metal and heavy plastics were never discarded; they were reused. The only litter was sewage and sludge. A pervasive attitude suggested that the products of the earth should eventually be returned to the earth who is envisioned as a Goddess that must be honored. Contemporary mass-production of plastics and other cheap, non-biodegradable substances has distorted that ethic and today the streets of India are increasingly littered with accumulated waste. However, the basic archaic principle still affects the creation of temporary abodes for the gods. Hindus take pride in the fact that every aspect of these shrines is recycled.

Vows

Another common means of clearing the negative karma created by past mistakes in action or judgment is through the fulfillment of a specific vow (vrata) to the Divine. A devotee promises the deity that he or she will regularly undergo a certain action that will help to purify body and mind and demonstrate piety.

Any vow, simple or complex, is a serious commitment to the Divine and must be enacted exactly as it was promised. Stories abound of dishonored vows and the Divine Retribution that followed. Although anyone may commit to a vow, most are made by women. As has been stated, feminine strength (shakti) is revered in India. Women are believed to be much stronger in character and resolution than men. They are given the responsibility to keep the karmic balance of the household. The knowledge of most of the sacred traditions of home and family are passed down through the women. Although men are often involved in household pujas, it is the women who conduct almost all of the many other rituals that take place throughout each year, including the vratas, fasts and other ascetic observances. A primary purpose of most of these is to lessen the burden of the family's bad karma, their toxicity, and thereby improve the status quo.

A vow is a personal choice that does not require the services of a priest, Brahman or otherwise. The rituals have been handed down in Hindu households from mother to daughter and from mothers-in-law to daughters-in-law for centuries. They are conducted by every class and community, and in every region, although they vary in form and demand according to the individual traditions of each family. The strictures that they require may be severe; but the fulfillment of a vow often encourages a freedom of artistic expression in music, dance, storytelling and poetry, artistry and craftsmanship.

Classical Hinduism divides human life into four ideal stages. Both Sikhs and Jains observe similar approaches. The first two stages are integrally involved with society: the child and student who is still learning the fundaments of existence; and the householder who marries, works and raises a family. The second two are concerned with removal from society: the elderly person whose responsibilities towards employment and family are finished and who may spend the remaining years in pursuit of spiritual goals; and the renunciate who chooses to reject all material possessions and familial bonds to live as an ascetic and mendicant.

Many Indians remain actively employed until they are very aged. In the extended family household, the elderly are often indispensable. Close relationships between generations are still one of the foundations of society. The young, whose parents may be occupied with jobs away from the home, rely upon their aged relatives to care for them and teach them. The knowledge of traditions and spirituality, still so essential in contemporary India, is largely maintained through this generational link.

Growing old is perceived as a blessing in India. It is a time of lessened responsibilities and of extended devotion. The majority of the latter part of their lives may be spent in the reading of spiritual literature, in sacred discourse with both peers and juniors, and in meditation and prayer. These last years are a period for cleansing negative karma and preparing for death and eventual rebirth.

Also within the fabric of Hindu and Jain societies is the means for total escape from the boundaries of normal existence. Individuals that are so inclined are encouraged to step outside all convention, to live as hermits and ascetics and spend their years totally immersed in spiritual pursuits. The respected renunciation of community and property has been an integral part of Indian culture for thousands of years. The act of complete renunciation is very difficult. It means the total denial of all attachments: family, home, childhood friends, occupation and possessions. More than five million of these ascetics live in India.