[Advaita-l] Worship

[S.N. Sastri]

Sri K.Kathiresan  wroteonJune28:--

The last statement by Sastrigal has prompted me to ask the following
question: Today we have a few rituals such as Guru Pada puja, Guru Puja
etc... Are these mode of rituals enjoined in the Shruti? Or how about the
Smrti?
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The rituals for worship of various deities are laid down in works on Tantra
and other works based on them, like Sri Sankara's prapanchasara. There is an
ancient work known as Tantrasamuccaya which is followed in most of the
temples in Kerala. For guru pada puja, in the Sringeri Mutt they have a pair
of silver sandals and puja is done to them. The archana is with Lalita
sahasranamam, Lalita Trisati, Sankaracharya ashtottaram, etc.  In guru puja
or Vyasa puja which  falls on July 11 this year, puja is done to Vyasa or
Sri Sankara. In any puja there is a mixture of Veda and tantra. Abhisheka is
done chanting Srirudram, etc from the Vedas. The mudras shown in pujas in
temples and also in Devi puja done in houses are all from tantric works.

S.N.Sastri