Kinds of offering or upcharas

Some of the offerings or Upcharas are:

Dhyanam: Meditating on the lord
Avahanam: Chanting the Lord's name
Pagyam: Washing the Lord's feet

One can do up to 30 Upacharas or sixteen, ten, eight and five Upacharas. The five Upacharas or Panchoupachara pooja is done offering items that represent all the five elements.

Types of Puja

Pujas, as mentioned earlier, energize the deity being worshipped. This energy can be tapped in order to materialize one's desires:

Kamya Puja which is done for health, wealth or to beget children.

Serve as a protective shield: Nithya Puja which is done daily to be ever endowed with the Lord's grace.

Mark an auspicious occasion: Naimityaka Puja.
E.g.: - Ganesh and Lakshmi pooja is done on Deepavali and Saraswati pooja is done during Vasanthapanchami