Page 140 - Hinduism

Shani - the crow
Sheetala - the donkey
Shiva - Nandi, the bull
Varuna - seven swans
Vayu - a thousands horses
Vishnu - Garuda, the eagle & Adi Shesha, the serpent
Vishwakarma - the elephant
Yama - the male buffalo
VI.4 The ‘Puja’ or Worship
Puja (worship) of the gods consists of a range of ritual offerings and prayers typically performed either daily or on special days before an image of the deity, which may be in the form of a person or a symbol of the sacred presence.
In its more developed forms, puja consists of a series of ritual stages beginning with personal purification and invocation of the god, followed by offerings of flowers, food, or other objects such as clothing, accompanied by fervent prayers. Some dedicated worshipers perform these ceremonies daily at their home shrines; others travel to one or more temples to perform puja, alone or with the aid of temple priests who receive offerings and present these offerings to the gods. The gifts given to the gods become sacred through contact with their images or with their shrines, and may be received and used by worshipers as the grace (prasad) of the divine. Sacred ash or saffron powder, for example, is
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