Archana vs Abhishekam vs Pooja: What Is the Difference?

The three words are often used together, but each names a different act of worship:

• Archana: chanting the deity's names, usually 108 of them, and offering a flower, kumkum or akshat (unbroken rice) with each name, in the devotee's name and gotra.
• Abhishek: bathing the deity's murti or the Shivling with water, milk, panchamrit and other offerings while mantras are chanted.
• Pooja: the fuller worship of a deity through a series of offerings such as flowers, incense, a lamp and food. An archana or an abhishek is often one part of a pooja.

Two more words come up alongside these. Havan is worship through offerings into a consecrated fire. Aarti is the waving of a lit lamp before the deity, usually at the end.

And when someone says "pooja-archana" in everyday Hindi, they simply mean worship in general, not one particular ritual.

Archana comes from a Sanskrit root meaning to honour or praise. In an archana, the priest recites a list of the deity's names, each ending in "namah" (salutations), and offers something at every name. Most often this is the ashtottara shatanamavali, the 108 names of the deity. A longer archana uses the sahasranama, the thousand names.

The offering depends on the deity and the temple:

• Tulsi leaves or flowers for Vishnu and Krishna
• Bilva leaves for Shiva
• Kumkum for the Devi, which is why you will hear of a kumkum archana
• Durva grass or flowers for Ganesh
• Akshat or flower petals for almost any deity

Before the names begin, the priest takes the sankalp: the devotee's name, gotra and often nakshatra, and the purpose of the prayer. This is what makes an archana personal. In Tamil Nadu it is called archanai, and devotees often buy an archana ticket at the temple counter and hand over a coconut, fruit and flowers with it. Because it is short and simple, an archana suits regular prayer. If you do not know your gotra, the widely followed practice is to use Kashyap gotra in the sankalp.

Abhishek means ritual bathing. The priest pours water or other offerings over the deity's murti or the Shivling in a steady stream while mantras are chanted. Common offerings, often poured one after another:

• Water, often with Ganga jal
• Milk
• Curd
• Ghee
• Honey
• Sugar or sugarcane juice
• Panchamrit, a mix of milk, curd, ghee, honey and sugar
• Coconut water, and in some temples sandalwood paste

After the abhishek, the deity is wiped, dressed and decorated, and a short pooja follows. Abhishek is most closely linked with Shiva, whom devotees traditionally worship by offering water on the Shivling, but it is also offered to Ganesh, Krishna, the Devi and other deities. Rudrabhishek is the Shiva form in which the abhishek is done while hymns to Rudra from the Yajurveda are chanted. Our Rudrabhishek guide covers its vidhi and samagri.

In a pooja, the deity is honoured as a revered guest. The most complete everyday form is shodashopachar pooja, worship with 16 offerings (upachar). Lists vary slightly between texts and regions, but a common order is:

1. Avahan: inviting the deity
2. Asan: offering a seat
3. Padya: water to wash the feet
4. Arghya: water to wash the hands
5. Achaman: water to sip
6. Snan: bathing, which is where an abhishek fits
7. Vastra: clothes
8. Yajnopavit: the sacred thread
9. Gandh: sandalwood paste
10. Pushp: flowers, where a name-chanting archana is often done
11. Dhoop: incense
12. Deep: the lamp
13. Naivedya: the food offering
14. Tambool: betel leaf, with dakshina
15. Nirajan: aarti
16. Pradakshina and pushpanjali: circling the deity and a final offering of flowers

A shorter form, panchopachar, uses five offerings: sandalwood paste, flowers, incense, the lamp and food. A pooja booked for an occasion often adds a path (a recitation of a text), a havan, or both.

Havan, also called homa, is worship through fire. A fire is lit in a havan kund, and ghee, havan samagri, grains and herbs are offered into it with each mantra, which usually ends in "svaha". Many poojas close with a short havan.

Aarti is the waving of a lamp before the deity, with camphor or ghee wicks, while an aarti song is sung. It usually comes at the end of a pooja, and the family then takes the warmth of the flame with their hands.

People sometimes mix up archana and aarti because the words sound alike. They are different: archana is chanting the deity's names with offerings, and aarti is the lamp.

There is no strict rule, and families follow their own customs. As a general guide:

• For a regular prayer, a birthday, or a specific wish on the deity's day: an archana. In many North Indian homes, Monday is Shiva's day, Tuesday Hanuman's, Wednesday Ganesh's, Thursday Vishnu's and Friday the Devi's.
• For Shiva, especially on Mondays, Pradosh, Maha Shivratri and in Shravan: an abhishek or a Rudrabhishek.
• For festivals, a new home, a new business or a family occasion: a fuller pooja, often with a path or a havan.
• When your family priest has suggested a pooja for a graha or a difficult period: that pooja, such as Nav Grah Shanti.

If you are unsure, an archana is a simple and sincere place to begin.

On our site these are separate bookings, performed by the temple's pandit at a verified Delhi temple with your sankalp. At the time of writing:

• Archanas, such as Ganesh Archana with the 108 names, modak, coconut and flowers: about 30 minutes, photo proof and a completion certificate, ₹299
• Poojas and abhishek, such as Shiva Abhishek with panchamrit and bilva, or Durga Pooja with the Durga Saptashati path and havan: about 60 minutes, photos, video and a certificate, ₹400
• Rudrabhishek: about 90 minutes, photos, video and a certificate, ₹400
• Nav Grah Shanti: about 120 minutes, with a havan, photos, video and a certificate, ₹1,600

Prices change, so check the pooja page for the current price. You can see every archana on our archana page, and our guide to how online pooja booking works explains the sankalp details and the proof.