Veerashaivism

Generally regarded as the founders of the Veerashaivism and are studied in both historical and mythological aspects. Early evidences of existences of panchacharyas are dates back to 6th Century A.D. supported by Historical as well as Legal evidences, as one of the ruling by Allahabad High courts regarding Kashi-Jangamawadi peetha, details about donations given to the matha by kashi naresha(King).

Central to Lingayat theology are five codes of conduct (called Panchāchāras), eight "shields" (Ashtāvarana), and the concept of six levels of attainment that the devotee can achieve (known as Shatsthala).

Panchacharas

The Panchacharas describe the five modes of conduct to be followed by the believer. The Panchacharas include:^[5]

• Lingāchāra - daily worship of the personal Sivalinga
• Sadāchāra - attention to vocation and duty
• Sivāchāra - acknowledging Shiva as the one God and equality among members
• Bhrityāchāra - humility towards all creatures
• Ganāchāra - defense of the community and its tenets

Ashtavarana

The Ashtavaranas, the eightfold armour that shields the devotee from extraneous distraction and worldly attachments. The Ashtavaranas include

• Guru - obedience towards Guru,
• Linga - wearing a linga,
• Jangama - worship of Shiva ascetics as an incarnation of the Lord himself,
• Pādodaka - sipping the water from bathing the Linga,
• Prasāda - sacred offering,
• Vibhuti - smearing holy ash (created using cow dung) on oneself,
• Rudrāksha - wearing a string of rudraksha (holy beads) and
• Mantra - reciting the mantra "Om Namah Shivaya or Om Namah Shivaya Namaha".

Shatsthala

Shatsthala, or the concept of six phases/states/paths, is pivotal to the Lingayat philosophy. Shatsthala is a conflation of Shat and Sthala, which means 'six phases/states/levels' through which a soul advances in its ultimate quest of realisation of the Supreme.

 The Shatsthala comprises the

 Bhakta Sthala

 Maheshwara Sthala

 Prasadi Sthala

 Pranalingi Sthala

 Sharana Sthala 

 Aikya Sthala

. The Aikya Sthala is the culmination where the soul leaves the physical body and merges with the Supreme.

Lingayat Customs and Practices

Ishtalinga

The Lingayats make it a point to wear the Ishtalinga at all times. The Istalinga is made up of light gray slate stone coated with fine durable thick black paste of cow dung ashes mixed with some suitable oil to withstand wear and tear. Sometime it is made up of ashes mixed with clarified butter. The coating is called Kanti (covering). Though the Ishtalinga is sometimes likened to be a miniature or an image of theSthavaralinga, it is not so. The Ishtalinga, on the contrary, is considered to be Lord Shiva himself and its worship is described asAhangrahopasana.

Thus, for the Lingayats it is an amorphous representation of God. Lingayat thus means the wearer of this Linga as Ishta Linga. Here the wordIshta is a Sanskrit term meaning 'adored' or 'desired'. Unlike Advaitins however, Lingayats do not treat the Ishtalinga as merely a representation of God to aid in realising God but worship the Ishtalinga itself as God. Like most brahmins, Lingayats eat only vegetarian food and should not consume meat of any kind including fish. Drinking of liquor is strictly prohibited.

Lingadharane

Lingadharane is the ceremony of initiation among Lingayats. Though it can be performed at any age, it is usually performed when a child is in its mother's womb 7-8 months old. The family Guru performs pooja and provides istalinga to ythe mother and the mother ties it to her istalinga till the child in born. Once the child is born she puts that istalinga to her child and when he attains the age of 8 -11 years, the child receives Diksha from the family Guru to know the proper procedure to perform pooja of istalinga. By birth, the child wears the Linga at all times for the remainder of his/her life and it is worshipped as their own Istalinga. The Linga is housed in a small silver and wooden box and cloth. It has to be worn on chest as it is believed God resides in our heart. but people wear it on the chest or around the body using a thread.

Unlike other castes of Hinduism like brahmins, which permit only males to participate in the Upanayana or Deeksha ceremonies, Lingayats allow both men and women to participate in these ceremonies in the presence of a satguru. This practice was started by Basavanna himself, who refused to undergo Upanayana, seeing its discrimination against women.

Panchacharyas

According to popular view, and one backed by historical and literary evidence, the Lingayat or Veerashaiva sect was founded by thePanchacharyas or the Five great Prophets. This view however, is in the realm of mythology and is supported by historical and literary evidence those are available at Allahabad High Court and Jangamwadimath of Kashi.

The tradition of Virasaiva sect was founded by five ascetics- Revana, Marula, Ekorama, Panditaradhya, Vishwaradhya- who are held to have sprung from the five heads of Shiva, incarnate age after age, almost about 5500 –6000 years ago.

The great gotrakaras established five great religious centers in different parts of India. Ekorama at Kedara in the Himalayas, Vishweswara at Banaras, Marularadya at Ujjain, Panditaradya at Shrishail, Renukacharya at Balehonnur. -M.E.Tharstan : Castes and Tribes of South India p-264-265

And also mentioned by Dr. J. S. Pharkuhar in The Religious Quest of India as follows; The tradition is that the Virasaiva sect was founded by five ascetics Ekorma, Panditaradya, Revana, Marula and Viswaradya.

According to popular view, and one backed by historical and literary evidence, the Lingayat or Veerashaiva sect was founded by the Panchacharyas or the Five great Prophets. This view however, is in the realm of mythology and is supported by historical and literary evidence those are available at Allahabad High Court and Jangamwadimath of Kashi.

The Panchacharyas are the five Gurus who incarnated directly form five faces of the Sivalinga and established the Virasaiva religion and Philosophy. Hence they are called as Lingodbhavas. Those five faces of linga called as namely Sadyojata, Vamadeva, Aghora, Tatpurus and Isana. With the following names Revanaradhya, Marularadhya, Ekoramaradhya, Panditaradhya and Vishvaradhya. These five Acharyas are the Gotrapurusas (pioneers) of the Virasaiva religion. The five Gotrapurusas belongs to the five Gotras namely Veera, Nandi, Bhringi, Vrishabha and Skanda respectively. These Panchacharya ruled the realm of Virasaiva kingdom by establishing the five peethas in different places in India as follows :

Veeashimhasana of Rambhapuri in Balehonnuru (Karnataka) Saddharma Shimhasana of Ujjini (Karnataka) Vairagya Shimhasana of Kedar (Uttaranchal) Surya Shimhasana of Shrishaila (Andhra Pradesh) and Jnana Shimhasana of Kashi (Uttar Pradesh)

Those Panchacharyas are called as:

Renukacharya Marularadhya Ekoramaradhya Panditaradhya and Vishvaradhya ADI RENUKACHARYA:

Virasaivism has become a comprehensive and complete religion by incorporating its spiritual practices of worshipping lord Shiva took concrete shapes and forms in Virasaiva religion and this fact is quite clear and evident theory from Agamas. It is a rich and great religion, which has shown the path of Linganga-samarasya (Salvation) to one and all irrespective of one's caste, religion, sect, sex, and group.

The origin of Adi Renukacharya and other mahacharyas has been explained in Sivagamas, especially in Svayambhuva Agama, Suprabhedagama and Viragama. Panchacharyas are the custodians of Virasaiva religion and they have expressed their feelings thus:

Pravakshyami Bhavintrashcha Shrunu Tajjananakramam. Shri Madrevana Siddhasys Kollipaki Purottame Someshwara Lingajjanana Mavasah Kadalipure. Tadwad Marula Siddhasya Sukshetre Mahattare Siddhesha lingajjananam Sthana Mujjayanipure. Sudhakundakhy Sukshetre Mallikarjuna Lingatah. Jananam Panditaryasya Nivasah Shrigirau Shive. Draksharamakhya Sukshetre Ramanathakhya Lingatah. Ekoramasya Jananamavasastua Himalaye. Kashyam Vishwesha Lingashcha Vishwaradhya Sambhavah. Sthanam Shri Kashi Kshetre Shrunuparvati Sadaram. Yete Youga Chatashketu Pancharadhyadhividhihi. Mamaling Mukhodbbhtaloka Vishruta Kirtayah.
(-Virasaiva Ratna written by Kashinath Shastrigalu: page-38)

The earlier portions of Agama Literature are the fundamental source of Saiva religion. The latter portions have been very helpful to Virasaivas religion. In that Siva has tutored Parvati regarding the matter of Panchacharyas having been sprouted out of Sivalinga. Panchacharya's name has been mentioned and described in all the aiens, in connection with the sacred places of Sivalingas. The great Acharyas such as Renuka, Daruka, Ekorama, Pandita, and Vishwaradhya, established their own Peethas in their own places. They become quite famous as Pancha Peethas masters or owners of these Peethas are Panchacharyas. They are the founders of Virasaiva religion. Out of these now, let us try to know about the sacred birthplace of Adi Renukacharya.

It is customary to call Andrapradesh as Trilinga Desha. There is an important reason for this. The famous three Lingas are here. Out of these, Swayambhu Someswaralinga, which is at Kolanupaka (also called as Kollipaki or Kulyapaka, a village near Secunderabad in Andhra Pradesh) has the details about it in the work entitled "Kollipaka Mahatmam" written by a great literary person (poet) by name Chittaru Gangadhara. The details about this ancient place along with God's blessings to fulfill the desires and requests of all the devotees right from the aiens (Yuga) of Kruta, Treta, Dwapara and Kali. He further asserts that it is nothing but Kailasa on land. Installation of this Swayambhu Someshwara Linga tells many important things connected with the Puranas. In this Swayambhulinga, Ganadhishwara Renuka was reincarnated.

Not only just that, in a book released by Travel and Tourism Department of Andhra Pradesh it is mentioned like this: "….Literary evidences reveal Kolanupaka as the birth place of Renukacharya the great Virasaivas saint, believed to be born from the Svayambaghu Linga at this village and absorbed in to it after preaching Virasaivism….."

There are many inscriptions around Kolanupaka. The Languages used in those inscriptions are Kannada, Telugu and Tamil. Historians have found that, Shatavahanas to Vijayanagar Kings ruled this area. It was also ruled by Telugu and Orissa Royal families and these things have been established by historians. Still lot of research is to be done and when it is seriously pershed, many truths will come out and naturally they will end Lots of Suspicious and doubts regarding these matters. When we know the greatness of this place, we think that this place has been very aptly called as Kolanupaka which means it makes Kulas highly sacred and worthy of enormous amount of respect. Virasaivas authoritative work Siddhanta Sikhamani says that the name Kulyapaka would be more appropriate. This is a great holy place not only for Virasaivas , but also for Jains. This can be seen even in Jain Literature. It is quite noticeable that the Jain temples are in good condition even today.

By the many inscriptions that were available in the area, we come to know that this area was under the rule of Kannada kings. Chalukya king of Kalyan, was daily worshipping Lord Someshwara. By some of the inscriptions we come to know that he had given many types of gifts. On account of all these things, this is not only known as a holy place, it is also a historically famous place.

Siddhantha Shikhamani Bible of Veerashaivism

Siddhantha Shikhamani was written by sri Shivayogi Shivacharya in around 8th century in Sanskrit language

It contains the preachings of Jagaduru Renukacharya

contd..,

Shiva Panchayatana Puja contd..

Order of Worship

Each of the following orders is in use today. When Ganesha is not worshipped first, the five-fold worship is preceeded by a small Ganesha puja.

vinaayako ravishcaNDii iisho viShNustathaiva ca . anukrameNa puujyante vyutkrame tu mahabbhayam .. 

• [SV] Ganesha, Surya, Vishnu, Shiva, Ambika
• [RS] Ganesha, Shiva, Ambika, Vishnu, Surya
• [GK] Ganesha, Surya, Ambika, Shiva, Vishnu
• [VP] Surya, Ganesha, Ambika, Shiva, Vishnu

 Special Offerings

Deity	Leaf
Ganesha	Durva Grass
Surya	-
Vishnu	Tulasi
Shiva	Bilva
Devi	-

 Samba Sada Shiva Puja

There are various distinct levels of worship in the Shiva panchayatana puja:

• The worship of the five major panchayatana deities
• Followed by the worship the five forms of Shiva (Sadyojata etc)
• Followed by the the worship of Samba Sada Shiva

The five fold worship of Shiva (Sadyojata etc) sometimes takes the form of an explicit puja, such as a pancha-kalasha puja, or pancha-brahmatmaka puja. The former is particularly beautiful as the kalashas used to worship [Samba] Shiva in the puja have been invoked with his own forms. Others perform this five fold worship of Shiva implicitly as part of the Samba Sada Shiva puja.
In either case, the advaitic progression is unmistakeable.
It is interesting to note that the progression of subtely is also reflective of the movement of the kundalini. At first, the worship of the five major deities, is the worship of four-petalled muladhara chakra (Shiva in the center, and the four deities in the four petals). This moves up to the agya chakra with the worship of Shiva with the shakti-panchakshari, in the two-petalled lotus of Shiva-Shakti. This culminates with the worship of samba sada shiva in the sahasrara chakra.

 Five faces of Shiva

The five faces of Shiva, also known as the pancha-brahmatmaka represent both the trinity (Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva), as well as the three fold progression of Shiva himself (Rudra, Ishwara, Sadashiva).
The ordering from Sadyojata is the reversal of the creation process, and is designed to take the ego-filled seeker to the ultimate source -- purusha, by leading us from the ego, to the mind, to the intellect, to the creative potential to its substratum. As per Shankaracharya's Upadesha Sahasri:

When all the entities in the series commencing with earth (smell) etc, and moving inward are successively negated, the innermost Self is found to be subtler and more pervasive.

This five fold worship taught by the great Acharya is arguably the most important aspect of the Shiva Panchayatana puja. This is often found to be the culmination (central point) of the puja.

Form	Direction	Form	Element	Aspect
Sadyojata	West	Brahma	Earth	Ego
Vamadeva	North	Vishnu	Water	Manas
Aghora	South	Rudra	Fire	Buddhi
Tatpurusha	East	Ishwara	Air	Maya (Prakriti)
Ishana	Above	Sadashiva	Akasha	Atma (Purusha)

 Ashta Murtis

As part of the rudra puja, we generally worship (in some manner) the ashta murtis & their spouses. The 8 forms represent the 5 tattwas, the Sun, the Moon and the Jivatma. The Sun and Moon are the life-givers, and the Jivatma is a reflection of the purusha-atma. Compared to the worship of the five faces, this eight fold worship is grosser.
The worship of the Ashta Murtis brings to mind the story from the Madhaviya Shankara Dig Vijayam where, the Acharya meets Lord Shiva as a chandala accompanied by the four vedas in the form of four dogs.

Sri Sankara, the greatest among saints began to entertain fear, devotion, obedience, fearlessness, pleasure and surprise in his mind as he begain to praise Lord Shiva in eight forms.. 6.40 ..

In our panchayatana puja, we continue to perform the worship of the Ashta murtis, which was performed by the divine sages of old including Adi Shankara himself.

Form	Representing	Shakti	Offspring	Flower
Bhava	Water	Usha	Shukra	Arka
Sharva	Earth	Sukeshi	Angaraka	Champaka
Ishana	Sun	Shiva	Hanuman	Punnaga
Pashupati	Jivatma	Svaha	Skanda	Nandyavartani
Rudra	Fire	Suvarchala	Shani	Patali
Ugra	Air	Diksha	Santana	Brihati
Bhima	Akasha	Dik	Svarga	Karavirani
Maha	Moon	Rohini	Budha	Drona

 Ekadasha Rudras

The Shiva Panchayatana puja can be considered a rudra puja which includes the other major deities. Thus, standard techniques of worshipping Shiva, such as the Rudra-Ekadashini may be used. When this is done, Rudra is invoked in each of his 11 forms in turn. The 11 forms are given differently in various works:

• Mrigavyada, Sharva, Nirriti, Aja Ekapad, Ahirbudhya, Pinaki, Bhava Natha, Maheshwara, Sthanu, Bhava, Kapali
• Kapali, Pingala, Bhima, Virpaksha, Vilohita, Shastha, Ajapada, Ahirbudhnya, Shambhu, Chanda, Bhava
• Mahadeva, Shiva, Rudra, Shankara, Nilalohita, Ishana, Vijaya, Bhima, Deva-deva, Bhava, Kapali
• Aja, Ekapad, Ahirbudhnya, Virupaksha, Revata, Hara, Bahurupa, Tryambaka, Sureshvara, Jayanta, Aparajita

 Atma puja

Of of the most important parts of the panchayatana puja (which is found in most smarta pujas) is the atma puja, where the indwelling self, the witness to all activities, is worshipped. This is done partly as a purificatory process prior to touching the icons into which Ishwara is invoked. It is also done as an explicit reminder of Advaita.
Surprisingly enough, we come across an outline of a puja in the famous astrological work Prashna Marga, which mentions the Atma puja, and follows the general outline of the Shiva panchayatana puja.

cakraM vilikhya caraNau praxaalya tanushodhanam . aatmapuujaam gaNeshaarcaam api kR^itvaa maheshvaram . cakramadhyasthite padme piiThapuujaapurassaram . parivaara nivedyaaDyam pa~ncaaxaryabhamarcayet .. 

After washing the feet, and purifying the body, propitiate Ganesha, and perform the Atma puja. Thereafter, perform the pitha puja, and worship lord Shiva in the center. Worship his family and retinue, and ofter the naivedyam. One should also pay homage with the panchakshari mantra.
This is indeed the panchayatana puja prayoga captured in a single verse. Since Shiva is usually invoked with his wife Uma as "sa-uma maheshwara" or "sa-uma-skanda maheshwara", the panchakshari mantra is often substituted with the shakti-panchakshari mantra, which includes the bija representing Shakti (Uma).

 Nyasa

The mahanyasa was codified by the great sage Bodhayana. The famed Appayya Dikshita is said to have included it in his nitya panchayatana puja. Due to its length (it requires about an hour), it is usually performed only on special occasions like pradosham.
In his grihya sutras, the sage has given a rudra abhisheka vidhi which does find a place in the nitya puja. This includes what is normally called the Rudra laghunyasa, a shodashopachara puja with the sadyojata and vamadeva mantras, and the worship of the five-faces and eight-murtis of Shiva.

 Shodashopachara Puja

Kalpokta shodashopachara pujas, where the sixteen-fold puja of Vishnu, Lakshmi and other deities are augmented with the 16 mantras found in the purusha-sukta and/or sri-sukta are quite common.
There are similar procedures for the worship of Shiva. The shodashopachara puja may be:

• Prefixed with the 1st anuvaka of the Rudra Prashna (which has 15 parts)
• Prefixed with the [Shakti] Panchakshari Mantra
• Prefixed with the Sadyojata mantra (which has 15 parts)

This procedure is not followed for the avahana or udvasana, leaving us with 14 upacharas. Thus, based on tradition, either the first or last parts of the Rudra Anuvaka and Sadyojata mantra are not used in the shodashopachara puja method described here.
There is no standard list of 16 upacharas in vogue today. In practice, few people offer exactly sixteen upacharas. Many practicioners offer around twenty upacharas as part of the shodashopachara puja. In particular, the use of pancha-mukha dipam is often added on to the shodashopachara puja for the panchayatana devatas (for obvious reasons).

 (1) aasana.aavaahanam paadyam arghyam aacamaniiyakam .  (6) snanam vastropaviitaM ca gandha puShpam tathaiva ca .. (11) dhuupam diipam ca naivedyam paaniiya.aacamanam tathaa . (15) taambuulo-dvasanaM ceti hy-upacaaraastu ShoDasha .. 

Here is a list of 32 upacharas:

(1) avahanam, asanam, padyam, arghyam, (5) acamanam, madhuparkam, snanam, vastam, (9) upavitam, abharanam, gandham, axatam, (13) pushpam, dhuupam, dipam, naivedyam (17) tambulam, daxinam, phalam, nirajanam, (21) pushpanjalim, pradaxinam, namaskaram, stotram (25) patram, chaamara, vaahana, nritya, (29) giitam, vaadya, praarthanam, visarjanam. 

The following 16 upacharas are used in the worship of Nataraja (Shiva) at the famed Chidambaram temple

 (1) paadya-arghyaa.acamanIyam ca snAnam vasana bhUShaNe .  (7) gandha puShpa-dhUpa-dIpa mahAnaivedyam eva ca .. (12) tAmbUlam archanam stotram tarpaNam ca namaskriyAm .      prayojayet prapUjAyAm upacArAmstu ShoDasha .. 

 Monthly Vishesha Dravyas (for Shiva)

Month	Dravya	Offering
Chaitra	damanaka	A type of flower
Vishakha	gandha	fragrance
Jyeshtha	triphala	Pukanni flower
Ashadha	kshira	Milk
Shravana	sharkara	Sugar
Bhadra	gudapupa	A kind of sweet
Ashvayuja	anna	Cooked rice
Kartika	dipa	Lamp flame
Margashirsha	ghrita	Butte
pausha	ikshu	Sugaar-cane
Ardra	ajya	Clarified butter
Phalguni	dadhi	Yoghurt

As per the 'dvAdasha-mAsheShu visheSha-dravya-pUjanam' slokas, the substances listed above are particularly auspicious for worshipping Shiva during pournami of each of the twelve months. Thus, for example, the use of dIpa is particularly auspisious during kartika-dipam etc.

 Abhisheka Mantras

As mentioned previously, the Shiva panchayatana puja can be performed in a non-exclusionary way, where the practitioner primarily worships Shiva, but also includes the other sectarian deities. Preferrably, it should be performed in an inclusionary way, where the practitioner worships all the five deities as the expansion of the same divine force. In the Shiva panchayatana puja, all the deities would be seen as an expansion of Shiva himself. Indeed, this is reflected in the very mantras we use in the puja:

namakam chamakam japyam shriisuuktam puruShasuuktakam . brahmasuuktam viShNusuuktam visheShaan rudramantrakaan .. 

The use of the following mantras is lauded in the worship of Rudra: Rudra prashna, Chamakam, Purusha suktam, Shri suktam, Brahma suktam and Vishnu suktam. The list includes the trimurties and also the female principle (i.e. all of creation). The following short suktas addressed to each of the panchayatana devatas is also appropriate.

Brahmanaspati (Ganesha) Suktam

somaanam svaraNam		TA 4.3 gaNaanaantvaa             	TS 2.3.14 saijjanena 			TS 2.3.14 indra eNamadiidharat		TB 2.4.2 praataganim praatarindraM 	TB 2.8.9 pavitram te vitatam 		TA 1.48 

Soura Suktam

khyeSham vaishvaanaraM jyotiH	TS 1.1.4 suuryastvaa purastaatpaatu	TS 1.1.11 suuryasya cakshuraaruham	TS 1.2.4 bhuurasi shreShThii rasmiinaam	TS 3.2.10 suuryo devo diviShadbhyo	TS 3.3.10 suuryo maa devo divyaat		TS 3.2.4 suuryo maa devo devebhyaH	TS 3.5.5 suuryo divodhipatiH		TS 3.4.5 

Vishnu Suktam

viShNornukam viiryaaNi		TS 1.2.13 tadasya priyamabhi		TS 2.4.3 pratadviShNustavate		TS 2.4.3 paromaatrayaa tanuvaa		TS 2.8.3 vicakrame pR^ithiviim		TS 2.4.3 trirdevaH			TS 2.4.3 

Rudra Suktam

pariNo rudrasya		 	TS 4.8.10 stuhishruta.ngartasadam		TS 4.8.10 miiDuShTamashivatama		TS 4.8.10 arhinbibharShi	        	RS 2.33.10 tvamagne rudra	        	TS 1.3.14 aavo raajaanam	        	TS 1.3.14 

Vaak (Devi) Suktam

deviiM vaaca			TB 2.4.6 anantaa				TB 2.8.8 

Sarpa (Subrahmanya) Suktam

namo astu sarpebhyaH   		TS 4.2.8 idam sarpebhyaH   		TB 3.1.1 nighR^ishvairasamaayutaiH   	TA 1.12

Shiva Panchayatana Puja

Panchayatana Pujas

aadityam gaNanaatham ca deviim rudram ca keshavam . pa.nchadevatam ityuktam sarvavarmasu puujayet .. 

At the time of Adi Shankaracharya, sectarian worship was very much in vogue. Each school claimed supremacy of their Ishta Devata and philosophy, and was not tolerant of other schools. The primary schools in existance where the sects of Ganesha, Surya, Vishnu, Shiva and Devi. A lot of time was spent fighting about the supremacy among these schools. This kind of fighting was not very productive, since it went against the ultimate advaita teaching of vedanta.
The panchayatana [shodashopachara] puja, traditionally practiced among Smartas was established by Shankaracharya, enabling us to worship our Ishta devata with an Advaita buddhi, while including all the other major sectarian devatas. The Ishta devata is placed in the center, with the other remaining deities placed around it.

brahmaa kR^itayuge vedastretaayaaM bhagavaan raviH . dvaapare bhagavaan viShNuH kalau devo maheshvaraH .. 

This puja is largely performed as a household worship by smartas. Thus, we find that sectarian tolerance among householders has increased dramatically over the past centuries. It is commonly performed with Shiva placed in the center as the Shiva Panchayatana Puja. The verse above eulogizes the worship of Shiva in this Kali Yuga.

susnaataH samyagaacaantaH kR^itasa.ndhyaadikakriyaH . uda.nmukhaH praa.nmukho vaa puujaakarma samaacaret .. 

People generally sit facing East, while placing the devatas in the following order:

Center	North East	South East	South West	North West
Ganapati	Vishnu	Shiva	Surya	Durga
Surya	Shiva	Ganapati	Vishnu	Durga
Vishnu	Shiva	Ganapati	Surya	Durga
Shiva	Vishnu	Surya	Ganapati	Durga
Durga	Vishnu	Shiva	Ganapati	Surya

However, other placements are followed by some practicioners:

Center	North East	South East	South West	North West
Shiva	Vishnu	Ganapati	Surya	Durga
Ganapati	Surya	Durga	Vishnu	Shiva
Ganapati	Shiva	Surya	Durga	Vishnu

aakaashasyaadhipo viShNuragneshcaiva maheshvarii . vaayoH saryaH kshiteriisho jiivanasya gaNaadhipaH .. 

The five deities are the embodiment of 5 bhutas worshipped in formless stones, which may be obtained from the following 5 rivers.

Deity	Bhuta	Stone	River	Place
Ganesha	Apa	Red Sonabhadra	Sone	Bihar
Surya	Vayu	Crystal	Vallam	Tamil Nadu (Tanjavur)
Vishnu	Akasha	Saligrama	Gandaki	Nepal
Shiva	Prithivi	Bana Linga	Narmada (omkara-kunda)	Madhya Pradesh
Ambika	Agni	Swarna Mukhi (Rekha Shila)	Swarnamukhi	Andra Pradesh

shaiva ca vaiShNavam shaaktam sauram vainaayakam tathaa . skaandam ca bhaktimaargasya darshanaani Shadeva hi .. 

Those who worship Subrahmanya may invoke him in an image of his divine spear, or in the image of a snake.

 Shiva Panchayatana Puja Variations

Variations of the puja include:

• the use of laghunyasa and/or mahanyasa in the puja
• shanmatha puja, with the addition of Subrahmanya puja
• panchayatana puja, worshipping Subrahmanya in place of Devi
• panchayatana puja, worshipping Subrahmanya in place of Surya
• the worship of Nandi[keshwara] in the punah puja