The following are some of the ways by which the sun is worshiped by devout Hindus even today:

1. Make “Argyam” - water offering to sun during the daily ritual of “sandyavandanam”.
2. The supreme mantra, the Gayathri is chanted invoking the sun god.
3. “Surya Namaskar” - prostrating towards the direction of appearance of sun in the morning chanting hymns in praise of sun. This is done to request sun to bestow on us, inter alia, robust health. (Prostrating is done in different formats in almost all religions - Muslims do it; X-ians kneel down in half- prostrate form.)

The sun is considered in Hinduism as the giver of health, as it is said in Sanskrit, “Arogyam Bhaskarat ichchet!” The sun is the chief of all Navagrahas, the 9 planet-gods. It will be a misnomer to call them planets, but the term is used for want of a better translation of the word “graha”. you can call them celestial bodies, if you wish. Sun is an incarnation of lord Vishnu, and the gods are considered to be dwelling at the center of “surya - mandala”, the abode of the sun and his orbital area of influence. The sun is specially worshiped on “Makara Sankaranthi” day which falls in January each year, to signify sun’s celestial journey from the Tropic of Capricorn to the Tropic of Cancer ( the parallels of latitude 23° 27’ South towards the same distance in degrees latitude North of equator.). It is the start of “Utharayana” meaning sun’s journey to the north - after the greatest inclination. The corresponding Hindu names are Makara and Kataka in the Hindu Zodiac corresponding to the months Thai and Adi in Tamil.

The sun travels in a single - wheeled chariot pulled by horses, so goes the legend. Sun worship is extensively mentioned in the Puranas and epics. In Ramayana, Rama found that the heads of Ravana continued to resurrect every time he cut them, and Sage Agastya taught the hymn “Aditya Hridayam” to worship the sun and then Rama was able to defeat Ravana. There is a temple dedicated to the sun god at Puri in Orissa. People throng to this temple on the day of solar eclipse to worship the sun. The sun has Chaya & Swarchalamba as his consorts. The first day of the week is named after the sun god in the traditional Indian (read Hindu) calendar.

There are two ways of doing it: one through Yoga (”Hata yoga”, “kundlini yoga” etc), where you subject the body to a certain set of postures and rigors and unite the body with the spirit and invoke the spirit at many power points or “Chakras” abstractly available in the body to attain unison with god. The other method is “bhakti Yoga” , which is worshipping god by meditating on him chanting hymns on gods, which are called, “mantra’s” in sanskrit. These two schools are termed as “saguna brahma upasana” and “nirguna brahma upasana” to wit, worshipping god with his attributes and without it as an abstract

But all cannot meditate inwardly and concentrate - since the mind will tend to wander. So the abstract has to be given a concrete human-like form so that humans can easily meditate on them. Thus came the various human forms of hindu gods! Each god was a creation of a group of people who started invoking gods to a form depending on their minds’ ability to visualize limited to their education, culture, avocation, terrain, economic and educational status and various other social factors that influence their thinking process.

But the human forms of gods thus created have to be housed somewhere so that people can congregate and offer worship. The gods’ abode is called “Temple”. There is an elaborate science called “Agama Sastra” containing construction details of a temple and the special rites to be performed while installing gods in a temple. The Raja’s or kings of olden days made the construction and use of temples a main social activity. Various festivals were arranged in temples which helped in social interaction and cohesion amongst the communities. There are many rituals associated with the installation and consecration of the deities in temples. An elaborate yagam (holy fire) is performed together with chantings and various other puja’s. It is altogether a different science by itself.

To sum up, the best place of worship of Hindu gods is one’s own self and the next best is temples where the deity has been installed according to the stipulations laid out in the scriptures and hence they posses the power of god.

But the role of “acharya” (teacher) comes in only when you want to attain a godly status and reach the god’s abode - they call it “moksha”. Yes, Hinduism underscores the role of “Guru”, the most flogged term in cyberworld! (Gurus galore! You have html guru’s, management guru’s, itguru’s and you name it!). A guru is one who guides you through the process of do penance and attaining the kingdom of god (nirvana). There is no “dooms day” or “Quyamat” in hinduism. You don’t wait for the judgment after death.

The hindu monks do penance or “Thapas” in seclusion for their own attainment of “moksha” or liberation of self from the clutches of birth and death cycle and take the soul towards the sublime status of eternity. That is the ultimate goal of the humans as preached by hinduism. So the monks have no role otherwise in the practice of hinduism. Hence it is not fully monastic nor idealistic. Vedas are in fact comprehensive books of practical wisdom - every act of day to day life is discussed and a socially acceptable code of conduct and rituals specified.

Apart from that of monks, hinduism enunciates the role of “Acharya” or the teacher who need not be a monk or an ascetic or a “rishi”. The teacher helps you to perform the rituals at your home for the various “karmas” or the duties - viz: religious rites for birth, schooling, marriage, rites for the departed souls etc. The teacher is only hired for a fee - for cash and/or kind. There are mantras for even for offering the fee. It is all enshrined in the hindu religious tenet. Beyond that the teacher has no influential role in the practice of the religion. But people in general, prompted by a sence of insecurity and of guilt, go and voluntarily and commit abject surrender before monks and “sadhus’ and “swamiji’s” and give them a role which has no religious sanction. This gives a wrong notion that hinduism needs a monastic to practice and is very idealistic. No, far from it. You can be a devout hindu without becoming a desciple of Maharishis, Oshos, Babas, His Holinesses and their ilk!

In case you want to perform a religious rite, all you need to do is engage a priest who has learnt vedas and other texts of hinduism and get his professional service for a fee and be with it . This has full sanction of vedas. In Hinduism, the temple priests’ role is confined to the temple and they can’t meddle with the individual’s life.

To sum up, hinduism is far from being monastic and is not based primarily on idealism but on pragmatism!

“karmanyeva adhikaraste` maa phaleshu kadhaachana” (You are entitled to do your karma (duty) unmindful of the result of your action since you have no control over that part)

But in the same vein the Gita stresses on the performing action or Karma in the following line of the same verse - maa they sanghotsva karmanee

So, Gita doesn’t advocate direction of your duty! Though it is not earthly possible to perform any act without focusing on corresponding fruits of your labor, you can still take a detached attitude so that you’ll not end up greatly disappointed when failure strikes!