The meaning of the word 'puja' in sanskrit is- worship, honour and respect.

Puja is a ceremony of worship, in which the bhakta, the devotee is offering  to the Murti, the Deity in a temple or at home variety auspicious articles such as insence, ghee lamp, water and flowers.

although the puja practice may consist of many external activities, its meaning is far beyond.

In his book 'Yoga-Union with reality', in the chapter about  Bhakti Yoga, Swami Ramakrishnananda explains:

"It is important to worship and offer the Lord flowers, incense and water, but it is essential to remember that everything has to be offered with devotion. Without love and devotion the worship can easily become a ritual and social tradition without spiritual value.

Lord Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gita (9.26):

patram pushpam phalam toyam

yo me bhaktya prayacchati

tad aham bhakty-upahritam

asnami prayatatmanah

”If a person offers Me, with love and devotion, a leaf, a flower, a fruit, or water, I will accept it.“

This clearly establishes that the Supreme Lord does not need leaves, flowers, fruits, or water, and that the real condition for the acceptance of this worship is the spirit of the devotee. The offering should reflect a sweet phenomenon that happens in the heart of the worshipper. It is important to note that deity worship manifests naturally out of the devotee’s devotion; it is not a necessity of the Divine. As it is the kind of meditation in which we concentrate upon Divinity in a world of names and forms, in this way we remember that God is not only found within us but also outside. The idea of inside and outside is actually a limitation, based on the false concept of the ego, which we take as a point of reference and then create imaginary directions. Whatever is found on one side of the ego idea, we call ”inside“ and in the other direction, ”outside“. "

As the princip of devotion to God, and fixing our mind in the Divine, is the main article in Puja, the Puja practice has no one fixed standard but can verify and change according to ones ability and situation.

int the same chapter Shaktipada reccomands:

"Learning to perform Vedic arcana correctly in a temple, to be an expert pujari, can take many years of intense studies. The ceremonies have to be carried out according to strict rules, with specific mantras for each part of the worship process. However, deity worship at home can be less demanding and very pleasant.

It is beneficial to dedicate a room in your house for worship because besides using it for worship, meditation, and prayer, you will be able to create radiating positivity, and by hanging up portraits of different Hindu saints and sages thus create an inspiring and meditative environment for others."