The word ‘puja’is a commonly used Sanskrit word. It is used by people, who do not even know Sanskrit, as it is present in almost every Indian language. The widely used meaning of the word ‘puja’ is worship. However, it is necessary to see the other meanings and the origins of this Sanskrit word. Sanskrit is a classical language like Greek, Latin, and Persian. And in Sanskrit, as in most classical languages, most words are derived from a stem or root.
There are various versions of puja based on the number of offerings, like pancha-upachara or five offerings, dasha-upachara or ten offerings, shodasha-upachara or sixteen offerings, or chatushashthi-upachara or sixty-four offerings.
Often, the elaborate steps of puja are shortened into a brief and quick version, enabling people without much knowledge of rituals also to be able to perform worship.
Some schools of the Purva-Mimamsa system of philosophy critique the performance of puja and consider it a false ritual because images cannot accept offerings. In Sanatana Dharma or Hinduism, puja is performed on images or pictures of deities.