Major part of Hindu Religious practice among the common people consists of ritualistic form of worship for God in the various forms of Deities of Saguna Brahman, called Avathara. It follows prayers offered to God in the devotional path as a worship to a Pratika [picture], Prathima or Vigraha [statue], Yanthra [a geometric drawing] or a Linga, following the rules and traditions established in the Agamas and Sasthras. Sri Adhi Sankara, in addition to the Advaitha Philosophy explaining that the Self as part of the Divine Nirguna Brahman, established a school for prayers to the Saguna Brahman is His six Forms called the Shanmatha Sthapanam. He established the rules for the six types of prayers to God at home as 1. Ganesha, 2. Kumara [Karthikeya], 3. Surya [Sun], 4. Siva, 5. Vishnu, 6. Sakthi. The main tenets of the practice is by prayers to "Ishta Devatha." The methods of learning and doing the various types of prayers to the Ishta Devatha are governed by the rules of "Doctrine of Adhikara." By this doctrine, the religious teachings and methods of worship that is taught varies from person to person, according to the various schools they follow.

Special prayer rituals are usually taught and given specially to persons following certain tradition as a form of initiation to that form of worship practice. This is very much like specialty training and certification in modern day professions. One is not authorized to perform rituals of their choice unless trained and initiated in the same by a properly qualified teacher [Guru]. Accordingly, there are special rules and restrictions for pooja for Sri Siva, Sri Sakthi and Sri Vishnu in their various forms. Only a person who has received the religious teaching from a Sivacharya Guru shall perform pooja for Sivalinga. Similarly, only a guru who has understood the manthra of "Sri Viddhai" can teach the pooja methods of Sri Chakram to his Devotees. In the past, mostly men have been learning and performing these types of poojas. Very few women took these types of ritualistic worship. Most people performed prayers at home just by lighting a lamp for a collection of pictures and images of various Avatharas of God in their prayer room and recited some songs for prayer.