and the beverage panakam may also be offered. The pujaris ritually consecrate offerings of fruits and flowers brought by adherents and return them, if requested.

Individuals who wish to profess priesthood undertake a long course of study under a guru, and primarily study the Vedas, Dharmashastras, law, grammar, and the puja mantras that are usually learned from the Puranas. Priests, through their extended knowledge of religious literature, such as the Bhagavad Gita