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Home > Temples of Kerala > Vazhipaats Vazhipaats (offered to all deities)(i) Archana: Archana, also known as pushpaanjali is the offering of flowers by chanting manthras of the deity. The different archanas are ashtotthara satha (108) namaarchana; thrissathi (300) namaarchana; chathurssathi (400) namaarchana; sahasra (1000) namaarchana; bhaagya-sooktha; purusha-sooktha; aikamathya-sooktha etc. (ii) Abhisheka: Abhisheka (oblation with liquid medium) is done to all idols except those made of wood (daaru-silpa) or katu-sarkkara . The articles used for abhisheka are cow's milk; ghee; tender-coconut water; gingelly (sesame) oil; rose water; ka?abha (sandal in thick liquid consistency); pure water and panchaamrtha. In temples of wooden idols chaanthattam is an important vazhipaat. (iii) Chandanam-chaartthal: It -is an artistic anointing of either the face or the whole body of the stone, metallic and bronze idols (principal/ subsidiary) with sandal-paste, sometimes mixed with perfumes. (iv) Nivedya: Nivedya is sanctified food and differs according to the nature and sankalpa of the idol. It includes thri-madhuram (kadali plantain or ghee, honey and sugar); vella-nivedyam (raw rice); malar (fried paddy with the husk removed); paayasam (porridges of rice with sugar or molasses and any of the additional ingredients like cow's milk, kadali plantain, ghee, coconut etc.) The paayasams take different names depending on ingredients and mode of preparation like paal-paayasam, nai-paayasam, naalikera-paayasam and koottu-paayasam. Otta-appam (a sweet fried cake made with a mixture of rice flour, molasses and plantain, with round and flat shape); nai-appam (sweet fried cake made in ghee with the same ingredients of the otta-appam with crescent shape) and appam (similar to nai-appam but made in coconut oil and not ghee) are some other vazhipaats. (v) Lighting of lamps: Lamps are lighted with ghee, sesame oil (gingelly oil) or coconut oil. Generally for lighting lamps ghee or gingelly oil is used inside the garbha-grha and gingelly oil. for lamps at naalambalam, vilakkumaatam, agra¬mandapam etc. Coconut oil is sometimes used in lamps in vilakkumatam. However, at lest one lamp in the sreek6vil has to be lit with ghee
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