Panchayatana ("five abodes") is a Sanskrit word
that means "five abodes." Puja Smarta brahmins, a group of brahmins
characterized not by location or family, but by the religious writings they
deem most authoritative—in this instance, the smrtis rather than sectarian
religious scriptures—perform this kind of devotion (puja).
The simultaneous worship of five separate deities—usually
Vishnu, Shiva, Surya, Ganesh, and the Goddess—is the hallmark of the
panchayatana puja.
Individual Smartas may pick one of these deities as their
primary god, but since they are all regarded expressions of the divine, they
are all ritually worshiped.
