Arghya

The fourth of the sixteen traditional
upacharas (“offerings”) given to a deity
as a part of worship. The upacharas are
based on the model of treating the deity
as an honored guest. The word arghya
literally means “to be respected”; in this
offering the image is given a drink of
water or some other beverage as a sign
of respect.
The actual act of offering can be
done in various ways and often depends
on the worshiper’s preferences. In some
cases the water vessel will simply be presented before the deity’s image, with the
understanding that the deity has taken
it, whereas in other cases the devotee
(bhakta) will actually give some water to
the image. In either case the underlying
motive is to show love for the deity and
to minister to its needs.