Naivedya

(“to be presented”) The thirteenth of the
sixteen traditional upacharas (“offerings”) given to a deity as part of worship.
To treat the deity as an honored guest, a
person may offer food. The food is often
returned to the worshipers as prasad, the
sanctified food bearing the deity’s grace.
The offering may be done in various ways,
but the underlying motive for all the
upacharas is to show one’s love for the
deity and attend to the deity’s needs.