From ancient times, Hinduism has known two preeminent methods of approaching divinity in ritual: (1) the method of yajña, which conveys offerings to a distant god by consigning them to an intermediary fire, and (2) the method of pūjā, which extends offerings to a present divinity by placing them before, or applying them to, the god's symbol or image. The yajña appears in the earlier records; it was the principal ritual method of the ancient Aryan peoples whose priests produced the collection of texts known as the Veda. The pūjā is first mentioned in texts supplementary to the Veda that are known as sūtras (composed around 600–400 BCE). It first became prominent in India as a result of the god-centered devotional movements that spread throughout India during the early centuries of the common era. The...