One of the adhyayas in Agni Purana has been dedicated to the worship of Lord Surya. The worship of the sun-god has been described in a detailed manner by Lord Agni in chapter number seventy three. The Lord begins with saying that the worshipper should contemplate himself identical with the divine energy and worship the preliminary oblations accordingly.
The worship of Lord Surya should commence facing the east. The two attendants of the Lord namely Dandi and Pingala should be worshipped at the right and left corners respectively. The god Gana should be worshipped in the north-east corner of the heaven. As the description follows the Lord says that the components of the solar rays such as Bimala, Sara, Parama and Sukha should be worshipped in the angular quarters of the heaven starting with the south-east imaged as mighty lions of a white blood yellow or of a blue colour respectively. According to the custom it is essential that the energies of the god should be worshipped inside the lotus.
The seat or the cushion of the sun- god should be presented at the centre of the lotus by uttering the mantra Rang and the six letters which compose the principal mantra in the worship. The sun god needs to be evoked with the help of the mantra. And the mantra should be mentally located with the help of water oblation touched with the head as a resplendent spirit of deep red colour. The God of Fire states in his account that Lord Surya should be satisfied by offering him flowers and perfumes. At the same time it is necessary to perform the Bimala mudra in order to satisfy the lord.
Lord Agni narrates that in the worship of sun-god it is necessary that the other mudras like the Padma mudra and the Vilvamudra should be exhibited to the god and the rite known by the name Sadanganyasa should be performed in different directions of the heaven. The next step involves performing of various obesiance in order to satisfy the lord. The various mudras should also be exhibited to the sun-god.
Worship of Lord Surya involves obeisance to the planets and the ceremony is performed in the different petals of lotus shaped diagram commencing from the east. It has been mentioned in the Agni Purana that Argha or water oblations should be offered to the sun-god out of the vessels containing water for the same and by uttering the principal mantra appertaining to that particular divinity.
Finally the God of Fire ends his description of Lord Surya by saying that having performed the rite of mentally merging the component principles of the universe in the fundamental one, it is the duty of the votary of the sun-god to contemplate in his heart the god as identical with the god Sankara and offer the light or the effulgence to the latter as a garland made of solar rays. Lord Agni opines that a man who worships and contemplates the sun-god with utmost dedication is able to achieve everything in life.
