A car puja is a Hindu ceremony blessing an automobile to keep it from bad influences and to bless it in God's name. Hindus often perform pujas for items used in daily life: houses, motor vehicles, and sometimes home appliances. People try to do the puja before using the item, or as soon as possible after purchase. Puja details may vary from pujari (Hindu priest) to pujari, but the 15-minute ceremony performed for my car was fairly typical.