KAUAI, HAWAII, April 10, 2021 (Hinduism Today, by Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami): For a puja to be powerful, a known process must be followed and a number of important ingredients need to be present. The first is the nature of the temple’s connection to the inner worlds, which varies considerably from temple to temple. It needs to be a strong one. We can compare this to connecting a computer network to the Internet. A T1 connection, for example, can transfer only a small amount of data compared to the fastest optical connections. The strength of the temple’s connection to the inner worlds depends upon three factors: whether it was founded in connection with a vision of the Deity; the number of years it has maintained devout pujas without a break; the number and strength of pujas performed each year.
The second ingredient for a powerful puja is that the chosen day be auspicious for the Deity being worshiped. An annual festival, such as Ganesha Chaturthi for Lord Ganesha, is a highly auspicious time for worship. The monthly Chaturthi tithi is also more favorable than other days of the month for Ganesha worship. In both cases, the auspiciousness relates to the exact period that the tithi or nakshatra is in power. For example, in Hawaii, Ganesha Chaturthi in 2020 was from about 7am on September 21, until 5am, September 22. For the convenience of devotees, some temples hold annual festival pujas on the weekend even though the actual and most propitious time was a few days before. This is not ideal.
More of this insightful article on the mystical elements and knowledge behind Hinduism’s major form of temple worship at “source” above.