As with church services in Christianity, pūjāPūjā in Hinduism has served as a means for Hindu communities outside India to gather, socialize, discover new friends and sometimes discuss ways to address social discrimination of Hindus.<ref>I. Wayan Dibia, "Odalan of Hindu Bali: A Religious Festival, a Social Occasion and a Theatrical Event", ''Asian Theatre Journal'', Vol. 2, No. 1 (Spring 1985), pp. 61–65.</ref><ref>Chandra Jayawardena, "Religious Belief and Social Change: Aspects of the Development of Hinduism in British Guiana", ''Comparative Studies in Society and History'', Vol. 8, No. 2 (January 1966), pp. 211–240</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Brettell | first1 = C | year = 2005 | title = Voluntary organizations, social capital, and the social incorporation of Asian Indian immigrants in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex | journal = Anthropological Quarterly | volume = 78 | issue = 4| pages = 853–882 | doi = 10.1353/anq.2005.0052 | s2cid = 144620114 }}</ref> For example, [[Marion O'Callaghan]] reports<ref name=mocall>{{cite journal | last1 = O'Callaghan | first1 = Marion | year = 1998 | title = Hinduism in the Indian Diaspora in Trinidad | journal = Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies | volume = 11| doi = 10.7825/2164-6279.1178 | doi-access = free }}</ref> that the Hindu diaspora brought as indentured laborers to Trinidad by the British colonial government, suffered discriminatory laws that did not recognize traditional Hindu marriages or inheritance rights of children from a traditional Hindu marriage, nor did the non-Hindu majority government allow pyre cremation or construction of crematorium. These Hindu rituals were considered pagan and uncivilized. Pujas offered a way for Hindus to meet, socially organize and petition their human rights. Over time, pujas became as much a social and community recreational event as a religious event.<ref name=mocall/>
==Critique of ''pūjā'' in the Pūrva Mīmāṃsaka school==