Short answers, pulled from the story.
A stone relief at Bharhut from the 2nd century BCE showed worshipers bowing before the Vajrasana to mark where the Buddha attained enlightenment. This site established early devotional actions directed toward a Buddha, deity, or the Triple Gem within Buddhist religious practice.
Sanskrit texts call this accumulated merit puñya while Pali sources use the term puñña to describe positive qualities generated by rituals. Lee and Thanissaro noted in 1998 that such acts consequently generate merit leading to better rebirth and progress towards nirvana.
Indaratana recorded in 2002 that flowers are the most common form of offering representing the aspiration to achieve the body of the Buddha with thirty-two marks. The lighting of a candle represents the light of wisdom illuminating the darkness of ignorance while burning incense symbolizes the fragrant scent of morality.
Material or hospitality offerings carry the Pali name amisa-puja or sakkara-puja while Practice offerings bear the designation patipatti-puja. Lee and Thanissaro identified meditation alone as patipatti-puja in 1998 and the Buddha called them the supreme offering in the Mahāparinibbānā Sutta from the Dīgha Nikāya.
Buswell and Lopez documented standard liturgical forms like triskandhaka and saptānga-vidhi rituals in 2013 which initially derived from a basic three-part liturgy consisting of confession of transgressions, admiration of others' virtues, and dedication of merit. This grew into a seven-part liturgy found in the Bhadacaryāpranidhāna section of the Avatamsakasutra including obeisance, offerings, confession, rejoicing, requesting teaching, entreaty for buddhas not to enter parinirvāna, and dedication of merit.