Concept of Panchang Pranam in Buddhist culture What is Panchang Pranam in Buddhism and what is the correct way of doing it and its significance? Is it some sort of chanting?
I found the term &quot;panchanga pranama&quot; on the wikipedia page for Praṇāma. In Indian culture and Hinduism, this simply means prostration with five parts of the body touching the ground.

In the image above, the left person is doing ashtanga pranama (eight parts touching the ground - also known as full prostration) and the right person is doing panchanga pranama (five parts touching the ground - also known as half prostration).
This is common in Buddhism and is known to be practised since the time of the Buddha, for e.g. from SN 22.1:

Then the householder Nakulapita went to the Blessed One and on
arrival, having bowed down to him, sat to one side. As he was sitting
there he said to the Blessed One, &quot;Lord, I am a feeble old man, aged,
advanced in years, having come to the last stage of life. I am
afflicted in body &amp; ailing with every moment. And it is only rarely
that I get to see the Blessed One &amp; the monks who nourish the heart.
May the Blessed One teach me, may the Blessed One instruct me, for my
long-term benefit &amp; happiness.&quot;

Both ashtanga pranama and panchanga pranama appear to be common in Tibetan Buddhism, as seen in this YouTube video, meanwhile panchanga pranama is common in Theravada Buddhism.
Apparently, in Pali, this is called pañcanga-vandana, which I found in the essay by Ven. Khantipalo entitled &quot;Lay Buddhist Practice: The Shrine Room, Uposatha Day, Rains Residence&quot;.
An example of reverentially reciting Pali incantations and prostrating respectfully before a Buddha image as described below, can be found in this YouTube video.
Ven. Khantipalo explained here:

Dhamma is the way for training mind, speech and body. But the Buddha
dhamma is sometimes regarded in a way which is too intellectual and
theoretical so that there is a danger that it is not practiced as a
way of training. To help with the training of the body there are
various gestures which are expressions of one's confidence in and
reverence for the three Treasures. These actions when performed with
due mindfulness are wholesome kamma made by way of the body. Repeated
frequently they become habitual bodily kamma and it is good to have
the habit of reverence as part of one's character. The Buddha, soon
after his Enlightenment, thought that to live without reverence was
not suitable, so he looked around with the divine eye to find some
teacher under whom he could live, revering him and his teachings. But
he found no teacher superior to himself, nor any teaching superior to
the Dhamma which he had discovered. But out of reverence for that
Dhamma he decided to make the Dhamma his Teacher and to live revering
Dhamma. We who are his followers should follow in his footsteps and
live with reverence for those three aspects of Enlightenment: Buddha,
Dhamma and Sangha.
The gestures used for this are mainly two: respectful salutation with
the hands (añjalikamma), and the five-limb prostration
(pañc'anga-vandana).
The first of these, which may be remembered as &quot;añjali&quot; as there is
no satisfactory English equivalent, is made by bringing the palms of
the hands together, and raising them to the region of the heart or
higher, according to circumstances. For instance, in the shrine room
after kneeling down in front of the Buddha image, one makes añjali
before offering flowers, lights and incense. And as the Teacher was
the highest in the world and one to go beyond the world, so one
respects him by placing one's hand in añjali to the forehead. But
while chanting, the hands are held in añjali at heart level. This
action and others described here, should be done with mindfulness and
therefore gracefully. And one should be careful to see that
exaggerated and impetuous movements are avoided. As we remarked
before, the Dhamma does not encourage unrestrained expressions of
emotion, rather with its aid one endeavors to calm one's heart.
After all these preliminary remarks, we have just got into our shrine
room, knelt down, made añjali and offered the three offerings. Now
there are flowers placed in their vases or upon some offering tray,
candles or lamps burning brightly and a blue column of incense smoke
rising to the ceiling. It is time to pay one's respects with the whole
body to the Teacher. When afterwards one says &quot;Namo tassa...&quot; that
word &quot;namo&quot; (homage) comes from the root nam meaning &quot;to bend.&quot; So
now one bends oneself, one's mind and body, down and acknowledges that
the Buddha was indeed the Perfectly Enlightened One that one's own
understanding of Dhamma is insignificant. In the kneeling position,
one's hand in añjali are raised to the forehead and then lowered to
the floor so that the whole forearm to the elbow is on the ground, the
elbow touching the knee. The hands, palm down, are four to six inches
apart with just enough room for the forehead to be brought to the
ground between them. Feet are still as for the kneeling position and
the knees are about a foot apart. This is called the prostration with
the five limbs, that is the forehead, the forearms, and the knees.
This prostration is made three times, the first time to the Buddha,
the second to the Dhamma, and the third to the Noble Sangha.
An ancient tradition from Thailand makes this more explicit as it adds
a Pali formula to be chanted before each of the prostrations. Before
the first one may chant:
Araham sammasambuddho bhagava
Buddham bhagavantam abhivademi.
The Arahant, the Buddha perfected by himself, the Exalted One
I bow low before the Exalted Buddha.
Before the second prostration:
Svakkhato bhagavata dhammo
Dhammam namassami.
The Dhamma well-expounded by the Exalted One
I bow low before the Dhamma.
And before the last one:
Supatipanno bhagavato savakasangho
sangham namami.
The Sangha of the Exalted One's disciples who have practiced well
I bow low before the Sangha.