Blessing on a hike

While hiking in the foothills our little group came across a holy hermit (also called a Baba, we found out) who presided over a shrine to Vishnu. When we met him he was sitting by the side of the road reciting prayers from a book. He followed us for a ways up the trail, where we came upon his shrine and he went around the group blessing us. Nobody was quite sure what to do next so we kind of stood around awkwardly for a while, put a few rupees in what we hoped was an offering jar, and went on our way.