Introduction
 Hinduism is one of the world's oldest religions, and has over 900 million adherents worldwide. Hinduism is not a single doctrine, and there is no single founder or teacher.
- Hinduism originated around the Indus Valley near the River Indus in modern day Pakistan.
- About 80% of the Indian population regard themselves as Hindu.
- Hindus believe in a universal eternal soul called Brahman, who created and is present in everything.
- But they worship other deities such as Ram, Shiva , Lakshmi and Hanuman, recognising different attributes of Brahman in them.
- Hindus believe that existence is a cycle of birth, death, and rebirth, governed by Karma.
- Hindus believe that the soul passes through a cycle of successive lives and its next incarnation is always dependent on how the previous life was lived.
- The Vedas are the most ancient religious Hindu text and define the truth.
- Hindus believe that the texts were received by scholars directly from God and passed onto generations by word of mouth.
- Hindus celebrate many holy days, but the Festival of Lights, Diwali is the most well known.
- The 2001 census recorded 559,000 Hindus in Britain, around 1% of the population.
History
Early history of Hinduism Hinduism has a long and complex history. It is a blend of ancient legends, beliefs and customs which has adapted, blended with, and spawned numerous creeds and practices. Thugs The original Thugs were bands of roving criminals in India who strangled and robbed travellers. Originally these gangs committed murder following precise religious rites to honour Kali, the Hindu goddess of destruction. Beliefs
Beliefs Hindus recognise one God, Brahman, the eternal origin who is the cause and foundation of all existence. Moksha Hindus believe that the soul passes through a cycle of successive lives and its next incarnation is always dependent on how the previous life was lived. The soul (from BBC Radio 4) There are many different conceptions of the soul. What is the soul, where does it live and what happens to it when we die? Holy Days
Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, is the most popular of all the festivals from South Asia, and is also the occasion for celebrations by Jains and Sikhs as well as Hindus.
Ganesh Chaturthi On this day Hindus all over the world will celebrate the birthday of Lord Ganesh (Ganesh Chaturthi).
Hanuman Jayanti This festival marks the birth of Hanuman, the Monkey God.
Holi The spring festival associated with Krishna when people throw coloured powder and water at each other. Holi also celebrates creation and renewal.
Krishna Jayanti (Janamashtami) The Janamashtami festival marks the birth of Krishna, one of the most popular Gods in the Hindu pantheon.
Mahashivratri is a Hindu festival dedicated to Shiva, one of the deities of the Hindu Trinity.
Makar Sakrant is first Hindu festival of the solar calendar year, falling on January 14.
Navaratri (Navratri) (nine nights) is one of the greatest Hindu festivals. It symbolises the triumph of good over evil.
Raksha Bandhan is the Hindu festival that celebrates brotherhood and love.
Rama Navami celebrates the birth of Lord Rama, son of King Dasharatha of Ayodhya. Thaipusam Colourful, devotional and painful celebrations in Malaysia!
Vaisakhi What is common to all Hindus is that, at the time of Vaisakhi, people will go to the temple to pay their respect and seek blessings, and gifts and sweets will be exchanged between friends and family members.
Varsha Pratipada is the Hindu Spring New Year.
Worship
Puja
Hindu worship, or puja, involves images (murtis), prayers (mantras) and diagrams of the universe (yantras).
Central to Hindu worship is the image, or icon, which can be worshipped either at home or in the temple.
Individual rather than communal
Hindu worship is primarily an individual act rather than a communal one, as it involves making personal offerings to the deity.
Worshippers repeat the names of their favourite gods and goddesses, and repeat mantras. Water, fruit, flowers and incense are offered to god.
Worship at home
The majority of Hindu homes have a shrine where offerings are made and prayers are said.
A shrine can be anything: a room, a small altar or simply pictures or statues of the deity.
Family members often worship together. Rituals should strictly speaking be performed three times a day. Some Hindus, but not all, worship wearing the sacred thread (over the left shoulder and hanging to the right hip). This is cotton for the Brahmin (priest), hemp for the Kshatriya (ruler) and wool for the vaishya (merchants).
Temple worship
At a Hindu temple, different parts of the building have a different spiritual or symbolic meaning.
- The central shrine is the heart of the worshipper
- The tower represents the flight of the spirit to heaven.
- A priest may read, or more usually recite, the Vedas to the assembled worshippers, but any "twice-born" Hindu can perform the reading of prayers and mantras.
Religious rites
Hindu religious rites are classified into three categories:
- Nitya
- Nitya rituals are performed daily and consist in offerings made at the home shrine or performing puja to the family deities.
- Naimittika
- Naimittika rituals are important but only occur at certain times during the year, such as celebrations of the festivals, thanksgiving and so on.
- Kamya
- Kamya are rituals which are "optional" but highly desirable. Pilgrimage is one such.
Worship and pilgrimage
Pilgrimage is an important aspect of Hinduism. It's an undertaking to see and be seen by the deity.
Popular pilgrimage places are rivers, but temples, mountains, and other sacred sites in India are also destinations for pilgrimages, as sites where the gods may have appeared or become manifest in the world.
Kumbh Mela
 Once every 12 years, up to 10 million people share in ritual bathing at the Kumbh Mela festival at Allahabad where the waters of the Ganges and Jumna combine.
Hindus from all walks of life gather there for ritual bathing, believing that their sins will be washed away.
The bathing is followed by spiritual purification and a ceremony which secures the blessings of the deity.
River Ganges
The river Ganges is the holiest river for Hindus.
Varanasi
This city, also known as Benares, is situated on the banks of the Ganges and is one of the most important pilgrimage centres.
It is said to be the home of Lord Shiva where legend has it that his fiery light broke through the earth to reach the heavens.
A Hindu who dies at Varanasi and has their ashes scattered on the Ganges is said to have experienced the best death possible. |
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Rites and rituals
Baby Rites Once a Hindu baby enters the world, Jatakarma is performed to welcome the child into the family, by putting some honey in the child's mouth and whispering the name of God in the child's ear. Reflections on Meditation Inspired by spiritual his teacher Sri Chinmoy, award-winning writer Alan Spence considers the meaning of meditation and its practice from a Hindu perspective. Weddings Hindu sacraments are called 'sanskars' and the sacraments performed at the time of a wedding are called 'Vivah Sanskar'.
Deities
Hindus believe in one God, Brahman, who was the originator of everything. They believe that his work is now done, however, and the task of creating, maintaining and destroying the world is up to three main gods, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, and other lesser gods.
Hindus worship various gods depending on the characteristics they wish to emulate and according to their needs.
Vishnu: Vishnu is the second god in the Hindu triumvirate of Brahman, Vishnu and Shiva, and is therefore one of the most important characters in Indian belief.
Shiva: Shiva is the third god in the Hindu triumvirate. He is the destroyer, but also the re-creator. Shiva is the source of both good and evil who combines many contradictory elements.
Brahma:Brahma is the first god in the Hindu triumvirate, or trimurti. He is regarded as the senior god and his job was creation.
Lakshmi Lakshmi is the consort of the god Vishnu. She is one of the most popular goddesses of Hindu mythology and is known as the goddess of wealth and purity.
The Vedas
These are the most ancient religious texts which define truth for Hindus.
They got their present form between 1200-200 BCE and were introduced to India by the Aryans.
Hindus believe that the texts were received by scholars direct from God and passed on to the next generations by word of mouth.
Vedic texts are sometimes called shruti, which means hearing and for hundreds, maybe even thousands of years, the texts were passed on orally.
Contents of the Vedas
The Vedas are made up of four compositions, and each veda in turn has four parts which are arranged chronologically.
- The Samhitas are the most ancient part of the Vedas, consisting of hymns of praise to God.
- The Brahmanas are rituals and prayers to guide the priests in their duties.
- The Aranyakas concern worship and meditation.
- The Upanishads consist of the mystical and philosophical teachings of Hinduism.
The Samhitas
- Rig-Veda Samhita (c. 1200 BCE) is the oldest of the four vedas and consists of 1028 hymns praising the ancient gods.
- Yajur-Veda Samhita is used as a handbook by priests performing the vedic sacrifices.
- Sama-Veda Samhita consists of chants and tunes for singing at the sacrifices.
- Atharva-Veda Samhita (c. 900 BCE) preserves many traditions which pre-date the Aryan influence and consists of spells, charms and magical formulae.
The Upanishads
The Upanishads were so called because they were taught to those who sat down beside their teachers. (upa=near, ni=down, shad=sit).
These texts developed from the Vedic tradition, but largely reshaped Hinduism by providing believers with philosophical knowledge.
The major Upanishads were largely composed between 800-200 BCE and are partly prose, partly verse.
Later Upanishads continued to be composed right down to the 16th century. Originally they were in oral form.
The early Upanishads are concerned with understanding the sacrificial rites
Central to the Upanishads is the concept of brahman; the sacred power which informs reality.
Whilst the priests (brahmins) had previously been the ones who, through ritual and sacrifice, had restricted access to the divine, now the knowledge of the universe was open to those of the high and middle castes willing to learn from a teacher.
Bhagavad Gita
 The Bhagavad Gita, or "Song of the Lord" is part of the sixth book of the Mahabharata, the world's longest poem.
Composed between 500 BCE and 100 CE, the Mahabharata is an account of the wars of the house of Bharata.
It is one of the most popular Hindu texts and is known as a smriti text (the remembered tradition). This is considered by some to be of less importance than shruti (the heard text, such as the Vedas). It has, nevertheless, an important place within the Hindu tradition.
The Bhagavad Gita takes the form of a dialogue between prince Arjuna and Krishna, his charioteer, an incarnation of the supreme God, Vishnu.
Arjuna is a warrior, about to join his brothers in a war between two branches of a royal family which would involve killing many of his friends and relatives.
He wants to withdraw from the battle but Krishna teaches him that he, Arjuna, must do his duty in accordance with his class and he argues that death does not destroy the soul.
Krishna points out that knowledge, work and devotion are all paths to salvation and that the central value in life is that of loyalty to God.
The Ramayana
Composed in the same period, the Ramayana is one of India's best known tales.
It tells the story of Prince Rama who was sent into exile in the forest with his wife, Sita, and his brother, Lakshamana.
Sita was abducted by the evil demon Ravana but ultimately rescued by Prince Rama with the help of the Monkey God, Hanuman.
The story is written in 24,000 couplets.
The symbolism of the story has been widely interpreted but basically is the story of good overcoming evil. Many people have said that it is a story about dharma or duty.
Ethics
Abortion When considering abortion, the Hindu way is to choose the action that will do least harm to all involved: the mother and father, the foetus and society.
Animal Ethics Because Hinduism is a term that includes many different although related religious ideas, there is no clear single Hindu view on the right way to treat animals.
Capital Punishment There is no official Hindu line on capital punishment. However, Hinduism opposes killing, violence and revenge, in line with the principle of ahimsa (non-violence).
Contraception There is no ban on birth control in Hinduism.
Euthanasia and Suicide There are several Hindu points of view on euthanasia and suicide. Most would say that assisting death brings bad karma because it violates the nonviolence principle. But there are accepted Hindu ways to bring about death.
Organ Donation No religious law prohibits Hindus from donating their organs and tissues.
War Like most religions Hinduism includes both teachings that condemn violence and war, and teachings that promote it as a moral duty. Living
Caste System One feature of Indian society, despite attempts by some Hindu reformers to outlaw it, is the caste system (jati) which ranks society according to occupation. Cow Protection Project Bhaktivedanta Manor in Hertfordshire is the site of the Cow Protection Project. Hindu Lives Krishnan Guru-Murthy follows the personal stories of three generations of British Hindus to find out how their faith has shaped their identity, the way they live, and the cultural landscape of Britain. Internet Matchmaking Hindus are moving away from traditional arranged marriages, hailing the internet as the modern way to find a partner. First Hindu faith school The first Hindu state school in Britain is set to open in September 2008 in the London Borough of Harrow. |
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