Religion
| Hinduism | Worship | Things to Do |
Hinduism is one of the world's oldest religions. Eighty - five % of all Indians are Hindus. It is the oldest religion in the world, being 4,500 years or more old. So there were Hindus in the world for 2,500 years before Jesus was born. In the beginning the word "Hindu" did not denote a religion but the people living beside the river Indus were called "Hindus". There are many beliefs and practices in Hinduism, not just one. It has no fixed doctrine like our Bible, or no common worship like our Mass. They do not try to make people become Hindus either. They accept all religions and are very peaceful. Most Hindus only believe in one God - Brahman who they believe is in the world and all animals and all people. Therefore if you kill anything you are hurting Brahman. Other Hindus are polytheists and up to 330 million Gods are worshipped by Hindus. Hindus believe that Brahman has three main forms known as the Tirmurti. The Tirmurti is made up of
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Brahma - the God of
Creation. This is the main God worshipped by Hindus.
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Vishnu - the God of Preservation Usually depicted holding a lotus. a conch shell, a discus and a club. This God comes to earth to defeat evil. |
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Shiva - the God of destruction. Destroys things so that new life can be created. Shiva is shown dancing on a dwarf which represents ignorance. The circle of fire represents cycle of time and the act of dancing symbolises the world's energy. Shiva is often protayed as a holy man carrying a snake and a trident. |
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Two Gods coming from Vishnu are
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Krishna Usually shown with a flute. She is very often blue or black with peacock feathers on her head. |
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Rama Usually shown with a bow and is the husband of a Goddess called Sita. He defeated the wicked demon Ravanna, the story of which is called the RAMAYANA. |
Two Gods which Hindus worship and which might seem really strange to us are
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Hanuman. This
God has a monkey face and is shown carrying India is his hand.
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Ganesh - This God has an elephant head. The story tells us that he was born to Parvarti. His mother was taking a bath and he was gaurding the door. His father came but not knowing who he was cut off his head. His mother was so distraught that she told her husband to go out and get the head of the first thing he saw for her son. It was an elephant which he met first. Ganesh is seen as the giver of good luck. He has four arms and his symbol is the swastica (symbol used by the Nazis in world war 2). He rides on a bandicoot and wears a snake. |
Hindus believe
that they must
a) Seek for truth and so not be involved
in untruthful things such as meaness or cruelty.
AND
b) practice ahimsa or harmlessness. Under this if a person does not help a needy person they are harming them.
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The main place for Hindus to worship is not in the temple but at home.
Early in the day Hindus have Puja. They will use things such as incense, honey, diva(lamp) and wick. There is usually a shrine to a God in the house and spoons, bells and flower petals are also used. Hindus also do Yoga. The river Ganges is also very important for Hindus and they bathe there. During great Hindu festivals many Indians come here to be purified by the water. Statues of Gods are carried to the water in procession and are thrown into the water, believing that all the bad things of the previous year have been banished and a good year will follow. All Hindus try to go to the Ganges at least once in their lives. Many people are buried there.
| Things
to do!
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Take a little quiz. Match the names of the Gods to their faces.
Make traditional Hindu sweets, called Barfi.
www.hindulink.org/hnb/children2.htm - more information about Hinduism
http://free.bluemountain.com/cdb/RGN/HIN/ - Hindu cards for you to make and send!