Dont Hindu Idols : DonT Hindus Worship Idols?

Hinduism is a religion practiced all over the world and has gained a large following. Hinduism got its start in the Indus Valley civilization and since then has evolved into a open and tolerant religion upon which every and anybody from all walks of life are welcome. In Hinduism there is a divine reality which can best be described as all reality is ultimately one for monistic Hindus or that there is no distinction between the divine reality and the rest of reality for dualistic Hindus. Either way it is put Hindus try to understand divine reality through their different gods, images, nature, and avatars.

Hinduism is a major religious and cultural tradition of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a diverse family of devotional and ascetic cults and philosophical schools, all sharing a belief in reincarnation and involving the worship of a large pantheon of deities.

Before I read Stephen Prothero’s God Is Not One, I did not know much about Hinduism. For me, Hinduism conjured the images of bright colors, richly adorned statues, and jovial worship and dance. When we visited the Ganesh Temple in Flushing, that is exactly what I saw. Yet, now I know the reason for all these things. Although Hinduism is a largely varying tradition, it is namely about love and celebration. Given the evidence from Prothero’s book and my observations at the Ganesh Temple, Hinduism is a tradition that aims to gives purpose to human’s wandering souls through devote worship to deities and rituals.

Around the world, people believe Hinduism isn’t a religion, but a way of life. Michael Molloy states, “Hinduism is not a single, unified religion; it is more like a family of beliefs (75).” It was constructed from the Aryans who brought it into India in 1500 BC. The religion is one of the dominant religion in India over centuries. “Hinduism is the religion followed by about 70 percent of the roughly seven hundred million people of India. Elsewhere, with the exception of the Indonesian island of Bali, Hindus represent only minority

First, I would like to introduce the religion of Hinduism. The term Hinduism was derived a river of South Asia, the Indus. This term was used by the ancient Persians to classify the people of that region of the North-West territory of the subcontinent. Indian religion, Hinduism, was the term given by the British in the nineteenth century to the population of India that were neither Muslim or Christian.

The common ground of religions in the world is that they claim the existence of god/gods who holds the power beyond human ability. Each religion explains its existence in their own unique ways and implement it to people’s lifestyle. The film, 330 Million Gods, seeks to understand the Hinduism way of explanation. This documentary mainly focuses on the Hindu concept of divine, religious practices, and the stages of life. Also, the documentary illustrates how Indian lifestyle blends into its religion in the big cities – city of Benares and rural areas – village of Bhith Bhagwanpur. The most interesting points of this film presents to me are the idea of many gods with different sets of ability, how the Hindus practice the religion, and the concept

Hinduism is based in Henotheistic. They believe in one god Brahmin that manifests himself in many different Gods and Goddesses. They worship their Gods and Goddess in the form of idols and also utilize large ornate temples.

Hinduism is considered by many to be the oldest religion in the world that is still in practice today. Followers of the Hindu religion, called Hindus, make up the third largest religion in existence. Hinduism is mostly a polytheistic religion, meaning that most Hindus believe in many gods and goddesses, although some sects of Hinduism do believe that there is one supreme deity. Hindus traditionally have four life goals: moksa, dharma, artha, and karma. Like most religions, Hinduism has spread to the West. With this expansion of religion comes the use of sacred religious gods and symbols in Western pop culture. Many times, the use of Hindu religious symbols by non-Hindu Westerners is culturally appropriating and unnecessary. However, other times what some consider to be culturally appropriating is not so at all to others.

Hinduism, the world’s oldest religion, is the third largest religion in the world after Islam and Christianity with close to one billion followers. The followers of the religion are called Hindus and are mainly located in India, and their place of worship is a temple. The religion doesn’t have any one specific founder, however,

In addition, Hindu Temples such as Malibu Hindu Temple has a correlation to the universe itself and to the body of divine beings. In the case of India, followers believe that a single glimpse of the temple tower is enough to destroy one’s sins (P 317). Apart from the practice of temple worship followers of Hinduism their devotion to spiritual teacher or to their deities through puja rituals that are performed at home. Followers of Hinduism set aside some spaces of a cabinet shelf at their home to act as a shrine to hold small images or pictures of their revered figures. In addition, family members engage themselves in daily puja whereby they recite prayers, they offer food to their deity, and they light oil lamps and incense sticks. Similarly, Hindus engage themselves in elaborate rituals such as giving an offering to the Satyanarayana on the days of the full-moon. Most of the domestic rituals are conducted by women, for example in the case of India, women come together on certain days of the year to celebrate the goddess by fasting, feasting, and engaging themselves in auspiciousness rituals for the happiness of their

As the most complex deity within the Hindu pantheon, Shiva is an extraordinarily important god. Although equal to Vishnu and Brahman, Shiva is engulfed in an eternal paradox as a result of his diverse characteristics. Furthermore, Shiva represents a variety of spiritual and domestic aspects of Hindu culture. Importantly, Shiva embodies the energy of the universe as both creator and destroyer; he is the ultimate construction of non-duality. Further, Shiva’s power and significance demonstrates philosophical teachings as to the way in which certain aspects of Hindu life are constructed. To illustrate, the iconography of Shiva incorporates identifying characteristics that are necessary to understanding his relevance as a god, Shiva establishes

There are three paths in Hinduism - the path of knowledge, the path of devotion and the path of action. The topic to be discussed in this paper is the path of devotion, or 'bhakti' in Sanskrit. Devotion is defined as, "love, loyalty, or enthusiasm for a person, activity, or cause" (Google Definitions). In the case of any religion, specifically Hinduism, this devotion is towards a God or number of gods and realizing that they are not just there to be worshipped but will also protect you and help you when you need them, creating a more personal relationship. I chose this topic because I think it is important, regardless of what religion you are, to have an utmost devotion toward whatever God or deity you are worshipping. God is the center of

The religion of Hinduism considers God as the one and only all-powerful being and the God each and every individual can worship and ask for guidance. The Hindus refer to God as Brahman. Monotheism is the concept of one god and is adopted by most world religions. On the other hand, Hinduism has its own unique concept of “only god" known as monism. In monism, everything that exists is said to have come from a single being known as Brahman and everything returns to this original state from which it first began. Hinduism believes that each individual is at a different stage of spiritual advancement thus is where the castes system comes into play. Everyone's path to God differs and requires a devotion of oneself to God.

Dissimilar to Christianity, Hinduism is portrayed as a family of beliefs. “Hinduism unites the worship of many gods with a belief in a single divine reality” (Molloy, 75). Hinduism can be compared to that of the Ganga Ma, a significant river in the Indian culture. Comparing it with the river saying that it flows and gains momentum. The Hindus have four very important life goals; kama or pleasure, artha or economic security, dharma or social and religious duty, and moksha or complete freedom. While Hinduism consist of more than one god, individuals tend to focus on a particular god. Three gods are particularly central in the life of Hinduism. The three gods, Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, represent creation, preservation, and destruction. (Molloy, 75).

The religion I chose to discuss for this assignment was Hinduism because I do not claim this religion and I am extremely curious about its practices. In the words of Merriam-Webster, the definition of Hinduism is the worship of many gods and the belief that after you die you return to life in a different form. To start off, I would like to ask why does Hinduism have and worships a copious number of gods? Also, why do some Hindu gods exhibit animal features? Lastly, why do Hindus honor all animals with the most prominent one being the cow?