The Importance Of The Kumbh Mela

Health & wellbeing day promotion of healthy Asian finger foods for many people who attended the day this was a new experience including myself.

Although religions today take on many shapes and forms, and may seem so dramatically different from each other, in order to study and understand these religions, their similarities must be identified. This paper will first present a definition of religion that will connect to all religions at the simplest base. Then this paper will examine the common practices and experiences that are present in both the primary religions of the world, as well as the indigenous religions. Finally, this paper will discuss the issues that are critical to the academic study of religions.

Hinduism practiced by individuals, certain groups, mass festival, and at the temple. In the beginning of the film, the narrator’s guru confessed his devotion to Kali – meaning that individuals can choose certain god which fits his will. interesting thing is that people having primary god means Hindus categorized into different sections depending on their gods. Those categorized people could experience tension between one another in my opinion. However, the existence of millions of gods decrease the tension between the groups. The festival of Saraswati was the perfect example to practice the religion for certain groups. The students celebrate the festival to refresh their motivation and seeks higher will to learn. Yet, there was another form of practice – mass festival like other religions. The example was the Ganges River cleansing festival. The river was considered sacred, pure, and has a power of cleansing sins of whomever bath himself/herself. To me, the catering of thousands of people trying to cleanse their sins off shows the power of the religion and devotion of Hindus. Also, the most common form of practicing religion is temples. Hindu temples have its own architecture and art forms to amaze people.

Other preparations of marriage include the bride immersing in a mikvah (ritual bath) to cleanse herself for her new life with her husband. Also both bride and groom fast on the day of their wedding. Both these practices highlight the significance of marriage as they are both practices used to mark an important holy event in Judaism, for example, Jewish people fast on “Yom Kippur” the most holy day of the Jewish year. Preparing in this way allows the man and woman to mentally prepare them

The participation in these events and overall repetition enforces the religious content and provides an optimistic vision of existence and eventual transcendence for the participant. It provides a break from a temporal and profane duration of time and into a sacred time of importance and meaning for a religion and its followers.

Within many known religions, the devotional practices has been known to acquire great importance. The essence of practicing what you preach has scolded many religious groups, introducing true beliefs, righteousness, and a wider connection to the supreme being . In the book entitled “ Living religions” by Mary Pat Fisher, clarified and firm descriptions were introduced about religious rituals. Surprisingly; the author utilized small parts of modern concepts, limiting the reader from a full comprehension of religious practices today, therefore; I will only discuss the basic and traditional rituals. To elaborate; in this paper, I will be providing an opinionated but also, comparative description of the major practices and rituals that undergo in both the Abrahamic and indigenous religions.

An additional polarity of Hindus and Buddhists are their unique rituals and practices. The most fundamental ceremonies for every Hindu are those that involve the rites of passage. These begin with the first time a child eats solid food. The last rites are the funeral ceremonies and the yearly offerings to dead ancestors. Rotating prayer wheels is a ritual of Tibetan Buddhists. The prayer wheels have inscribed mantras or sacred chants. The wheel is believed to release benevolent forces and acquire merit for the worshipper.

DBQ: Using specific examples from the documents below, analyze the purposes that rituals and festivals served in traditional

Every Culture has a set of rituals that they partake in, that are often constructed over a long period of time. Simple Actions, and special moments contain so much meaning and make everlasting memories. All rituals despite the locations they originate from, or the location they are carried out in contain the same components, they are repetitive, symbolic, remind a certain group of people about their values and beliefs, and these rituals commemorate a significant moment. For example christians commemorate the birth of christ by attending mass, and many other cultures celebrate this moment in many different ways that have in depth symbolic meaning. In the book “Guests of the Sheik” by Elizabeth Warnock Fernea rituals play a major role. Fernea’s husband Bob is an anthropologist studying the occupants of a small village named El Nahra and their culture. Fernea has documented her experiences, and adventures, and her perspective of the many rituals that the townspeople participate in such as, Ramadan, Muharram, weddings, and pilgrimages. In Muslim culture pilgrimages are immensely important and can even lead to an elevated status. Such as the pilgrimage to Mecca. Fernea is able to participate in a pilgrimage to Karbala with a couple of the towns women she had befriended. The Pilgrimage to Karbala is a symbolic, and cultural ritual in the aspect that it is reenacted every year, and is full of symbolic meaning, commemorates an important occasion and reminds a culture about their

These rituals usually start as the sun rises. The tribe will start heading towards the shrine. When they reach it they will wait outside and start making food in honor off their god “Hawkeye”. They will also drink an elixir made out of barley, hops and yeast with water. The tribe believes this elixir brings the tribe closer together and allows the mind to talk their god more easily. They will continue to drink this elixir for hours until they have consumed enough to go to the shrine and start the religious ritual.

With the cultural differences, it is hard to understand why the Nacirema make these rituals a huge importance. Ethnocentrism plays a role, and is very present because it is very easy to judge one group’s behaviours and beliefs from the perspective of our own. It may be because it is something that we are not accustomed to or may find odd and unethical. If we were to put ourselves in their shoes, it is certain the cultures around the world may find our own “rituals and traditions” to be odd as well.

My grandparents and parents were Hindu priests, having been raised with the family ancestral traditions and belief, I have often been exposed to rituals based on spirituality.

Although many cultures have different say in this sacred ceremony, most have similar ideas.  To many

* How does the ritual seek to change the participants? –Protect them from future sufferings, provides more insight into meditation

Puja is a Hindu ceremony that centers on the offerings to a deity, this offering aims to earn the deity’s love and gather blessings. This ritual is symbolic, and an individual who performs Puja is offering the body, soul and all that there possess to the deity to receive what the goddess may have to offer.  During puja, an individual seeks a connection with the goddess through the experience of Darshan. In the context of darshan, a Murti is an absorption tool in which the deity is seen, and an individual sees god through that Murti. The ceremony is a personal devotion declaration of love and loyalty to a deity and establishes direct communication through mind and body.