Hinduism is one among the many world religions with followers spread across the globe. I got an opportunity to visit Malibu Hindu Temple which is located in the city of Calabasas near Malibu, California in the Santa Monica Mountains. I came to note that Malibu Hindu Temple which is the temple of the Hindu god Venkateswara was built in the year 1981 and its owners and operators are the Hindu Temple Society of Southern California. Just like other Hindu Temples, Malibu Hindu Temple its style is that of traditional, thus most of those who visit this temple are followers of Hinduism living in Southern California. At the upper complex of Malibu Hindu Temple is Lord Venkateswara who is the presiding deity, while on at the lower complex is Lord Shiva …show more content…
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 …show more content…
In addition, the priest at the temple presents offerings in form of coconut, flowers, or fruit to the deity then he gives back some of the blessed objects to the devotees in the temple. These blessed gifts from the deity are known as prasada (divine favour) (P18). Within the Hindu tradition, six schools of philosophy are recognized and they include: Vedanta, Yoga, Mimansa, Veisheshika, Nyaya, and Samkhya. Among these six schools of philosophy, Yoga has attracted a wide popular following more so among the followers of Hindu, however, by far Vedanta is by far the most important school of philosophy (P 330). Shankara was who was one the earliest interpreters of Vedanta sees reality as non-dual (advaita). To the followers of Hinduism, both Atman (human soul and Brahman) are identical thus, the phrase “you are that” upholds unity of what many people perceive as two distinct entities in their lives. Followers of Hinduism believes that, under the influence of maya (illusion) human beings do believe that they are different from Brahman, however, when illusion is dispelled then the soul is automatically liberated by realization of its true
22. Every house has an altar that contains little statues of various Hindu gods. Hindus worship and clean these statues on a daily basis. 23.
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.
Hinduism, Buddhism and Shinto, while vast in differences there is much to learn about these three religions similarities as well. Some facts and history of Hinduism include, Hinduism (being the oldest of the three) is dated back in pre-history before 10000 BC even believed to predate the Indus River Valley Civilization! The Vedas (the holy text of Hinduism) is the foundation for Indian culture and also the basic belief system of Hinduism. The basic belief structure of Hinduism is as follows, the three doctrines; Samsara (1) which means “successive rebirths” indicating the belief in reincarnation started by ATMA or the spark of life given by the god Brahma. This cycle continues until the soul collects enough good Karma (2) to break from the
Chapter 11: The Importance of Numbers in Hinduism The scriptures state that numbers ranging from 0 to 10 have a symbolic importance for Hindus. They are associated with some of the key principles and gods of the religion. According to historical records, the Hindus developed the number system so they can systematically arrange their knowledge regarding the gods and the theories of creation. This chapter will provide you with some examples as to how numbers were used in Hindu ceremonies.
“Hinduism or Sanatana Dharma ("eternal spiritual path") began about 4000 years ago in India. It was the religion of an ancient people known as the Aryans ("noble people") whose philosophy, religion, and customs are recorded in their sacred texts known as the Vedas” (United Religions). Vedas are written in the ancient language of India, called Sanskrit. Vedas means “knowledge” or “sacred lore.” The Vedas gives great intelligence about the variety of Gods from the Vedic period, 2000 to 500 BCE (Molloy,78).
In India there are six orthodox schools of philosophy which recognize the authority of the Vedas as divine revelation, and they generally function as pairs - Nyaya and Vaishesika, Mimamsa and Vedanta, and Samkhya and Yoga. Those who did not recognize this authority were the Jains, Buddhists, and materialists. Even in India where spiritual ideas dominate the culture there were some who were skeptical of those ideals and held to a materialist view of the world; they were called Carvaka, and their doctrine that this world is all that exists is called Lokayata.
The Upanishad scriptures suggest that followers exercise their body and mind. These exercises become more important to Hindu practice as time goes by. Through the teachings of Upanishads there is a spiritual essence called “Brahman”. Brahman is a single world soul that is the base of all physical matter, energy, time and space. Brahman is all things on earth and beyond. It is thought that a person’s inner soul known as the “atman”, is part of Brahman and therefore; a person’s innermost soul is part of the single world soul. The meditation associated with the search for perfect knowledge has evolved into a permanent aspect of Hinduism and is known as “Yoga”. During this period Buddhism and Jainism were created as additional ways of reaching enlightenment while denying key teachings and practices.
The Hindu people who are pictured in the video segment, Budanilkantha: A Hindu Wedding, are practicing a custom of many Hindu people. A custom is the frequent repetition of an act, to the extent that it becomes a characteristic of the group of people performing the act. Although not all Hindus participate in arranged marriages, the acts that occur during the marriage are very similar. Before the wedding takes place, the bride receives a jewel that marks the central part in her hair which is a signal of her marriage.
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,
Hinduism is a polytheistic religion that is very much a part of the people in India and Nepal. It has over 900 million followers worldwide and it is considered one of the oldest religions in the world, dating back many thousands of years. This religion is split into many different branches because of their belief in many gods and goddesses. Each branch worships a different god that they view as “supreme above all others.” Granted that they had a great leader, Mahatma Gandhi, they were able to change the world, and more specifically the United States. His philosophical ideas inspired our country to fight for equality. But in order to understand this better, it is important to have a deeper understanding of the Hinduism beliefs.
Aboriginal region incubates many rituals and rites within their practices. Males and females both go through coming of age rites. Rituals are practical in large community setting to promote intensity. Rituals and rites such as circumcision, seclusion, and ornate decorative dressing are common. In Hinduism one of the most well known rituals was sacrifice. This was mostly practiced during the Vedic period. Nowadays death gives the most intricate rituals because of the unique view on the
In fact, like many Hindu families, we have a small shrine in our house to perform important ceremonies. Also, I have been going to the temple every Sunday for as long as I can remember, and I have been attending the BalaVihar program, which teaches young Hindus all about our beloved culture.
In our study of the Hinduism, the class visited The Hindu Temple of Greater Chicago (HTGC). This active temple is a house of worship that serves thousands of devotees as they pay hamage to a diverse variuety of Idol and spiritual gods. Taughted as one of the oldest religions in the world, it accepts all religious belief systems and God. In fact, the Temple is designed to accommodate any and many gods to include the practices and rites of the devotees. Our volunteer tour guide explained the Hindu theology in lthis way.
Evidently, all of the religions in the world have different beliefs. Beliefs are the basis of one’s behaviour. Everything an individual does, traces back to the beliefs they have about the world. Hinduism and Buddhism are two religions that originated from the same nation, India. Both religions share beliefs on different paths to enlightenment, beliefs on reincarnation, and both believe in the spiritual practices of meditation. The purpose of this paper is to further discuss these beliefs, along with their similarities.
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.