Everything about Hindu totally explained
A
Hindu (
Devanagari: हिन्दू) is an adherent of the philosophies and scriptures of
Hinduism, a set of
religious,
philosophical and
cultural systems that originated in the
Indian subcontinent.
When and how the word 'Hindu" was coined isn't precisely established. It is absent in early sacred literature of
Indian origin. It was used by ancient
Persians, without religious connotations, for the people inhabiting the lands of river Indus. Regular usage of the word is encountered in the accounts of foreign invaders of the medieval period, to describe collectively the followers of
Indian religions.
British Raj, with the help of the academia, defined
Hindus precisely for demographic and legal purposes .
(Citation needed)
There are approximately 920 million Hindus,of the world population making Hinduism the
third largest religion in the world after
Christianity and
Islam; of these, about 890 million live in India, and 30 million in the
Hindu diaspora. Other countries with large Hindu populations include
Bangladesh,
Myanmar (Burma),
Sri Lanka,
Fiji,
Guyana,
Nepal,
Singapore,
Indonesia,
Malaysia,
South Africa,
Mauritius,
Suriname,
Trinidad and Tobago,
Canada,
Netherlands and
United Kingdom.
Who is a Hindu?
It is believed that actual term “Hindu” first occurs as a Persian geographical term (derived from the Sanskrit word
sindhu), to identify the people who lived beyond the
River Indus. In Arabic texts Al-Hind is a term for the people of modern day India. “Hindu” was used towards the end of the eighteenth century by the
British to refer to the people of “
Hindustan”, the area of northern and adjoining northwestern India. Eventually “Hindu” became virtually an equivalent to anybody of “Indian” origin who wasn't otherwise
Sikh,
Jain, or belonged to a religion of
Abrahamic denomination, thereby encompassing a wide range of religious beliefs and practices.
Due to the wide diversity in the beliefs, practices and traditions encompassed by Hinduism, there's no universally accepted definition on who a Hindu is, or even agreement on whether Hinduism represents a religious, cultural or socio-political entity. In 1995, Chief Justice P. B. Gajendragadkar was quoted in an
Indian Supreme Court ruling:
"When we think of the Hindu religion, unlike other religions in the world, the Hindu religion doesn't claim any one prophet; it doesn't worship any one god; it doesn't subscribe to any one dogma; it doesn't believe in any one philosophic concept; it doesn't follow any one set of religious rites or performances; in fact, it doesn't appear to satisfy the narrow traditional features of any religion of creed. It may broadly be described as a way of life and nothing more."
Thus some scholars argue that the Hinduism isn't a religion
per se but rather a reification of a diverse set of traditions and practices by scholars who constituted a unified system and arbitrarily labeled it Hinduism. The usage may also have been necessitated by the desire to distinguish between "Hindus" and followers of other religions during the periodic
census undertaken by the colonial British government in India. Other scholars, while seeing Hinduism as a 19th century construct, view Hinduism as a response to British colonialism by Indian nationalists who forged a unified tradition centered on oral and written Sanskrit texts adopted as scriptures.
A commonly held view, though, is that while Hinduism contains both "uniting and dispersing tendencies", it has a common central thread of philosophical concepts (including
dharma,
moksha and
samsara), practices (
puja,
bhakti etc) and cultural traditions. These common elements originating (or being codified within) the
Vedic,
Upanishad and
Puranic scriptures and
epics. Thus a Hindu could :
» * follow any of the Hindu
schools of philosophy, such as
Advaita (non-dualism),
Vishishtadvaita (non-dualism of the qualified whole),
Dvaita (dualism),
Dvaitadvaita (dualism with non-dualism), etc.
» *follow a tradition centered on any particular form of the Divine, such as
Shaivism,
Vaishnavism,
Shaktism, etc.
» * practice any one of the various forms of
yoga systems; including
bhakti (devotion) in order to achieve
moksha.
In 1995, while considering the question "who are Hindus and what are the broad features of Hindu religion", the Supreme Court of India highlighted
Bal Gangadhar Tilak's formulation of Hinduism's defining features: This conceptualization of Hinduism, has led to establishment of
Hindutva as the dominant force in
Hindu nationalism over the last century.
Customs and traditions
Ethnic and cultural fabric
Large tribes and communities indigenous to India are closely linked to the synthesis and formation of Hindu civilization. Peoples of
East Asian roots living in the states of north eastern India and Nepal were also a part of the earliest Hindu civilization. Immigration and settlement of peoples from
Central Asia and peoples of
Indo-Greek heritage have brought their own influence on Hindu society.
The
Indus Valley Civilization is often taken to represent the historical continuum of Hinduism. The roots of Hinduism in southern India, and amongst tribal and indigenous communities is just as ancient and fundamentally contributive to the foundations of the religious and philosophical system.
Ancient Hindu kingdoms arose and spread the religion and traditions across
South East Asia, particularly
Thailand,
Nepal,
Burma,
Malaysia,
Indonesia,
Cambodia and what is now central
Vietnam. A form of Hinduism particularly different from Indian roots and traditions is practiced in
Bali, Indonesia, where Hindus form 90% of the population. Indian migrants have taken Hinduism and Hindu culture to
South Africa, Fiji, Mauritius and other countries in and around the
Indian Ocean, and in the nations of the
West Indies and the
Caribbean.
Linguistics of Hinduism
Although the Vedas, the Mahabharata and the
Ramayana were composed and recorded in language
Sanskrit, several other important religious and philosophical works were written in languages like
Pali,
Prakrit,
Tamil,
Hindi,
Nepali,
Kannada,
Assamese,
Punjabi,
Malayalam,
Telugu,
Gujarati,
Marathi,
Oriya,
Bengali and
Maithili.
Many modern discourses, essays and analysis of Hindu religion and society, as well as retellings of its greatest epics, are published in the
English language.
Hindu ceremonies, observances and pilgrimages
Hinduism is also very diverse in the religious ceremonies performed by its adherents for different periods and events in life, and for death. Principal Festivity of the Hindus also vary from region to region which include Diwali, Shivratri, Ram Navami, Janmashtmi, Durgapuja, Holi, Navatri, etc.
Initiation
Sixteen Sanskars (Rituals)
These are various rituals necessary within a life of Hindu. These Sanskras are applied during different phases of life. Some of those are:
1] Jatkarma (worshipping those instruments which are used for living based on profession eg. when a child was 5 day old.)
2] Namkaran (Name ceremony)
3] Annaprashan(Start of Eating)
4] Kesharpan (First time hair cut at around age of 1)
5] Upnayan (thread ceremony –only applicable to three varnas among four but can also be applicable to last Varna in some exceptional cases)
6] Vidyarambh(start of education)
7] Nikhkraman
8] Vivah(Marriage)
9] Garbhadhan
10] Antim Sanskar(last rites before cremation of corpse)
Some Hindus, may perform initiation ceremonies like
Upanayana or
Janoy or 'Bratabandha'. These ceremonies have variants depending on the
caste, the culture and the region.
In a ceremony administered by a
priest, a coir string, known as Janoy or Poonal, is hung from around a young boy's left shoulder to his right waist line for
Brahmins and from right shoulders to left waistline by
Kshatriyas. The ceremony varies from region to community, and includes reading from the Vedas and special
Mantras and
Slokas.
Young females (prepubescent until married) don't have similar ritual passage as young males. However, some young Hindu females, especially those from southern India, may follow annual Monsoon Austerity Ritual of Purification by not eating cooked food for one or two weeks, depending on age of child. This is known as "Goryo" or "Goriyo".
Generally speaking, Hindus are free to join an order or inner circle, and once they've joined it they may submit to its rites and way of living. But this type of joining is voluntary and has the possibility of leaving the order at any time without serious objection from fellow followers as long as one says and does things without associating them with the order which he or she's left. It is a social form of co-option of life style. It is said in Sanskrit that, "dharmo hi hato hanti, dharmo rakshati rakshitah", which translates to "Dharma, when destroyed, destroys; dharma protects when [itis]protected", meaning the path of righteousness will protect one as long as one upholds and follows it. The initiation (
diksha), a sort of purification or consecration involving a transformation of the aspirant's personality, is regarded as a complement to, or even a substitute for, the previous initiation ceremony
rite of consecration that preceded the Vedic sacrifice in ancient India; in later and modern Hinduism, the initiation of a layman by his guru (spiritual guide) into a religious sect.
In the
soma sacrifices of the Vedic period, the lay sacrificer, after bathing, kept a day-long (in some cases up to a yearlong) silent vigil inside a special hut in front of a fire.
Some Hindus will give offerings to their gods by placing rice or flowers in a bowl above the stove every morning before they eat, and behind this bowl may be a picture of one of their gods. Along with giving offerings they might also pray to the god they gave an offering to.
Hindu New Year
Hindu New Year is celebrated at different times of the year by people of different states. Many regions have different calendars with some starting in March while others begin at the time of
Diwali, the festival of lights in autumn.
Andhra Pradesh,
Karnataka and
Maharashtra states celebrate New Year on the different days called ugadi in andhra pradesh. Hosavarsha in Karnataka ., but West Bengal, Punjab, Assam,Tamil Nadu and some parts of coastal Karnataka celebrate the New Year at different time (
April 14). The names of the new year vary also. For example Bengali people call their new year as Poila Boishak and Assamese people call it Bihu.
Marathi people call new year
Gudi Padwa while
Kannadigas &
Telugu people call new year
Ugadi.
Saptapadi is an important ritual performed during the wedding in which the bride and the groom circumambulate a sacred fire, known as
agni, seven times. As the inheritance of the family wealth was by the males only, girls who would move out to live with another family after marriage, were given a fair share of the family wealth as
dowry. However, it should be noted here that there's nothing in the Hindu scriptures that makes references to dowry. This is a man-made tradition and isn't condoned by the religion. With the modernization of Hindu society, some eligible bachelors started to see this as a demandable contribution from the bride's father. The practice of demanding a dowry is still prevalent in some parts of India and sometimes the bride's family or the bride gets harassed by the groom's family for this.
Dowry formed an integral part of Hindu marriage until it was rendered unlawful by the Indian government in 1961. Dowry is legal if it represents "stri-dhana" for example a girl's share of the parents' wealth, given voluntarily by the parents. In some parts of Indian society, the dowry system is getting phased out and regarded as a disgraceful act. Education programs, women's outreach groups and media-based awareness have contributed to the reduction of dowry related issues, making the practice of mandatory dowries in marriages less significant in contemporary Hindu society.
Pilgrimage
Many Hindus make pilgrimages to the holy shrines (known as
Tirthas). Hindu holy shrines include the abode of Shiva, Mount
Kailash in
Tibet, Shiva's lingam in
Amarnath,
Anantnag,
Rameshwaram, and
Kedarnath; the holy cities of
Haridwar,
Dwarka,
Puri,
Prayaga,
Mathura,
Mayapur,
Tirumala,
Tirupati, Varanasi, and
Ayodhya. Goddess
Durga's holy shrine in
Vaishno Devi attracts thousands of devotees every year. Hundreds of millions of Hindus annually visit holy rivers such as the
Ganges ("Ganga" in Sanskrit) and
temples near them, wash and bathe themselves to purify their sins, make sacrifices and win pivous credits.
The
Kumbha Mela (
the Great Fair) is a gathering of between 10 to 20 million Hindus upon the banks of the holy rivers at Allahabad (Prayag), as periodically ordained in different parts of India by Hinduism's priestly leadership. The most famous is at the confluence of the Ganga and
Yamuna in
Uttar Pradesh which is known as "Sangam". It is regarded as the
Arulmigu Mathusoothana perumal sevva sangam
OM NAMO NARAYANA,
The presiding deity, Lord Madhusudhana, in majestic splendour, with a serene countenance and four arms, is nearly five feet in height. Lord Vishnu appears in the form of Madhusudhana with four hands. While, two hands hold the disc and conch, the other right hand is held aloft in abaya hastha position and the left rests on the left thigh. He is seen with Goddesses Lakshmidevi and Bhoomadevi.
Death
Upon the death of a Hindu person, his or her body is ceremonially bathed and wrapped in clean, mostly white khadi cloth. At the ceremony of cremation all mourners usually wear only white clothes. An attending priest conducts the ceremony, sanctifying the body and pyre by sprinkling holy water and singing or chanting religious hymns or songs. Hindus in India are cremated on open grounds upon wooden pyres. Typically, the pyre is set alight by the eldest male child of the deceased, or the closest male relative. The ashes of the person's remains are gathered and placed in a pot, which may be ritually immersed or released in any of Hinduism's holy rivers, usually within 3 days.
The practice of cremation isn't universal among Hindus. Hindus of various regions and castes may bury their dead as well, as per their families tradition.
Bindi and Decoration
The area between the eyebrows (where the bindi is placed) is said to be the sixth chakra, ajna, the seat of "concealed wisdom". According to followers of Tantrism, this chakra is the exit point for kundalini energy. The Bindi is said to retain energy and strengthen concentration. (External Link
). It is also said to protect against demons or bad luck. In addition to the bindi a vermilion mark in the parting of the hair just above the forehead is worn by married women as a symbol of their married status. During Indian marriage ceremonies, the groom applies sindoor on the parting in the bride's hair. Depending on the dharam of the religion colours vary.
Ancient Buddhist women wore similar marks (for purely decorative purposes) since the second century, which became popular during the Tang Dynasty.
Religion for the common Hindu
Nastika) was simply whether the person, in principle, accepted the authority of the Vedas. Such acceptance was in many cases a matter of common terminology and wildly different belief systems coexist (including atheistic, polytheistic, monotheistic, among others) within the community of "believers." Consequently, for the common Hindu, the connection to the Vedas is mostly through certain chants that are performed at various ceremonies, and not through an emotional/spiritual connection to the content of the Vedas.
The Puranas are a wide collection of religious treatises, biographies and stories on the historical, mythological and religious characters in Hindu folklore, classic literature and sacred scriptures. They are often the source of popular Hindu folk tales and religious lessons and thus play a much bigger role in the emotional/spiritual dimension of the common Hindu's life.
Yoga is an important connection for a Hindu to his religious and historical heritage. The art of spiritual and physical exercises are a distinguished native tradition pursued by millions of Hindus worldwide.
Indian Vedic astrology is important to the conduct of any of life's important events such as marriage, applying for a post or admission, buying a house or starting a new business. To millions of Hindus the kundali is an invaluable possession that charts the course of life for a man or a woman from the time of his birth, all ascertained by Vedic mathematics and astrology.
Perhaps the most popular Hindu scripture is the Mahabharata, depicting a civil war within a family that takes on dimensions of the struggle between dharma and adharma. Krishna's discourse to the warrior prince Arjuna, known as the Bhagavad Gita and contained in the Mahabharata, is the guide book on life for the common Hindu. For many Hindus the Bhagavad Gita is considered a source of divine guidance and inspiration. Devotional readers apply Krishna's teachings to the personal and worldly contexts of their life. It is often considered as the main source of religious teaching for Hindu practitioners.
Similarly, the Ramayana, depicting the life of the prince and king Rama, also plays a big role through its many different versions. To hundreds of millions of Hindus, Rama is more than just an incarnation of the Supreme, or simply a just king of Ayodhya. He is the still living, thriving soul and identity of real Hinduism. Rama is the image of Hinduism, the Perfect Man, its conscience and undying hope of deliverance.
The doctrines of moksha by the diligent discharge of personal, social and religious duty is the cornerstone of Hindu society. By following one's duty (Swa-Dharma) one gains merit and, when the process is completed, union with the Godhead and cessation of the cycle of birth and death. Dereliction of duty will result in all sorts of misfortunes, including birth into a lower level in the social hierarchy. This is a strong motivation to stick to the right path of human nature. Commonly this swa-dharma or varna is misunderstood as caste, the class identity in Hindu society. Varna is determined by a soul's karma, while Jat or caste is determined by birth and not necessarily in a person's nature. So it's important for a person to follow their true nature and seek to do their duty in life.
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