Hinduism

By Jessica Collins

               Hinduism is known as the 3rd biggest religion in the world, which means that most of the    people in the world worship and respect most of the same things.  India is known as the birth place for Hinduism that means that Hinduism first begun in and was made in India. When you are a Hindu you are committing to honor their gods from generation to generation. Hindus believe that since people are different they need different ways of approaching their gods. There are over 700 million people that have Hinduism as their religion. One of the world’s oldest living religions.

   Hindus worship many gods and goddesses also known as avatars. They believe in only one single spirit. The most important gods and goddesses are Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma. Shiva is known as the destroyer, Vishnu is known as the preserver, and Brahma is known as the creator. Their gods can take many different forms such as in both human and animal qualities. All gods are a part of one all powerful force called Brahman. Hindu teachings believe that Brahma was born from a gold egg, and that he created the earth and everything on it, but he is not as widely worshiped than Vishnu and Shiva. Hindus believe that Vishnu is a kind god that cares about the welfare of human beings, to protect them from disaster. Shiva does not care about human beings he destroys the universe than remakes it again. Hindu gods have their own families such as Shiva’s wife was named shakati and she was also known as the destroyer but at times she was also kind.

This is a picture of Vishnu she is known as the preserver!!  http://www.greatdreams.com/myth/blue_man.htm	This is a picture of Brahma. http://static.webdunia.com/mwdimages/thumbnail/image/nnozizi	This picture is of Shiva, she is known as the destroyer.  www.hobologic.com

      All Hindus share religious writings for example they all use the same writing and sacred texts. One of their religious texts is called asupanishads which means "sitting near a teacher." Teachers believe that Brahma had no physical form. One idea in the asupanshads is reincarnation or also known as rebirth of the soul. Hindus believe that every living thing has a soul. An action of someone’s life affects that same person’s fate into the next life. Faithful Hindus will be reborn into a higher position. If a person lives a perfect life than they will be reborn after death.

     All Hindus treat Brahma with kindness and respect because they believe they are a part of him. Maryada Purushott means “a person with all good qualities”. Most gods are males and many of them relate to the weather. People sacrificed animals to their gods. Hindus sometimes believed that they got in touch with their gods by drinking a drug called soma which helped them hear their gods. Some Hindus did not want to be reborn so they did not need to sacrifice animals. Hindus did not kill animals for Shiva and Vishnu instead they gave flowers, prayed, and they also play music to show respect.

     A new god that came into Hinduism was a mother goddess, cows were sacrificed to her so Hindus did not eat beef, and she also had many names, to many to be listed. Parvati, uma, and Annapurna were beautiful gods that brought blessings to the people. Kali, chandi, durga, and chamuda, are goddesses that are terrible giants with black skin and huge red tongues that stick out. They have many arms and each arm holds a weapon, and wears necklaces of skulls, and human heads. Hindus sung hymns of rigveda that revealed the foremost god of Aryans is Indra, known as the war god and great slayer of demons and animals. Some people worship and pray every day and enjoy helping others.

      The four goals of Hinduism are dharma which means virtue; it refers to the duties of a person’s caste and to fulfill those duties willingly and expertly. Kama is known as pleasure interoperated as enjoyment of music, dance, art, poetry, drama, and literature. Artha means to be successful in something such as work or even school. Moksha means to release someone from the cycle of death and rebirth.  

Here are some links for more information:

http://www.crystalinks.com/indiadieties.html

http://www.hinduwebsite.com/hinduism/pantheon.asp

http://www.sanatansociety.org/hindu_gods_and_goddesses.htm /heritage/gindex.html

http://www.saigan.com   

sarah-krysia-indian yoga

nick-noah-gods and goddesses of ancient India

http:// www.lawsofbrahman.com/img/brahma-lordbrahma.jpg This is a picture of hindus worshiping their god Brahma

This is a picture of Brahma playing a musical insturment http://r6xx.com/images/uploads/DSCN3780.JPG

http://scriptures.ru/.../murtis/brahma_vishnu_shiva.jpg

This is a picture of Sshiva, Vishnu, and Brahma these are the most worshiped gods in Hinuism  

Sources:

Websites: 

Dr. Karen Carr. "Hinduism". History For Kids. January 15,2009. 

www.historyforkids.org/learn/ india/religion/hinduism.htm>

 <www.hindubooks.org> Source disappeared after research.

Bamber Gascoigne."History of Hinduism." History World. No date on page.

< http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ab75 >

No author listed ."Theology. On Truth and Reality. 2010.

<http://www.spaceandmotion.com/theology-morality-god-world-religions.htm

Books: 

Pearson Education. The Begginings of Hinduism.  

Pearson Prentice Hall. New Jersey. 2003.

Here are some questions to see if you understand hinduism!!!

1.  What are the three most important gods?

2.  All gods are in what all powerful force?

3.  What are the four goals of Hinduism??