Transcript Hinduism

Hinduism
What is Hinduism?
Hinduism is the oldest ‘living’ religion today.
Some say as it originates as far back as
4500 years ago!
It originated in the Indus Valley Civilisation
in North West India. Today that region is
known as Pakistan.
The religious beliefs of the Indus mixed with
later invaders to form an early form of
Hinduism as it is practised today.
This is a picture of Varanasi –
Which is known as the ‘Eternal City’
This religious capital of India is situated
on the banks of the holy river Ganges.
Hindus believe that it is presided over
by Lord Shiva.
A Map of Hindu India
General Basics
• Originated from near the Indus Valley, now
known as within Pakistan.
• Most Hindus believe in one ‘supreme’ God,
known as Brahman, who can take many different
forms each with their own new name.
• Hindus believe in rebirth judged by Karma.
• The main Hindu texts are known as the Vedas,
Sanskrit for ‘knowledge’. It contains their codes,
law and ways of living etc.
• Hindus celebrate many holy days, the most
famous known as Diwali.
What Hindus Believe
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Hindus believe in one God.
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They believe God is everywhere and in
everything.
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Hindus believe that he created the world
and everything in it.
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The Supreme Soul is called Brahman.
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Hindus believe that Brahman has many
forms.
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They believe that these forms represent
the different aspects of Brahman’s power.
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These forms are the thousands of gods and
goddesses of Hinduism.
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Many Hindus choose more than one of these
deities to worship.
Mandir
•The temple is a special place for Hindus.
•It is known as the Mandir and is regarded as
God’s home on Earth.
•A murti is a diety or image of a Hindu god or
godess and are to be found in the Mandir.
•The Murti is made according to the
instructions of the shilpa shastra. The priest
then installs them through the establishing of
life ceremony – known as the prana pratistha.
•They are treated as living beings and are
washed, dressed and fed during the day.
•Hindus visit the mandir for darshana, or a
‘sight’ of the deity.
Puja
•Puja is the name given to the Hindu act of worship.
•Sweets, flowers and fruit are made and through the
priest, to the deity to be blessed.
•These offerings are shared amongst the worshippers.
•This bestows a blessing by God and is known as prashad
•The priest who performs the puja in the temple
(mandir) is called a pujari
•After the puja, he places a red mark on the
worshippers foreheads. This is called tilak.
•Hindu women wear a red bindi / mark on their
foreheads to show that they are married.
Where do Hindus worship?
•Hindus worship at the Mandir – but they may also worship at home.
A family shrine may be created.
•This shrine may be a shelf or a corner of the room
•The family may come together and pray.
At the end of the puja, a tray of five lamps is circled in front
of the diety - Our five senses are represented by these five
lamps.
•The ceremony called ‘Arti’ is when the worshippers hold their hands
over the flames and touch their heads and eyes in order to gain
God’s blessing.
Diwali
• Worship to Lakshmi, Goddess of Wealth. (Known
by other names in other Hindu countries)
• Celebrates the love story of Sita and Rama.
• The festival of light.
• Good beating evil, light over dark.
• Diwali translates to: Rows of Lighted Lamps.
• The ‘earthware’ lamps known as Diyas.
• In India, patterns will be drawn on the floor of
their homes to make it ‘welcome’ to Lakshi.
Common patterns are Lotus Flowers.
When Diwali Takes Place
Diwali marks the start of a New Hindu
Year and usually takes place 3rd
November.
How Modern Hindus celebrate
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Decorating their homes
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Lighting Diva lamps in their windows
and outside their houses.
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Sending Divali cards
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Drawing Rangoli patterns as a sign of
welcome.
The story of Rama and Sita
A good man, called Rama, was married to a beautiful
princess, called Sita.
They had been banished to live in the forest with his brother, Lakshman,
by his stepmother, as she wanted her son to be King.
Ravana, the Demon king with ten heads, heard of Sita’s beauty and goodness and
planned to kidnap her. By magic, he conjured up a golden fawn. She asked Rama to
capture it
The demon king disguised himself as an old man and tricked Sita. He
kidnapped her and flew away on his chariot back to his island, Lanka.
Rama and Lakshman searched many months for Sita. Finally, they asked
Hanuman, king of the monkey army, for help. Hanuman could fly.
He found Sita imprisoned on the island of Lanka. Hanuman, Rama and
Lakshman prepared themselves for battle.
This was one of the greatest battles ever seen. The fighting lasted
for ten whole days.
It looked as though Ravana was going to win, until Rama borrowed a
special bow and arrow from the gods. Rama shot Ravana and the battle
was won.
Rama rescued Sita and they decided to go home. As it got
dark, the people of the kingdom put out little oil lamps (divas)
in their windows to show the way home.
It seemed as though there were more lamps than stars in the sky.
Everyone was happy and Rama and Sita ruled well. Now every year people remember this
story at Divali by lighting diva lights inside their homes and fireworks outside.
Female Clothing
• The traditional costume of Hindu women in India is the sari. This is a
piece of brightly coloured material that is wound and pleated around
the waist to cover the legs. An underskirt is worn beneath it. A short
blouse is worn on top, and the end of the sari is draped over the
shoulder on top of this. This leaves the midriff bare.
• In the UK, the older generation may still wear this costume, but
younger Hindus are beginning to wear long trousers and tunic tops as a
compromise between the sari and western clothing.
Modern
Male Clothing
• In the UK, Hindu men generally wear western
clothes. The older generation may
compromise by wearing normal trousers and a
long tunic top over them. The traditional
outfit is very similar to this; the tunic is a
jacket with buttons down the front and a
'Nehru' collar, and the trousers are generally
quite loose.
Modern
Make-up
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Hindu women wear a coloured spot on their forehead as a sign of their marital status and
are very proud of this. The mark is called a bhindi (also called bindi, or kumkum after the
name of the red powder that is used to make it).
Traditionally, the red spot that is worn by married women was marked on a bride's
forehead by the groom with his own blood, as a symbol of the bond between them.
Widows and some unmarried women may wear a black bhindi. Young and unmarried
women usually wear a bhindi that matches the colour of their outfit. For special
occasions, the usual simple make-up dot is supplemented by a jewelled stick-on mark.
Men sometimes use sectarian marks (known as tilaka) in a similar way to bhindi, as a
symbol of their caste (jati), class (varna) or religious sect.
Hindus also practise henna body art for special occasions. Intricate designs are traced
onto their hands, arms and feet using a henna paste and fine brushes or feathers. Once
the henna is washed off, the design remains as a tracery of fine ochre lines on the skin
and is there to ward off evil spirits and bad luck, and attract good fortune. Henna can
cause skin irritation.
parts
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Erin – Beliefs and the gods
Beth – Diwali and festivals
Chantelle – clothing and makeup etc
Catherine – worship and the holy books
Sarah – story and food
Johnathon – origin (& background) and what
it means to people
http://www.tes.co.uk/teachingresource/Hinduism-a-short-introduction-video6155439/