Hinduism: a religion of many festivities
Hinduism is one of the most widely practiced religions around the world. As any religion, Hinduism has numerous holidays and festivals that are honoured publicly and by many. These festivals are complex and wonderful and will be explained in great detail. First off, before going further into Hindu festivals, it would be beneficial to shed some light on Hinduism itself. Other than in India, Hinduism is the religion of around 2 billion people in Great Britain, Canada, the Caribbean, the United States, Australia and East Africa (Narayanan, V., 2006). Originating from India five thousand years ago, it is now a world wide practice. Hindus – a term rooting from “Sindhu”, the river of Indus” – did not always use that word to describe themselves that way since it had more of a geographical aspect to it. When the British colonized India, the term “Hinduism” came to be. Many Western academics believe that Indo-Europeans peacefully migrated to Central Asia in 2000 B.C.E. and other academics believe that migration happened in 1600 B.C.E. Indo-Europeans spoke in a language called Sanskrit, now a language no longer spoken, that helped create various poems on ceremonies and philosophies, passed on orally from generation to generation. These poems (or Vedas) were made into mnemonic devices (or mantras) to make sure of proper pronunciation, utterance and rhythm. For example, the sound “AUM” symbolizes “the trinity of God in Brahma (the creator), Vishnu (the preserver), and Shiva (the destroyer)” (Narayanan, V., 2006). Temples were also constructed to show faithfulness and loyalty to their gods – gods of different colors, male or female, some with many arms and some with many heads. As a result, Hinduism is an exquisite religion showing great devotion from its followers and great complexity of its history. Moving on to Hindu festivals, they are commemorated for many reasons, such as deities’ birthdays, ancient battles, etc (Narayanan, V., 2006). …show more content…
It is the festival of lights marked over a period of four days, celebrating life, pleasure and goodness all around the world (Subhamoy Das, 2015). There are many reasons why Dipavali is celebrate, which four out of ten reasons are: the birthday of Goddess Lakshmi, the rescued Lakshmi by Vishnu, a special day for the Jains, and the Diwali speech from Pope (Rajhans, S. G. & Das, S., 2014). People decorate their houses with lights and set off firecrackers, a lively way of celebrating …show more content…
It is a festival put in place to give thanks, honour and praise to one’s teacher, guru, or mentor. These mentors show someone the way into the “light of knowledge” (Pattni, B. N., Joshi D., 2013). The term guru is split into two parts: “gu” meaning darkness and “ru” meaning the remedy or “antidote” to darkness (Pattni, B. N., Joshi D., 2013). This festival is not only to give thanks and reverence to a spiritual guru, but as well to a school teacher, etc. In several cities of India, Guru Poornima is celebrated, in schools or other public places through diverse art forms, such as dance, music, theatre and other types of performances. Indian cultures place Gurus in a very high rank in society. Hindus seek peace, knowledge, wisdom, etc through this festival (Pattni, B. N., Joshi D., 2013). Overall, Guru Poornima is a day dedicated to one’s guru, role model, teacher, etc in order to admire and give appreciation for the help they have provided in one’s life to overcome the darkness of
Hinduism is one of the most widely practiced religions around the world. As any religion, Hinduism has numerous holidays and festivals that are honoured publicly and by many. These festivals are complex and wonderful and will be explained in great detail. First off, before going further into Hindu festivals, it would be beneficial to shed some light on Hinduism itself. Other than in India, Hinduism is the religion of around 2 billion people in Great Britain, Canada, the Caribbean, the United States, Australia and East Africa (Narayanan, V., 2006). Originating from India five thousand years ago, it is now a world wide practice. Hindus – a term rooting from “Sindhu”, the river of Indus” – did not always use that word to describe themselves that way since it had more of a geographical aspect to it. When the British colonized India, the term “Hinduism” came to be. Many Western academics believe that Indo-Europeans peacefully migrated to Central Asia in 2000 B.C.E. and other academics believe that migration happened in 1600 B.C.E. Indo-Europeans spoke in a language called Sanskrit, now a language no longer spoken, that helped create various poems on ceremonies and philosophies, passed on orally from generation to generation. These poems (or Vedas) were made into mnemonic devices (or mantras) to make sure of proper pronunciation, utterance and rhythm. For example, the sound “AUM” symbolizes “the trinity of God in Brahma (the creator), Vishnu (the preserver), and Shiva (the destroyer)” (Narayanan, V., 2006). Temples were also constructed to show faithfulness and loyalty to their gods – gods of different colors, male or female, some with many arms and some with many heads. As a result, Hinduism is an exquisite religion showing great devotion from its followers and great complexity of its history. Moving on to Hindu festivals, they are commemorated for many reasons, such as deities’ birthdays, ancient battles, etc (Narayanan, V., 2006). …show more content…
It is the festival of lights marked over a period of four days, celebrating life, pleasure and goodness all around the world (Subhamoy Das, 2015). There are many reasons why Dipavali is celebrate, which four out of ten reasons are: the birthday of Goddess Lakshmi, the rescued Lakshmi by Vishnu, a special day for the Jains, and the Diwali speech from Pope (Rajhans, S. G. & Das, S., 2014). People decorate their houses with lights and set off firecrackers, a lively way of celebrating …show more content…
It is a festival put in place to give thanks, honour and praise to one’s teacher, guru, or mentor. These mentors show someone the way into the “light of knowledge” (Pattni, B. N., Joshi D., 2013). The term guru is split into two parts: “gu” meaning darkness and “ru” meaning the remedy or “antidote” to darkness (Pattni, B. N., Joshi D., 2013). This festival is not only to give thanks and reverence to a spiritual guru, but as well to a school teacher, etc. In several cities of India, Guru Poornima is celebrated, in schools or other public places through diverse art forms, such as dance, music, theatre and other types of performances. Indian cultures place Gurus in a very high rank in society. Hindus seek peace, knowledge, wisdom, etc through this festival (Pattni, B. N., Joshi D., 2013). Overall, Guru Poornima is a day dedicated to one’s guru, role model, teacher, etc in order to admire and give appreciation for the help they have provided in one’s life to overcome the darkness of