1. Introduction
2. Worship
2.1. Experience
2.2. Deity
3. Life Cycle
3.1. Marriage
3.2. Death
4. Festival
4.1. Diwali
4.2. Holi
5. Performance
5.1. Ramlila
5.2. Ramayana
5.3. Durga
6. Gurus
6.1. Anand ma
6.2. Radha
7. Caste system
7.1. Dalit
7.2. Brahmin
8. Diaspora
8.1. Pittsburg
8.2. Hindu
9. Identity
9.1. Militant Hinduism
9.2. Tolerant
9.3. Hindu Hinduism
9.4. Interlogue
10. Conclusion
1. Introduction
The book is a collection of 12 essays on different walks of Hindu life as it can be observed today with a purpose to present the reader with the diversity that is unique to ‘Hindu life.' We start with a real life scenario that is seen and then proceed to reflect upon its ideological antecedent as it appears in traditional …show more content…
Marriage, for most girls, is embrassing because it is an adult affair, in the sense that this is something only the parents and relatives do. In some places in India, the parents try and get the the girl married before puberty, e.g. in places like Bhopal, the ideal age as considered by the consensus is 11 years old. The government of India did in 1955 pass a law outlawing child marriage however, the law’s long hands do not reach the villages in India. Abstinence is favored, however, premarital sex is not uncommon. In line with this thinking, love marriages are an anathema, according to Indian culture. Most marriages are between people who’ve never met or even seen each other. Marriages in India are more about families and less about the individuals getting married. The only way a woman can attain a position of authority in her in laws home is by outliving her mother in …show more content…
Gurus
6.1. Anandamayi Ma
Nirmala Sundari was born in a poor Brahmin familyin 1896. She was married by 12 and lived with her husband till his death in 1938. From the initial days of marriage, Nirmala would retreat from daily activities and spend her time in spiritual ecstasy. Soon she was noticed by people as an extraordinary spiritual person. Her husband believed that his wife was an incarnation of a goddess. She bgan to be called Anandmayi Ma. In 1926, she stopped being a wife and began travelling all around India. By this time, she’d stopped eating and had to be fed by her devotees. It is said that there was a spiritual aura around her. Anandamayi Ma’s teaching was very simple, that God alone exists. She suggested that people begin to look within themselves with restraining of the senses till they come to the realization that he/ she is god. According to Ma’s biographer, Ma was neither a woman nor a saint. To devotees of Ma, she in everything, Ma is Krishna, Ram, Shiva etc.
6.2.