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RELIGIONS OF INDIA The 1971 census produced the following statistics:
Hindu The roots of religion in India date back to the days of the Rigveda. The belief is that the Veda (vid = to know) emanated like breath from Brahma, the soul of the universe and were revealed to the sages (Rishis). Hence, the Veda is known as shruti (what was heard). The Veda is composed of mantra (instrument which conveys thought) and braahmana (mantra illustrated by numerous legends and ritualistic manuals). The collections of mantras which are prayers and praises are composed in metrical hymns and constitute the Samhitaas. The early hymns conceive of a Supreme Being and elaborate the powers of nature personified as specific deities such as Agni (fire), Indra (Atmosphere) and Surya (Sun). Aditi was the infinite expanse; Varuna was the sky; Ushas was the dawn; Ashwins were twin sons of the sun riding a golden car as precursors of the dawn; Prithvi was the broad earth. A conflict between the drought Vritra and Indra, the fury of Rudra (tempest and storm), the judgement of Yama (the god of the dead) and the exhilarating rasa (alchemical produce) of Soma are elaborated in the hymns. The hymns continued to be transmitted from generation to generation, orally, even after Krishna Dwaipaayana (the arranger) had collated the hymns. The Vedanta or Hindu philosophy is derived
from the Veda. There are six darsanas (demonstrations) of Hindu
philosophy whose principal objective is to emancipate the soul from
future birth and existence and its absorption into the supreme soul of
the universe. These doctrines of Vedanta constitute the core of the Hindu religion, exemplified by the icons of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, deities representing creation, sustenance and dissolution of the universe. Brahma is the supreme soul of the universe from which all things emanate and to which all things return. Vishnu in the Rigveda is a manifestation of solar energy (vish, to pervade) and striding through the universe in three steps is the unconquerable preserving power. Shiva (occurs in the plural as Rudras in the Veda) is described in the Satarudriya of the Yajurveda as the deliverer, the first physician; is described in the Atharvaveda as the protector of cattle and as dark, black, destroying, terrible, the fierce god. The Ramayana adores Shiva as a great god. As Mahaakaala, he is the dissolving power; yet, he is also Sankara the auspicious, perpetually restoring what has been dissolved. Puranic mythology embellish the trinity with an array of anecdotes and stories and invent a number of icons representing various aspects of divinity as ideals to be sought by the worshipper or enquiring soul. The avataara (descent) is an incarnation of a deity, of Vishnu in particular. Hinduism is so eclectic that the Buddha (Gautama) is absorbed as the ninth avataara before Kalki. The ten avataaras, each of which is explained by a legend, are: matsya (fish); kuurma (tortoise); varaaha (boar); narasimha (man-lion); vaamana (dwarf); parasurama (rama with the axe); rama (the hero of the Ramayana); krishna (the dark-complexioned god); buddha; kalki (the white horse). The great epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata are poems of the heroic age and exhort the divinity and divine attributes in men and women. The Mahabharata includes the Bhagavad Gita which depicts the quintessence of the Hindu view of life. Puranas are mythological elaborations of the divine powers, of heroic exploits and legends are woven around many familiar heroes and heroines of the great epics. Mother Goddess is represented by Durga (goddess of battle), Kali (the incarnation of Shakti or primordial energy). A code of laws is enunciated as the Dharma-shastra (law book) which include Smritis (recollections, as distinct from Sruti, what is heard) recorded by the sages. The law book (authored not by one, but by many sages) is generally composed of rules of conduct, judicature and penance. Religion is the observance of rites and ceremonies and a set of moral and social duties; religion is composed of various regulations of society, intercourse, marriage, inheritance, birth-rites, funeral rites. Purusha is the great architect of the universe and is Visvakarman (Maanasaara, II, 2-5). Temple is a means of measuring the great Lord, just as His activity measures the wide heaven (Atharva Veda, IV.2.3) The Hindu temple as a monument has its outer surfaces and pillars adorned with sculptures of manifestations of the Supreme Soul. The Vimaana is the house and body of God, built by the application of proportionate measurement. A synonym of vimaana is praasaada, the seat and dwelling of God, a raised platform on a mound. Praasaada denotes pra-sad or settling down. The main shrine is the Garbhagriha, the womb and house of the embryo, the main object of worship. The temple is devaalaya, the house of God consecrated with the manifestation (muurti) of the Supreme Principle. The forms may vary, denoting a number of attributes of divine energy. Samaraanganasuutradhaara (XVIII.57) gives many names for the temples:
MUSLIM The central theme of Islam is the Unity of God. The main ritual is the prayer performed five times a day, ordained after Kalima, the creed or the belief in the Unity of God and the apostleship of Prophet Mohammed. This is the second pillar of the Faith. The other three are: Fast, Alms and Pilgrimage to the Kaaba in Mecca. Masjid lit. means a place where one prostrates oneself (before God). At the second call to prayers (takbir), worshippers stand in rows behind the Imam offer prayers at this place of divine service and public assembly for offering prayer in a congregation. "And verily, the mosques are for God only, hence invoke not anyone else with God therein" (Koran, Chapter LXXII, verse 18). There are many mosques in the Indian sub-continent:
CHRISTIAN Ancient Judean and Roman world was in contact with South India for sea-borne trade between Red Sea/Persian Gulf and the West Coast of India. Solomon, the Hebrew king (10th cent. B.C.) reportedly obtained from Malabar coast, 'ivory, apes and peacocks' as mentioned in the Old Testament. The Hebre word for peacock is an adaptation of the Tamil word denoting a bird with splendid tail "tukkai". Hoards of Roman coins have been discovered in Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil districts. A Pandyan king had sent an emissary to Augustus Caesar. A segment of the Hebrew community of Kerala, known as Black Jews, trace their ancestry to the Babylonian captivity (6th cent. B.C.) Apostle Thomas conducted his missionary activities in the kingdom of Gundaphoros, a king who ruled North Western India. Thomas travelled to Cranganore (ancient name: Mayuri Kotta or Musiris) in 52 A.D. Syriand established contact between Kerala and Western Asia; Malabar church obtained its bishops from Mesopotamia and Persia. St. Francis Xavier worked as a missionary along the coastal regions of India (16th cent.) A church lit. means an assembly. After the conversion of Emperor Constantine in the 4th cent. A.D., churches became places of public worship. Christians in India had enjoyed freedom of worship and even patronage from liberal Hindu kings. The grand festivals are Easter and Christmas. The most important historic Christian shrine in India is St. Thomas Mount, Chennai (Madras). An annual feast of the mount is held on 18th December. The body of St. Francis Xavier is kept in the Bom Jesus (Infant Jesus) Church of Old Goa. The body of the body is periodically exposed and becomes an international pilgrimage event for Catholics world-wide. Important churches and christian monuments in India:
SIKH Guru Nanak (born in 1469) was a religious reformer who founded Sikhism as a faith. In 1604, the fifth Guru, Arjan Dev compiled the hymns of Guru Nanak, the Adi Granth which also included compositions of Indian saints--Hindu, Muslim and Harijan--Jaidev, Surdas, Farid, Namdev, Kabir and Ravidas. The Granth was enshrined by Guru Arjan in the Golden Temple, Amritsar in 1604. The tenth Guru, Guru Gobind Singh organized the community into a Khalsa--the Pure. He asked his followers to wear long hair (kesh, denoting saintly appearance), underwear (kachha, denoting self-control), iron bangle (kara, denoting purity in acts), comb (kangha, denoting cleanliness of mind and body), sword (kirpan, denoting fight for a just cause). His gospel of love was: "Before the Lord, there is no one high or low". Guru Gobind's Granth Sahib is revered as just the Guru, which opens with the lines: There is one God. In 1708, Guru Gobind ordained that the Granth shall be the Guru for the Sikhs for ever. Guru Nanak's birthday is celebrated on the full-moon day of the month of November. A sikh temple is Gurudwara, the House of Guru. The temple runs a langar or a free community kitchen for pilgrims. The major shrines of the Sikhs:
The Gurus: Guru Nanak (1469-1539)
BUDDHIST Buddhist faith is based on four noble truths:
The faith delineates an eighfold path:
Buddha organized a society of monks and ordained them, as he lay dying (c. 486 B.C.): "work out your own salvation with diligence". Buddhist shrines at the sacred places related to the life of the Buddha:
Important monuments are at:
JAIN Jain faith is founded on asceticism and the sacredness of all life. The principal tenet is ahimsa (non-violence). Mahavira (Great Spirit)(c. 599-527 B.C.) was
the founder of Jainism, a contemporary of Buddha. He was the
twenty-fourth Tirthankara (saint), 'the ones who lead to the other
shore'. The saints show how to achieve release from the cycle of endless
rebirth by the complete purification of their minds and bodies. Death by
starvation is meritorious and vegetarianism is a creed. The universe is a complex living organizm of imperishable particles (too small to be seen), all of which have souls. The jain saints wear gauze masks over their mouths to safeguard the unseen living organisms in the environment. They carry brooms to sweep minute creatures from their paths as they walk. The institutions set up the jinas were: monks, nuns, laity (male), and laity (female). These were the tirtha or centres of worship. The 22nd and 23rd tirthankaras were: Nemi and Parshva. Nemi was a contemporary of Krishna and Parshva lived in 700 B.C. in Varanasi. The svetambaras (white-garmented) and digambaras (space-garmented) are two main sects among the jain monks. Alexander encountered the digambaras (326 B.C.) and called them gymnosophist (naked philosphers). The major monuments of Jainism are:
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