Religion in India
Facts about Hinduism
About 80% of the Indian population are Hindus, so it is the largest religion in India. It is also the oldest religion of the world. Hindus believe in rebirth and have a big number of Gods.
Gods in Hinduism
Shiva
Shiva is one of the biggest Gods. He's the destroyer and the reviver and he is the rider of the Bull Mandi. He is the father of Ganesh and Skanda and the husband of Parvati.
Parvati
She is the kind mother and sometimes she is Durga, the God to destroy bad things. As Durga she is the rider of a tiger. But sometimes she is also Kali. At that time, she is the God of the throat.
Ganesh
Ganesh is the son of Shiva and Parvati. He is the rider of a rat which is the symbol of the power that is in the smallest to carry an elephant, because Ganesh has an elephant head. This is because Shiva wanted to go in the rooms of Parvati, but Ganesh didn't accept it. Because of that he replaced his head with the head of an elephant.
Brahma
Known as the creator, he was the first living thing on the earth. He is the rider of the Goose Hamsa and his wife is Sarasvati, God of the Art and knowledge.
Dharma
It describes the law. Dharma can be found in the natural order
- e.g. rivers flow down and the magic-ritual-order
- e.g. make sacrifices.
Hindus
Hindus believe in rebirth, they think that they have an immortal soul, called the atman. They think they can be born again e.g. as an animal. Because of that they are against violence towards animals!
Facts about Buddhism
In India there are only about 6.6 million Buddhists. Buddhism was founded in about 500BC.
The Buddha
He was born 2516 years ago in North India and at first he was the son of a king, a prince. When he became a Buddha he learned 45 years the northern culture. As an illuminated one he taught his pupils the way to be free. The Buddha died at the age of 81 years.
Facts about Islam
There are more than 100 million muslims in India. India is the second largest muslim nation of the earth. The muslims' influence is strong in the fields of architecture, art and food.
The Koran
The Koran is a holy book with 114 sura. Mohammed heard all suras when he was in Mekka and Medina. The archangel Gabriel dictated him the Koran, because the original book is out of reach, it's in heaven.
Muslims
The Children go to the Koran school. In childhood there are two ceremonies
- Bsalma
- Trimming
A lot of girls MUST marry men who they never saw before.
Mosque
In the mosque, men must be barefoot and women and men are in separate rooms. The men wear kipas.