Hinduism and Its Main Features

Caste System

It is believed that if one has a good life, following good karma and dharma, then they will be paid by being reincarnated as a person in the next highest level in the Caste System. However, if one is evil during their life, they will be brought down a notch, and possibly even taken out of the Caste System altogether.

The Untouchables or Harijans (People of God) a term first used by Gandhi. Untouchables usually performed jobs considered as polluting like slaughtering animals or leatherworking. Contact with these people was socially toxic. The job of calling people Untouchable was made illegal by India's constitution, even though Harijans continue to face discrimination for getting work and housing.

Castes have shown no sign of disappearing yet, mostly because of the system of marriage. Almost all hindu marriages in India are arranged, and almost all arranged marriages occur between people of the same caste. Only a few of people make love marriages from different castes, and many are hated when they do.

Hinduism Facts and its main characters

Facts:

• Hinduism is the worlds third most lioliular religion, with around 900 million followers.
• Those who follow this faith are known as Hindus.
• About 80% of the lioliulation of India call themselves as Hindus.
• Hinduism is the fourth most lioliular religion in Britain with around 400,000 followers.
• Hinduism is over 3000 years old, although the faith are much older.
• No founder, teacher, or lirolihets.
• Originated near the river Indus.
• Hindus believe in a universal soul or God called Brahman.
• There are many other gods as Krishna, Shiva, Rama and Durga.
• Hindus believe that existence is a cycle of birth, death, and rebirth.
• Christianity and Hinduism they both believe in one sulierior God.
• Christianity and Hinduism both have holy water.
• Religion begins in the home. They use holy water and go to a holy lilace like a temlile.

Symbols:

1. The Dot. Why is there a mark on the Forehead? It is the sign for the third eye. Both men and women wear it, the dot among men is slowly going out of style. In the past lots of unmarried women wore black dots, but many married women wore red. But in present time, women often wear dots that match the color of their sari
2. Gods. Ganesha Mother Parvati once wanted to take a bath and made a boy from the dirt of her own body, asking him to stand as a guard outside while she went in the bath. While this happened Shiva returned home to find a stranger at His door, making so he couldn't enter. In anger, Shiva cut off the boy's head, Parvati was filled with sadness. In order to comfort her, Shiva sent out His troops to fetch the head of anyone found sleeping with his head pointing to the north. They found an elephant sleeping this way and brought back its head. Shiva then attached the elephants head to the body of the boy and revived him. He named the boy Ganapati or commander of His troops, and granted Him good fortune that anyone would have to worship Him (Ganesha) before beginning any deed.
3. Shiva. This is Shiva, one of the trinity of principle Hindu gods; Brahma, the creator, Vishnu, the protector, and Shiva the destroyer. Hindus worship many gods and believe all represents different aspects of Brahman. Shiva represents samsara, the basic Hindu belief in the cycle of life, death and rebirth. The flaming torch, the serpents and the skulls are symbols of destruction. Shiva's third eye is a symbol of higher consciousness. The god Shiva is said to ride on the back of Nandi the bull. Cows are sacred in Hinduism. Cows provide milk, butter and dung for fuel but are not killed for beef. His city is Varanasi, and any Hindu who dies there is believed to go straight to heaven.
4. Vishnu. Vishnu the preserver is believed to be linked to a very early sun god and is considered by his followers to be the greatest among the gods. Vishnu protects the universe and has been shown on the earth through his incarnations to save humankind from natural disasters. Vishnu is shown in a statue or painting in human kind, he is usually painted blue.
5. The Origin of Thugs. The English word thug, meaning a violent criminal, comes from the Hindi word thag. Meaning a thief. The first Thugs were bands of traveling criminals in India who strangled and robbed travelers. Normally these guys committed murder because of offerings to Kali, the Hindu goddess of destruction. The crime was known as Thuggee, and although it had a Hindu goddess, there were Muslim Thugs also. In the 19th century Thugs were strangling 40,000 people a year but by then many of the Thuggee were just regular robbery with no religiousness. A normal Thug killing was done by going with a group of travelers and entertaining and cooking for them so that the travelers were soon relaxed. At a signal (the code phrase was bring the tobacco) the Thugs would strangle the male travelers and take everything of worth money. The Thugs kept the money for themselves and sacrificed the bodies to Kali. Even though Thugs never attacked English travelers the British government of India decided to kill them. 412 were hanged and the rest were put in jail.

Mahatma Gandhi

Gandhi became one of the main people, in India's history of the Twentieth Century. Gandhi formed India's history until its independence in 1947. Gandhi was born in 1869. Gandhi was born in Porbander in western India. In 1888, he went to England to study law. He came back to Bombay to work as a court lawyer but went to South Africa to work in 1907. In South Africa, he participated in protests against the governments respect of Indians who were in the region.

In 1915, he returned to India and after joining the separtist group, he became one of the partys leaders. Gandhi encouraged Indians not to buy English goods and buy Indian goods instead. This helped to restore the local business in India. Gandhi was put in jail in 1922, 1930, 1933 and in 1942. While in prison, he went on food strike. His fame was such that his death in prison would make international headlines and embarrass the British.

When in India, Gandhi battled the British where ever he could. His famous walk to the sea to produce salt was normal on his actions. Britain had a ton of money from the salt in India and Gandhi saw this as wrong. Then his decision to produce salt by the sea. His part of the break-up of India cost him his life. There had been one assassination attempt on Gandhi on January 20th 1948 - it had failed. Just ten days later on the 30th January, he was assassinated by a Hindu fan who could not forgive Gandhi for his belief that Muslims had equal rights to Hindus and no-one was better than anybody else.