Hindu Religious
Practices
Four definite sects exist in Hinduism today. Three of them, Vaishnavism,
Saivism, and Saktism, have existed since ancient Hinduism.
The fourth sect, called the Smartas, consists of worshipers
who do not belong to these three sects but who follow the ancient traditions
and worship all the gods without distinction. The majority of Hindus
do not belong to any sect, but their religious practices do not differ
basically from those of other Hindus.
Home
For all Hindus, religious activity centers chiefly in the home. Each
home has at least one image, idol, or picture before which prayers,
hymn singing, the offering of flowers, and the burning of incense are
performed. Religious practices of meditation
for divine realization or Moksha might also be performed. The symbols
used as objects of worship are, for Vishnu, a fossilized ammonite shell
taken from the Gandake River; for Shiva, a stone found in the Narmada
River; for Surya, the sun, a round marble stone. Worship may also be
offered to books, as at the time of the festival devoted to Sarasvati,
the goddess of learning.
Religious practices in the home involve worship three times daily: in
the morning before dawn, any time after sunrise, and in the evening.
Rituals always are preceded by bathing, and always involve prayers;
offerings are made to the family deity and food is offered to animals
and guests. No meal of any form can be taken in the household before
the family deity is offered food.
What does the mark
on the forehead mean?
The colored dot is variously referred to as a "tilaka," "bottu,"
"bindiya," "kumkum," or "bindi." It is
a sign of piety, and a reveals to other people that the wearer is a
Hindu. It symbolizes the third eye–the one focused inwards toward
God. Both men and women wear it, although the practice among men is
gradually going out of style. In the past, many unmarried women wore
black marks, whereas many married women wore red. But in recent times,
women often wear dots that match the color of their saris.
Rites
Milestones in the individual's life are observed by rites, all requiring
the help of a trained priest and a chaplain serving a family or group
of families. At a birth the father or nearest male relative rubs the
newborn's tongue with clarified butter and honey, sometimes also with
powdered gold dust. Prayers for long life, intelligence, diligence,
and concentration, but not for worldly gain, are offered.
The initiation is the most important ceremony, because it is the ceremony
of entry into the Hindu religion. It is performed on adolescent boys
only; females occupy a lowly place in the Hindu religion, although this,
too, is changing in modern India. The boy is shaved and bathed, dressed
in garments newly dyed with red chalk, a waist girdle of sacred grass,
and a deerskin, and is provided with a staff. Prayers are offered on
his behalf and he is given his first lessons in making offerings to
the gods.
The marriage ceremony involves the worship of the bridegroom by the
father of the bride. The bride is then given, with ornaments and presents
for the groom. The groom accepts the hand of the bride and a fire offering
is performed. The most important part of the ceremony is the Seven Steps,
in which the bride and groom take seven steps around the fire, or go
around the fire seven times. The ceremonies are begun with a formula
of good intent (the bride and groom both wish a happy marriage) and
ended by a prayer for peace.
The final sacrament is performed at death, ideally on the bank of a
sacred river. Cremation occurs as soon after death as possible, accompanied
by prayers. Some of the bones are thrown into the river or collected
to be taken to a sacred river if there is none nearby. Monthly ceremonial
prayers occur afterward, and at the end of the lunar year a ceremony
is held at which the dead man is admitted to the company of his forefathers.
In the temples, trained ministrants perform regular ceremonies of worship–in
the larger temples, several times a day. There is merit for a Hindu
who attends these ceremonies alone or with his family, but he is not
obligated to attend the temple, and congregational worship hardly exists
in Hinduism.
Much more important are the
various methods of individual worship, especially meditation. Strengthened
by yoga, meditation can lead to such a release of tension that the worshiper
can accomplish the ultimate aim of union with Brahman, the Absolute.
Festivals
At least once a year every important temple holds a festival. In the
south of India these festivals always include a procession in which
the god of the temple is pulled a round the city or village on a cart
or the back of an elephant. In the temple, dancing, singing, and the
telling of religious stories goes on. Even festivals in small villages
attract worshipers from far away who use them as the reason for pilgrimages.
Pilgrimages, together with ceremonial baths in sacred rivers or temple
tanks, are considered symbolic of the individuals self's pilgrimage
to the Supreme Spirit and its purification from all wrong deeds.
General days of festival are many, but only the more devout Hindus celebrate
all of them. Probably the most common celebrated festivals occur in
the autumn. The first ten days of the month Asin (September-October;
Hindu months overlap those of the Western calendar) are especially sacred
to Sakti, the mother goddess. For nine days she is worshiped in her
destructive forms, and some sects sacrifice animals to her on the ninth
day. Then tenth day is celebrated by all sects with processions and
merrymaking.
At the beginning of October-November, Diwali is celebrated. A New Year's
festival, it is observed by the ceremonial lighting of lamps, the illuminating
of house fronts, and the exchanging of presents.
Holi is a spring festival, occurring in February-March, which is dedicated
to Krishna. During Holi, people celebrate the advent of spring by throwing
colored water and powder on each other.
Sacred animals
Many objects in nature are considered sacred in varying degrees, the
most sacred being the cow. Worship as the representative of Mother Earth,
the cow is divine in her own right, and the killing or eating of cows
is forbidden in India. Among other sacred animals are bulls, monkeys,
Indian tree squirrels, and snakes, which are especially associated with
Shiva. Two of the largest trees in India, the banyan and the pipal,
are also sacred. All rivers and hills are to some extent divine, but
the Ganges River is extremely holy, for it is believed to flow from
the head of Siva. Any stream of water may symbolically stand for the
sacred Ganges–even water poured from a jug.
In a limited sense, parents are divine to their children, as is the
husband to the wife, the teacher to the student, tools to the worker,
etc. Awareness of this divinity is not expressed through formal "worship"
but simply through considerateness and respect.
Divinity is everywhere and all around every Hindu, and Westerners find
such beliefs hard to understand. Yet the all-pervasiveness of divinity
is the source of much of the dignity and humility of the Hindu culture.
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