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India s leaders have made mistakes along the way, but the Indian people
have assiduously kept the country on track, taking it to ever greater heights
of growth and progress.
HISTORY
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RELIGION
Religion is an integral part of life in India, a spiritually diverse nation that
is the birthplace of two of the great faiths of the world, Hinduism and
Buddhism. These two faiths, along with Jainism, Sikhism, Islam, Christianity
and Zoroastrianism, comprise the main religions of secular India. Many
of these faiths share common concepts such as a belief in karma and
reincarnation. The law of karma states that a person s deeds, both good
and bad, determine all his experiences, thus making him entirely responsible
for his own life. While religious strife is rampant in the country, particularly
between Hindus and Muslims, India is committed to secularism as laid down
in its constitution. The majority of its people remain staunch supporters
of communal harmony and peaceful co-existence of all religions.
HINDUISM
Hinduism is the third largest religion in the world by devotees and the
predominant religion of India, practised by around 80.5 per cent of the
country s population, or almost 828 million of its people (2001 census). It
doesn t have a single founder nor a single holy book but a number of sacred
texts, namely the Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas, the Bhagavad Gita and the epic
poems of the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, which provide spiritual and
practical guidance.
Hinduism originated 3,000 years ago during India s ancient Indus Valley
Civilisation (2800 BC 1900 BC). It has many different tenets and practices,
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centred around Brahman, the supreme cosmic who is worshipped in
many forms. Brahman is an eternal soul who is present in everything, and
is represented by a triumvirate of gods consisting of Brahma the Creator,
Vishnu the Preserver and Shiva the Destroyer and Re-creator. Lakshmi, the
consort of Vishnu, is the goddess of wealth, knowledge and purity and a
popular deity in the Hindu pantheon, which also includes Rama, Hanuman
and Krishna, each embodying different attributes of Brahman.
Hindus believe in idol worship and many of the devout have a shrine at
home with images of their favourite gods to whom they devote daily prayers
and offerings of flowers, incense, fruit or even money. Devotees visit temples
weekly or during special occasions and festivals where, besides making
offerings to the gods, they hear priests recite from the holy scriptures.
Pilgrimages are an important part of Hinduism, and Hindus travel to
sacred Hindu sites such as Vaishno Devi in the north or Tirupati in the
south of the country, to seek divine blessings and to see and be seen by
the deity. The city of Varanasi, situated on the banks of the Ganges River, is
also a favourite pilgrimage spot. The Ganges is revered as holy by Hindus
and worshipped as Goddess Ganga. It is believed that bathing in the Ganges
will cleanse one of one s sins, and ritual bathing is performed once in 12
years at the Kumbh Mela Festival in the northern city of Allahabad, at the
confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers.
The Vedas (Books of Knowledge) are ancient texts introduced to India
during the Vedic Civilisation in the middle of the second millennium b.c.
These ancient texts in Sanskrit define the meaning of Hinduism for Hindus.
The Bhagavad Gita or Song of the Lord is another important Hindu text that
preaches loyalty to God and extols the benefits of duty, knowledge, work
and devotion, which are paths to salvation. It is contained in the sixth book
of the Mahabharata, the Hindu epic which has the distinction of being the
world s longest poem. The other Hindu epic, the Ramayana, was composed
in the same period and tells the story of Prince Rama, an incarnation of
Hindu god Vishnu.
Sacrifice was the most significant rite of the Vedic tradition and was
used to invoke the gods, notably the warrior gods Varuna and Indra who
represented good over the powers of evil. The rituals were performed by
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Brahmin priests, but by 500 BC, with the growth of cities and the emergence
of the merchant class, the old order of Hindu Brahmin priests faced a
challenge from their followers, who questioned their monopoly and who
turned to teachers such as Siddhartha Gautama who achieved enlightenment
to become the Buddha.
FOOD FOR THE GODS
Special dishes are prepared for the Hindu gods on their celebration
days held at temples. Ganesh, the Elephant God, is believed to have
a taste for sweet dumplings made of rice flour while the southern
savoury vadai is prepared for Hanuman, the Monkey God. Krishna,
on the other hand, has a preference for milk products. According
to legend, he helped himself to buttermilk and yoghurt from the
kitchen as a young boy when his mother wasn t looking. The food is
prepared in the temple kitchens and then distributed to devotees
who come to worship.
It was at this time that Hindu sages began preaching the search for
Brahman in the soul of all humans through ascetism, meditation and yoga.
Their growing concern was to achieve release (moksha) from the material
world and from the cycle of birth, death and rebirth (samsara) and the
concept of karma grew in importance. Both the principles of karma and
samsara are contained in the Upanishads.
Hindu philosophy evolved from the 4th to the 12th centuries, based
on the sacred texts of the Puranas, which introduced the triumvirate of
Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva into Hinduism. The Puranas, written in a simple
language, also elaborated on sacred rites, pilgrimages, caste relations and
how to portray divine images.
As Hinduism evolved, gods such as Ganesha, Krishna and Hanuman
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