Spiritual India & Pilgrimages > Hinduism - by S. Chatterjee

Important Hindu Festivals:

Diwali: the festival of lights, celebrates the return of Lord Rama after his epic battle with the demon king Ravana.
Dussehra: marks the victory of good over evil.
Holi: the festival of colours, heralds the end of winters.
Rakhi: is a celebration of the love and affection between a brother and a sister.

More a way of life than a religion, Hinduism is a collective term used to denote the practices, customs and traditions of more than 80% Indians. From saffron clad monks to the wandering naked ascetic, from devout guru followers to shaivites and vaishnavites, from learned literary philosophers to the meditation gurus, sanatan dharma or arya samaj - Hinduism encompasses them all. No other religion is possibly as versatile to be able to offer a platform to so many beliefs, sects and practices.

The origin of Hinduism is lost in antiquity. It possibly originated more than 5000 years ago and is an amalgamation of the beliefs and customs of the settlers from Central Asia with those of the indigenous people of India. As centuries rolled over, it included within its realm, the traditions of almost the entire subcontinent.

The most important aspect of Hinduism is the sanctity of the Vedas and the caste system. The four Vedas - Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda - are poetic compilations of the teachings of the ancient sages. These teachings form the basis of Hinduism. It has no scriptures in the traditional sense.

The second characteristic feature of Hinduism, the caste system, was initially a loose economic division of society, based on the profession one chose to follow. Varna - as the caste system is now known - means colour and evolved once these divisions transformed into a rigid system of social distinction. Society was divided into Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras.

Each caste had its distinctive rules of profession, education, food, dress, behaviour and marriages. Brahmins - initially the spiritual guides - became with the passage of time, de facto rulers of the masses by monopolising education and all religious texts. Hinduism also became extremely rigid and ritualistic. This led to many offshoots like Buddhism and Jainism, which arose mainly in opposition to the casteism and rigidity of the Hindu religion. As a result, for about 3 centuries, Hinduism was on the verge of extinction.

In the 8th century AD, many reforms took place that led to a renaissance in the religion. The first and most dramatic reform was the upgrading of the Upanishads by the Shankaracharya. The second was the Bhakti Movement, which incorporated the Islamic mysticism of the Sufis.

To outsiders, Hinduism appears full of contradictions, but in reality religious truths are ineffable. All icons, gods, goddesses, deities, symbols, sacred scriptures are different expressions of only one, the supreme divine being Brahma, who is formless, shapeless, uncreated infinite and all-pervading. Everything known and unknown emanates from Him and will ultimately return to Him.

The main pilgrim destinations of the Hindus are Dwarka, Haridwar, Varanasi, Mathura, Ujjain, Ayodhya and Kanchipuram, known as satdham (seven pilgrimages). The chardham (four pilgrimages) circuit of Garhwal and Kumaon involves Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri.

The chardham circuit of Shankaracharya maths (centers) includes Kancheepuram, Puri, Dwarka and Varanasi. The other sub-circuits are Amarnath (site of the ice lingam in the hills of Kashmir), Vaishnodevi (Shakti shrine in Jammu), Tirupati ( Lord Venkateshwara in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh) and Sabrimala (Ayyappa temple in Kerala). The 12 jyotirlings are also visited individually as spiritual destinations. Some important religious places are Nasik (Maharashtra), Madurai, Rameshwaram, Mahabalipuram and Thanjavur (Tamil Nadu), Halebid, Belur (Karanataka), Somnathpur (Calcutta) and Kamakhya (Guwahati).

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