MP3482 Grades 5-8 MILLIKEN PUBLISHING COMPANY, ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI Inside Hinduism Inside Hinduism provides a detailed and richly illustrated overview of the origins and development of the Hindu religion—its history, faith, teachings, and practices. Beginning in prehistoric India, this book traces the diverse cultural and historical influences that contributed to the world’s oldest living religion. Special rites, sacred writings, and the large family of colorful and interesting gods and goddesses are among the topics covered. Discussion and essay questions, word lists for vocabulary reinforcement, a test, answer key, and bibliography are included. About the Author: WALTER HAZEN A former history and social studies teacher,Walt Hazen has been writing educational materials since 1993. He lives in St.Augustine, Florida, with his wife, Martha. MP3482 Inside Hinduism Written by: Walter Hazen Edited by: Lisa Marty Illustrated by: Art Kirchhoff Layout & Design: Jon Davis Cover Photo by: Christine Osborne Pictures Copyright © 2003 Milliken Publishing Company 11643 Lilburn Park Drive St. Louis, MO 63146 www.millikenpub.com Printed in the USA.All rights reserved. Permission to reproduce pages extends only to teacher-purchaser for individual classroom use, not to exceed in any event more than one copy per pupil in a course.The reproduction of any part for an entire school or school system or for commercial use is strictly prohibited. CONTENTS AN OVERVIEW OF HINDUISM . .1 CHAPTER ONE—The Beginnings . .2 Civilization in the Indus Valley . .2 Enter the Aryans . .2 The Caste System . .3 CHAPTER TWO—Beliefs and Worship . .7 Brahman and Atman . .7 Dharma, Karma, Samsara, and Moksha . .8 Hindu Worship:The Mandir . .10 Worship at Home . .12 Symbols . .13 CHAPTER THREE—Gods and Goddesses . .14 The Trimurti . .14 Vishnu . .15 Siva (Shiva) . .16 Other Gods and Goddesses . .16 CHAPTER FOUR—Festivals and Holidays . .19 Dasera . .19 Diwali . .19 Holi . .20 Other Festivals . .21 CHAPTER FIVE—Holy Places . .23 Important Sites . .23 Holy Rivers . .24 Other Holy Places . .25 CHAPTER SIX—Sacred Writings . .26 Shruti Texts . .26 Smriti Texts . .27 CHAPTER SEVEN—Everyday Life . .31 Special Ceremonies: Childhood . .31 Marriage . .33 A Hindu Wedding . .34 Funeral Customs . .35 Other Aspects of Family Life . .36 CHAPTER EIGHT—Hinduism Since Ancient Times . .38 A Long Period of Invasions . .38 British Rule . .38 Hinduism Elsewhere . .40 TEST . .41 ANSWER KEY . .44 BIBLIOGRAPHY & INTERNET SITES . .51 MP3482/Inside Hinduism © Milliken Publishing Company AN OVERVIEW OF HINDUISM Hinduism has the third-largest number of followers of any religion, ranking only below Christianity and Islam. It is also the oldest of the major world religions.Although an exact date of its beginnings cannot be established, it goes back at least 5,000 years. Its original ideas were brought to India around 1700 B.C. by an eastern European people called the Aryans. There are approximately 781 million Hindus worldwide. Most are in India but small Hindu populations are scattered all over the globe.You will learn in Chapter Eight about the places where Hindus have moved and migrated since ancient times. Like Buddhism which sprang from it, Hinduism is both a religion and a way of life. There are religious ceremonies that are observed daily from morning to night. More importantly, there are sixteen special rites called samskars designed to pave the way for the attainment of moksha, or union with the supreme spirit Brahman.These rites range from naming a baby to preparing a dead person for cremation.As you read, you will realize the extent to which Hindu life is focused on ending the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth (reincarnation) and becoming one with Brahman. A study of Hinduism might at first appear difficult.This is partly because Hindus worship a dizzying number of gods and goddesses. But an understanding of the religion becomes easier when one realizes that all Hindu gods and goddesses are manifestations of different aspects of Brahman, the Supreme Being. Since Brahman is all-knowing and everywhere, it appears in many forms. In Inside Hinduism,you will learn about the colorful and interesting lives of Hindu gods and goddesses.You will also learn about Hindu history, beliefs, scriptures, holy places, and festivals. Inside Hinduism will give you insight into one of the oldest and most fascinating religions in the world. 1 MP3482/Inside Hinduism © Milliken Publishing Company CHAPTER ONE The Beginnings Unlike such religions as Judaism, that featured a large, asphalt-lined bathing Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism, pool.The civilization that grew up in the Hinduism does not have a recognized Indus Valley may have been superior to Words to remember: “founder.”There is no Abraham, Jesus, the civilizations that appeared about the Muhammad, or Buddha in Hindu history. same time in Mesopotamia and Egypt. Dravidians Instead, Hinduism evolved over many So, you might ask, what does all of Nagas hundreds of years.When it finally this have to do with the development of Mohenjo-Daro materialized, it was a mixture of the Hinduism? Plenty. Artifacts (objects Harappa religious beliefs of India’s earliest people have left behind) found at the artifacts civilization with those of northern ruins of both Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa invaders who entered the country about include clay statues of gods and 1700 B.C. goddesses that Hindus worship today. These finds indicate that Hinduism had Civilization in the Indus Valley its roots in the civilization that sprang up in the Indus River Valley more than 6,000 You have perhaps read that humans years ago. first established civilized communities about 6,000 years ago. Do you know Section Review: what it means to become “civilized”? Simply put, it means that people stopped 1. What distinguishes a civilized society being hunters and gatherers after they from one that is uncivilized? “discovered” agriculture and learned to 2. Around which river valley did domesticate animals.When people civilization develop in India? learned to grow their own food, they 3. What two ancient Indian cities have could then settle down and stay in one been unearthed by archaeologists? place.This in turn lead to the 4. What archaeological finds link the development of communal life, along HIndu religion to early Indian with its accompanying laws, government, civilization? and culture. One of the earliest civilizations Enter the Aryans sprang up in India. Sometime around 4000 B.C., dark-skinned peoples known No one knows for certain what as the Dravidians and the Nagas happened to the great Indian cities of established a well-developed culture in Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa. Some the Indus River Valley.Archaeologists historians think they may have been have unearthed two of their magnificent destroyed by either floods or volcanoes. cities—Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa. But there was another disaster that Both could boast of solid brick houses occurred sometime around 1700 B.C. and shops several stories high that sat on (dates vary) that seemed to have much to wide, well-kept streets. Many of these do with their destruction.That was the houses and shops had running water invasion from the north of a light-skinned with bathrooms that emptied into people who called themselves Aryans. modern-like sewage systems.The same The name derives from a word in the water system also served a Great Bath language of the invaders (Sanskrit) MP3482/Inside Hinduism © Milliken Publishing Company 2 which meant “noblemen” or “owners Vedas.The word veda means of land.” “knowledge.”The Vedas are the oldest of The Aryans had little difficulty the texts that make up Hindu scriptures subduing the peoples of the Indus today.They consist of four collections of hymns, prayers, and magic spells.The Rig-Veda is the oldest and contains more than 1,000 hymns.The hymns are really poems praising the many gods the Aryans worshiped.You will learn more about the Vedas and other Hindu scriptures in Chapter.