Introduction
Hinduism is the oldest and third largest practiced religion in the world having more than 1 Billion followers. Hinduism is the religion that is most practiced in East Asia mainly in many parts of India and Nepal. The main religious traditions among the Hindu are srauta, vaishnayism, and shaiyism although there are other small religious traditions. Hindus religious laws are based on society values and Dharma but they do not have common rigid beliefs like the Islam laws or Jewish traditions which are based on a universal Holy Koran and Holy Bible (Ludo, 1978). Hindu religion history do not point out to a single founder although the main origin has been majorly attributed to the historical Vedic religion of the iron age India (Thakra,2008).This was the ancient Hinduism which has preceded the modern practiced Hinduism and is believed to have started in Nepal and India around 500 BC ( Terence 2002) Hindus hold their worship in well-designed temples which are named after some Individuals of the same clan who were regular and strict observance of the Hinduism laws and regulations . Hindu religious texts are mainly divided into two main categories: The Sruti and Smriti where Sruti is the revealed texts while Smrit is the remembered text (Robert, 1973).Hindu has a number of personal gods and goddesses which are portrayed as powerful deities called Ishvaras and they are worshiped as murtis( Suresh 2008)
Misconceptions about Hindu religion
I had a quite number of misconceptions about the Hindu religion and their forms of worship. I had initially thought that Hindus have a common deity whom they worship. The rituals which Hindus perform every year had also fascinated me and had thought they are done to honor the devil as I thought they were just a secession from Japanese religions mainly Shinto. These traditions include walking barefooted on fire to honor a Hindu deity goddess where individuals usually suffer from severe burns. I also thought that the practice of piercing the backs of the devoted Hindu individuals by sharp hooks was a form of sacrifice to honor the dead and the spirits. Their temples often look weird and did not understand the various types of well-crafted pictures why they were installed in the highest parts of the building which I just discovered were the deities of the temple and their images represent their spirits.(Pieree-Sylvain,2004).The ritual flogging their bodies with chains that contain sharp instruments made me think that their goddesses rejoice at human sacrifice and that was a form of sacrificing for their gods but I came to discover it is usually a celebration to mark the anniversary of the battle of Karbala where Imam Hussein Ali was killed( Mamould,2008). I discovered this ritual was mainly practiced by the Muslim Indians and not the Hindu religious believers’ had also a misconception that Hindus had a common god, cows but I discovered it is only a section of Hindus in India’s cities of New Delhi that adore cows as sacred and that is why they honor them as part of their rituals’ discovered the common ritual that involves the cows is the bull-fighting event were individuals especially the Hindu youth engage in fights with the bulls ad many end suffering from serious injuries since they don’t use any weapons in the fight. After attending a burial ceremony, I had not initially thought that the Hindus bun the bodies of the deceased instead of burying them in a grave. I found out that there is special places were the dead are cremated and several religious rituals performed to escort the spirit of the deceased. I discovered that after death and before cremation, the body is merely supposed to come into conduct with the living as it is considered a great impurity and it is usually laid with the feet pointing to the south which is considered to be the direction of the dead. It is then covered with jewels and a lamp is lit for 3 days continuously and placed near the body which is covered by yellow, white or red clothes. A sacred ash is also applied on the forehead if the dead worshipped lord Shiva and a sandalwood paste is applied if the dead worshipped lord Vishnu (Aziz, 2008).I did not imagined whether in the world the dead would be burned in presence of people without fear but I discovered that the body is cremated at a holy ground called shmashana (Aziz,2008) which is usually located at the river banks or near the river bank in presence of many people who are usually the mourners of the diseased. The remains of the diseased after cremation are then immersed in the river or taken to holy places such as the Haridwar and the Brahmaputra for special rituals of immersion. I discovered that these rites just like any other burial rites are to facilitate the migration of the spirit of the dead person from the status of ghost to the status of the ancestors.
Misconceptions about other people’s religions are very common due to perceived unusual cultures that are performed by their followers. For example, many people from other religions are continued to stereotype Islamic religion with terrorism and consider all Muslim followers as terrorists. This is because people do not take their time to understand why other people’s religions and their structures and why they exists. If for example somebody understood the Holy Koran very well, you will find out that the Islamic and Christian laws are very similar with many characters depicted in the Holy bible also being depicted in Islam and their central point of origin.
Misconceptions about other people’s religions can be avoided if people are sensitized on the importance of studying other people’s religions and understanding their religious rituals, beliefs and practices. The central point is that every religion has its own followers and I believe that all human beings have their right to practice religion of their own choice. Misconceptions can also be minimized if followers of different religions can have a common platform where they can discuss about their religions and the reasons why they have different views of some rituals and also point out common beliefs that are universal among all religions in the world. In this way, people will understand that just like their own religion any other religion is equally important.
Conclusion:
Hinduism religion is a universal religion and has many followers across the world. They have a very organized structure of religious beliefs and rituals and it promotes the good social norms of the society thus contributing to the general welfare of all people. Contrary to many assumptions that Hindu religion is evil, I found out that Hindu religion is good and therefore people should minimize their conceptions about Hinduism
References
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