Pd1Hinduism_E

Hinduism


 * Founder:** There was no single founder of Hinduism but it was formed in about 2000 BCE.


 * Leaders:** The head of each mandir or Hindu church is a Brahmin, not to be confused with Brahma the head spirit of Hinduism, the Brahmin was the highest varna in the caste system, a varna is like a class or how high up they were in the community. The leader of all of Hinduism was Ghandi, who believed in peace.
 * Place of Worship:** Hindus worship at a Mandir or some Hindus have a shrine at their home that they worship at.


 * Practiced in:** Started in India and is now practiced in parts of the U.S. and Europe, with about 900,000,000 followers.


 * Main Beliefs:** They believe in having multiple gods, reincarnation, karma, and moksha (end of reincarnation cycle).


 * Gods:** They have many Gods that represent something different, and their main God is Brahma.


 * Sacred Writings:** Vedas and Upanishads, which consist of hymns and prayers.

Dasera- takes place in Aswin honoring the mother goddess, people often decorate with shrines and flowers. Divali- held in Kartik, people decorate with candles to drive away evil. It is the Hindu new year.
 * Worship:** Daily, they wash their feet, make an offering, light candles, unveil the Murti, or image of worship, wave the candles in front of the Murti, hold their hands over of the candle and rub their hands on their head. Women put red marks on their foreheads when they get married and men put a mark called a Tilak on their foreheads. They never eat beef because they believe cows are sacred.
 * Holidays:** Holi- festival of colors and spring, they have fun with anyone in the community whether they know them or not, often by throwing colored dyes on them and spraying them with water.

Danny
 * Symbol:** The symbol of Hinduism is the written form of the word Om, which is believed to be the first ever sound and they repeat it over and over when they pray.