Hinduism
Some of the practices of Hinduism include worship of a supreme god, Brahma, who is the creator of the universe, divinities gods and goddess, belief in karma, the practice of fire worship, temple worship where both men and women go to the temple for worship. Also, they have four books of scriptures; for example, Vedas, they bath in the image of deities, burn incense to the gods, yoga, sing devotional songs, follow caste system which shows social order. Additionally, they believe in the divinity of the soul, believe in reincarnation of life – birth cycle, have priests and spiritual people, sing long written hymns, and their main goal is to attain salvation (moksha) (MysticLands (n.d). The foremost goal in Hinduism is the right way of living (Dharma).
The kinds of gods that are worshipped are Brahma, who is the Supreme Being, Vishnu – preserver and protector of the universe, Shiva – destroyer of the universe, Ganapati – remover of the world and Sarasvati – the goddess of learning (Wung Ong, n.d). These practices of Hindus can be expressed through rituals, worship, and recitations, meditations, there are family-oriented rites of passage, annual festivals, occasions, and pilgrimages, others even leave their work to engage in monastic practices to achieve moksha, they bath in the image of gods, do right for fear of karma, devote to god and do yoga.
During the past years, India has experienced a considerable transformation in cultural, social, economic, and aspects of life. There is a profound change in cultural marriages. Marrying within the caste system is still continuous since their worship is central to their life caste system is intertwined in their religion. There was no kissing of the bride because of the strong cultural heritage. Nowadays, some couples kiss each other. Traditionally, Hindu Marriage was the sacred and involved performance of many important rituals (Refinery29.,n.d.))They used to wear traditional Indian clothes at the wedding, which usually took three days with different ceremonies. While today some couples wear white dresses. Also, there were no gifts given; neither was there a special rice toss as the couple was welcomed. The mother of the bride poured water on the hands of the bride. The bride and the groom showered each other with rice to signify fertility, prosperity, and happiness. Red powder was applied to the bride’s hair to show that she is married. There have been changes due to a shortage of rites and rituals, and thus most of these rituals are not practiced, but there are still significant rituals that are still practiced.
References
MysticLands. (n.d). Home [Hinduism – World’s Oldest Religion Explained – Origins, Beliefs, Facts]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8T54syDkDwRefinery29. (n.d). Home [This Traditional Indian Wedding Is Insanely Beautiful | World Wide Wed]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/dmWeUL_J-oIWung Ong. (n.d). Home [IndiaContextA3]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oibCQNthNmc&feature=youtu.be&hd=1