Kali's earliest appearance is when she emerged from Durga. The goddess is stated to destroy evil in order to defend the innocent. Over time, Kali has been worshipped by devotional movements and Tàntric sects variously as the Divine Mother, Mother of the Universe, Principal energy Adi Shakti. Shakta Hindu and Tantric sects additionally worship her as the ultimate reality or Brahman. She is also seen as the divine protector and the one who bestows moksha, or liberation. Worshipped throughout South Asia but particularly in Nepal, South India, Bengal, and Assam, Kali is a central figure in the goddess-centric traditions of Hinduism as well as in Shaivism. (Full article...)
Saraswati (Sanskrit: सरस्वती, IAST: Sarasvatī), also spelled as Sarasvati, is the Hindugoddess of knowledge, music, flowing water, abundance and wealth, art, speech, wisdom, and learning. She is one of the Tridevi, along with the goddesses Lakshmi and Parvati. She is a pan-Indian deity, also revered in Jainism and Buddhism.
The earliest known mention of Saraswati as a goddess is in the Rigveda. She has remained significant as a goddess from the Vedic period through the modern period. She is generally depicted with four arms (which hold four symbols: a book, a rosary, a water pot, and a musical instrument called the veena). The festival of Vasant Panchami (the fifth day of spring, and also known as Saraswati Puja and Saraswati Jayanti in many regions of India) is celebrated in her honour. Traditionally, the day is marked by helping young children learn how to write the letters of the alphabet. (Full article...)
In Hindu tradition, the city of Ayodhya is the birthplace of Rama. In the 16th century a Mughal commander, Mir Baqi, had built a mosque, known as the Babri Masjid at a site identified by some Hindus as Ram Janmabhoomi, or the birthplace of Rama. The Archaeological Survey of India states that the mosque was built on land where a non-Islamic structure had previously existed. In the 1980s, the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) began a campaign for the construction of a temple dedicated to Rama at the site, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as its political voice. Several rallies and marches were held as a part of this movement, including the Ram Rath Yatra led by L. K. Advani. (Full article...)
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Endless knot
Karma (/ˈkɑːrmə/, from Sanskrit: कर्म, IPA:[ˈkɐɾmɐ]ⓘ; Pali: kamma) is an ancient Indian concept of action, work, or deed, and its effect or consequences. In Indian religions, the term more specifically refers to a principle of cause and effect, often descriptively called the principle of karma, wherein individuals' intent and actions (cause) influence their future (effect): Good intent and good deeds contribute to good karma and happier rebirths, while bad intent and bad deeds contribute to bad karma and bad rebirths. In some scriptures, however, there is no link between rebirth and karma. Karma is often misunderstood as fate, destiny, or predetermination.
The concept of karma is closely associated with the idea of rebirth in many schools of Indian religions (particularly in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism), as well as Taoism. In these schools, karma in the present affects one's future in the current life as well as the nature and quality of future lives—one's saṃsāra. This concept has also been adopted in Western popular culture, in which the events that happen after a person's actions may be considered natural consequences of those actions. (Full article...)
Ganesha (Sanskrit: गणेश, IAST: Gaṇeśa), also spelled Ganesh, and also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka, Lambodara and Pillaiyar, is one of the best-known and most worshipped deities in the Hindu pantheon and is the Supreme God in the Ganapatya sect. His depictions are found throughout India. Hindu denominations worship him regardless of affiliations. Devotion to Ganesha is widely diffused and extends to Jains and Buddhists and beyond India.
Although Ganesha has many attributes, he is readily identified by his elephant head and four arms. He is widely revered, more specifically, as the remover of obstacles and thought to bring good luck; the patron of arts and sciences; and the deva of intellect and wisdom. As the god of beginnings, he is honoured at the start of rites and ceremonies. Ganesha is also invoked as a patron of letters and learning during writing sessions. Several texts relate anecdotes associated with his birth and exploits. (Full article...)
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Hindu philosophy or Vedic philosophy is the set of Indian philosophical systems that developed in tandem with the religion of Hinduism during the iron and classical ages of India. In Indian tradition, the word used for philosophy is Darshana (Sanskrit: दर्शन; meaning: "viewpoint or perspective"), from the Sanskrit root 'दृश' (drish) meaning 'to see, to experience'.
The schools of thought or shad-darśana (षड्दर्शन) within Hindu philosophy consist of six orthodox schools, also known as the āstika (Sanskrit : आस्तिक) schools. These six, which include Samkhya (सांख्य), Yoga (योग), Nyaya (न्यायः), Vaisheshika (वैषेशिक), Mimamsa (मीमांसा) and Vedanta (वेदान्त), are defined by their acceptance of the Vedas, the oldest collection of Sanskrit texts, as an authoritative source of knowledge. (Full article...)
Vishnu is known as The Preserver within the Trimurti, the triple deity of supreme divinity that includes Brahma and Shiva. In Vaishnavism, Vishnu is the supreme being who creates, protects, and transforms the universe. In the Shaktism tradition, the Goddess, or Adi Shakti, is described as the supreme Para Brahman, yet Vishnu is revered along with Shiva and Brahma. Tridevi is stated to be the energy and creative power (Shakti) of each, with Lakshmi being the equal complementary partner of Vishnu. He is one of the five equivalent deities in Panchayatana puja of the Smarta tradition of Hinduism. (Full article...)
The deities of Hinduism have evolved from the Vedic era (2nd millennium BCE) through the medieval era (1st millennium CE), regionally within Nepal, Pakistan, India and in Southeast Asia, and across Hinduism's diverse traditions. The Hindu deity concept varies from a personal god as in Yoga school of Hindu philosophy, to thirty-three major deities in the Vedas, to hundreds of deities mentioned in the Puranas of Hinduism. Illustrations of major deities include Vishnu, Lakshmi, Shiva, Parvati, Brahma and Saraswati. These deities have distinct and complex personalities, yet are often viewed as aspects of the same Ultimate Reality called Brahman. From ancient times, the idea of equivalence has been cherished for all Hindus, in its texts and in early 1st-millennium sculpture with concepts such as Harihara (Half Vishnu, Half Shiva) and Ardhanārīshvara (half Shiva, half Parvati), with myths and temples that feature them together, declaring they are the same. Major deities have inspired their own Hindu traditions, such as Vaishnavism, Shaivism and Shaktism, but with shared mythology, ritual grammar, theosophy, axiology and polycentrism. Some Hindu traditions, such as Smartism from the mid 1st millennium CE, have included multiple major deities as henotheistic manifestations of Saguna Brahman, and as a means to realizing Nirguna Brahman. In Samkhya philosophy, Devata or deities are considered as "natural sources of energy" who have Sattva as the dominant Guna. (Full article...)
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Advaita Vedanta (/ʌdˈvaɪtəvɛˈdɑːntə/; Sanskrit: अद्वैत वेदान्त, IAST: Advaita Vedānta) is a Hindu-tradition of textual exegesis and philosophy and a Hindusādhanā, a path of spiritual discipline and experience. In a narrow sense it refers to the scholarly tradition belonging to the orthodox Hindu Vedānta tradition, with works written in Sanskrit, as exemplified by the Vedic scholar and teacher (acharya) Adi Shankara (9th cent. CE); in a broader sense it refers to a popular medieval and modern syncretic tradition, blending Vedānta with Yoga and other traditions and producing works in vernacular.
The term Advaita (literally "non-secondness", but usually rendered as "nondualism", and often equated with monism) refers to vivartavada, the idea that "the world is merely an unreal manifestation (vivarta) of Brahman," as proposed by the 13th century scholar Prakasatman. In this view, Brahman alone is ultimately real, while the transient phenomenal world is an illusory appearance (maya) of Brahman. In this view, jivatman, the experiencing self, is ultimately non-different ("na aparah") from Ātman-Brahman, the highest Self or Reality. The jivatman or individual self is a mere reflection or limitation of singular Ātman in a multitude of apparent individual bodies. (Full article...)
The following are images from various Hinduism-related articles on Wikipedia.
Image 1Annaprashanam is the rite of passage where the baby is fed solid food for the first time. The ritual has regional names, such as Choroonu in Kerala. (from Samskara (rite of passage))
Image 2Upanayana samskara ceremony in progress. Typically, this ritual was for eight-year-olds in ancient India, but in the 1st millennium CE it became open to all ages. (from Samskara (rite of passage))
Image 3Vaishnavism focuses on Vishnu or one of his avatars, such as Krishna above (from Hindu denominations)
Image 4Goddess Durga and a pantheon of other gods and goddesses being worshipped during Durga Puja Festival in Kolkata. (from Hindu deities)
Image 5The ten avatars of Vishnu, (Clockwise, from top left) Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Vamana, Krishna, Kalki, Buddha, Parshurama, Rama and Narasimha, (in centre) Radha and Krishna. Painting currently in Victoria and Albert Museum. (from Hindu deities)
Image 6A Hindu girl after her Karnavedha rite of passage (ear piercing) (from Samskara (rite of passage))
Image 7Shiva (left), Vishnu (middle), and Brahma (right) (from Hindu deities)
Image 9Indra is a Vedic era deity, found in south and southeast Asia. Above Indra is part of the seal of a Thailand state. (from Hindu deities)
Image 10Ishvara is, along with Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma, one of the 17 deities commonly found in Indonesian Surya Majapahit Hindu arts and records. However, Ishvara represents different concepts in various Hindu philosophies. (from Hindu deities)
Image 12Samskaras are, in one context, the diverse rites of passage of a human being from conception to cremation, signifying milestones in an individual's journey of life in Hinduism. Above is annaprashana samskara celebrating a baby's first taste of solid food. (from Samskara (rite of passage))
Image 13Six Hinduism deities. Surya, Parvati, Hanuman, Lakshmi, Vishnu, and Indra. All of these statues came from India, except Vishnu (from the Thai-Cambodian border). Various eras. National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh (from Hindu deities)
Image 14A new born's Namakarana ceremony. The grandmother is whispering the name into the baby's ear, while friends and family watch. (from Samskara (rite of passage))
Image 15A Tamil Hindu girl (center) in 1870 wearing a half-saree, flowers and jewelry from her Ritu Kala samskara rite of passage (from Samskara (rite of passage))
Image 16A Hindu cremation rite in Nepal. The samskara above shows the body wrapped in saffron on a pyre. (from Samskara (rite of passage))
The apparent multiplication of gods is bewildering at the first glance, but you soon discover that they are the same GOD. There is always one uttermost God who defies personification. This makes Hinduism the most tolerant religion in the world, because its one transcendent God includes all possible gods. In fact Hinduism is so elastic and so subtle that the most profound Methodist, and crudest idolater, are equally at home with it.
Ramana Maharshi (Sanskrit pronunciation:[ˈɾɐ.mɐ.ɳɐmɐˈɦɐɾ.ʂi]; 30 December 1879 – 14 April 1950) was an Indian Hindusage and jivanmukta (liberated being). He was born Venkataraman Iyer, but is mostly known by the name Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi.
He was born in Tiruchuli, Tamil Nadu, India in 1879. In 1895, an attraction to the sacred hill Arunachala and the 63 Nayanmars was aroused in him, and in 1896, at the age of 16, he had a "death-experience" where he became aware of a "current" or "force" (avesam) which he recognized as his true "I" or "self", and which he later identified with "the personal God, or Iswara", that is, Shiva. This resulted in a state that he later described as "the state of mind of Iswara or the jnani". Six weeks later he left his uncle's home in Madurai, and journeyed to the holy mountain Arunachala, in Tiruvannamalai, where he took on the role of a sannyasin (though not formally initiated), and remained for the rest of his life. (Full article...)
Arjuna (Sanskrit: अर्जुन, IAST: Arjuna), also known as Partha and Dhananjaya, was an ancient Indian prince of the Kuru Kingdom discussed in the epic, Mahabharata. He was the third of five Pandava brothers, from the lineage of the Kuru. In the Mahabharata War, Arjuna was a key warrior from the Pandava side in the battle of Kurukshetra. Before the beginning of the war, his mentor Krishna gave him the supreme knowledge of the Bhagavad Gita to overcome his moral dilemmas. Arjuna was the son of Kunti, the wife of Kuru King Pandu, and the god Indra, who fathered him due to Pandu's curse. In the Mahabharata, Arjuna is depicted as a skilled archer from an early age, as a student who earns the favor of his preceptor Drona, as the primary adversary of Kauravas, and the betrothed of Draupadi, who became the common wife of the Pandavas. Arjuna is twice exiled, first for breaking a pact with his brothers, and again with his brothers after his oldest brother is tricked into gambling away the throne. During his first exile, Arjuna married Ulupi, Chitrāngadā and Subhadra. From his four wives, Arjuna had four sons, one from each wife — Shrutakarma, Iravan, Babhruvahana and Abhimanyu. During his second exile, Arjuna gained many celestial weapons. Apart from being a warrior, Arjuna also possessed skills in music and dance. At the end of the epic the Pandavas, accompanied by Draupadi, retire to the Himalayas, where everyone in time passes away to arrive in heaven. (Full article...)
Aurobindo studied for the Indian Civil Service at King's College, in Cambridge, England. After returning to India he took up various civil service works under the Maharaja of the princely state of Baroda and became increasingly involved in nationalist politics in the Indian National Congress and the nascent revolutionary movement in Bengal with the Anushilan Samiti. He was arrested in the aftermath of a number of bombings linked to his organization in a public trial where he faced charges of treason for Alipore Conspiracy. However, Sri Aurobindo could only be convicted and imprisoned for writing articles against British colonial rule in India. He was released when no evidence could be provided, following the murder of a prosecution witness, Narendranath Goswami, during the trial. During his stay in the jail, he had mystical and spiritual experiences, after which he moved to Pondicherry, leaving politics for spiritual work. (Full article...)
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Studio photo of Anandamayi Ma
Anandamayi Ma (born Nirmala Sundari; 30 April 1896 – 27 August 1982) was an Indian saint, teacher, and mystic. She was revered as an incarnation of Hindu goddess Durga.
She was described by Sivananda Saraswati (of the Divine Life Society) as "la fleur la plus parfaite que le sol de l'Inde ait produite" [the most perfect flower the Indian soil has produced]. Her life was suffused in Bhakti Yoga and she was considered an epitome of "divine grace" that inspired the societal cultural milieu to lead the path of service, love and constant remembrance of the divine. Her followers experienced her spiritual attributes including precognition, faith healing and miracles. Paramahansa Yogananda translates the Sanskrit epithet Anandamayi as "Joy-permeated" in English. This name was given to her by her devotees in the 1920s to describe her perpetual state of divine joy. (Full article...)
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Neeb Karori Baba (Hindi: नीब करौरी बाबा, romanized: nīm karaulī bābā) or Neeb Karori Baba (Hindi: नीब करौरी बाबा, romanized: nīb karaurī bābā) (c. 1900 – 11 September 1973), also known to his followers as 'Maharaj-ji', was a Hinduguru and a devotee of the Hindu deityHanuman. He is known outside India for being the spiritual master of a number of Americans who travelled to India in the 1960s and 1970s, the most well-known being the spiritual teachers Ram Dass and Bhagavan Das, and the musicians Krishna Das and Jai Uttal. (Full article...)
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Sai Baba (photograph before 1918)
Sai Baba of Shirdi (c. 1838? – 15 October 1918), also known as Shirdi Sai Baba, was an Indian spiritual master and fakir, considered to be a saint, revered by both Hindu and Muslim devotees during and after his lifetime.
According to accounts from his life, Sai Baba preached the importance of "realisation of the self" and criticised "love towards perishable things". His teachings concentrated on a moral code of love, forgiveness, helping others, charity, contentment, inner peace, and devotion to God and Guru. (Full article...)
Madhvacharya (IAST: Madhvācārya; pronounced[mɐdʱʋaːˈtɕaːrjɐ]; CE 1199–1278 or CE 1238–1317), and also known as Purna Prajna (IAST: Pūrṇa-Prajña) and Ānanda Tīrtha, was an Indian philosopher, theologian and the chief proponent of the Dvaita (dualism) school of Vedanta. Madhva called his philosophy Tattvavāda meaning "arguments from a realist viewpoint".
Madhvacharya was born on the west coast of Karnataka state in 13th-century India. As a teenager, he became a Sanyasi (monk) joining Brahma-sampradaya guru Achyutapreksha, of the Ekadandi order. Madhva studied the classics of Hindu philosophy, and wrote commentaries on the Principal Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita and the Brahma Sutras (Prasthanatrayi), and is credited with thirty seven works in Sanskrit. His writing style was of extreme brevity and condensed expression. His greatest work is considered to be the Anuvyakhyana, a philosophical supplement to his bhasya on the Brahma Sutras composed with a poetic structure. In some of his works, he proclaimed himself to be an avatar of Vayu, the son of god Vishnu. (Full article...)