Sydney Hinduism

Introduction
The Indus Valley was the original birthplace of Hinduism. The complex
religion was created by using many different Indian religion, traditions and
practices. There is no founder in particular. Hinduism began about 4,000
years ago in 2500 BCE. It is the oldest religion existing today.
General Beliefs
Hindus believe in one God, Brahman. The Hindu's believe that this God is the
almighty creator of the earth. Brahmans characteristics through hundreds
different of gods. They believe that there are three main elements to the
main god barman, the creator, Vishnu the preserver and Shiva the destroyer.
The Hindu's worship these particular gods using a Murti. A Murti is a statue
or photograph of the god. They believe that they are meeting with god when
they come to a shrine. A Shrine is what the Murti is kept in. The Hindis do
not eat meat because they believe that god lives in everything and therefore
to kill an animal would be to like killing god. Hindis also commonly reference
to Karma. Karma is when you do good acts it affects what your afterlife will
be. A good way to describe this is, you get what you give. For the Hindis if
you are bad in one life you will become an animal in your next life. If you are
good in your next life you will continue a cycle of birth and rebirth until you
reach a point where you break the cycle. This is called Mokaha. Mokaha is
when you reach the farthest with god and you become one with god. After a
Hindu is dead they cremated the body to help it start the next part of the
cycle of birth and rebirth.
Celebrations and festivals
The Hindus have many festivals throughout the year to commemorate
certain things. One of the largest celebration is Holi. Holi is the festival of
spring. It represents good overcoming evil and new life. It is also known as
the festival of the color. Wet paint or dry paint thrown to give color in life and
to make sure that you remember to forgive. The different colors of paint
symbolize different things. Red means power, orange portrays purity and
green symbolizes love. Another celebration is Diwali. During Diwali you give
gives sweets and give all your old clothes to charity. It is all about friends and
family coming together. You get new clothes and gifts and sweets. They
believe that if you give someone something sweet they will think sweet
things about you. During Diwali you can forget all the bad things you have
done and look forward to the future. The most popular story told at the time
is about god came to earth as Ram. It also marks the beginning of the new
year for hindus celebrating happiness. Sometimes called the festival of light.
This festival happens every year and marks the beginning of the new year
for hindi's. They help Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth with with their art
work. Marriage is a very big event for hindis. They believe it is a very big
duty to be married. Before wedding the bride has a party with friends and

women get henna's. There are lots of traditions during a Hindu marriage.
One including the priest lights a holy fire then walk around fire 4 times. The
Brides wedding dress is red and white. The white simbloizeszes purity and
red symbiosis fertility.
Rituals and Practices
Hindis worship god everyday of the week. Including Saturdays and Sundays
too. Before the go to meet the gods at the murtis, they first ring a bell
before worship to awakens them. Then they bow down to them then thanks
the gods or asks for something. Hindus often often choose one god to
worship. They sometimes worship at the mundiar, which is a public place
where hindus can worship gods. For Hindus family life the top priority.