NATIHinduism-Megan

=    **Hinduism**     = A.There is no recognized founder or recognized year. The only thing know of Hinduism's beginning was that it was found near the now sacred, Ganges River. Even knowing this many people believe since Hinduism was not founded by a person, but by god.
 * Q.Who was the founder of Hinduism and when did it begin?**

A.There is one main leader of this religion whose name is Mohandas Gandhi. Mohandas Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869 in Porbandar, which is now Gujarat, India. He was a non-violent lawyer living in South Africa during the time of Indias struggle for civil rights. When he moved back to India he helped many people protest against the civil rights in India. The reason he did all this was to reach independance in India. Unfortunatly he was assassinated January 30, 1948 while taking a nightly walk across public grounds. His killer and the people he worked for were later executed.
 * Q.Wh[[image:images-5.jpg width="102" height="128" align="right"]]o are the Hindu leaders?**

A.The hindus practice their religion in either their homes or in a temple called the Mandir. In a Hindu home, you are most likely to find a shrine of some sort. Every time they worship to the shrine they purify themselves, spray a perfume of natural aromas into the air, and ring a bell before they begin to prey. When worship is done at the Mandir people must first take off shoes, then wash feet and hands to show purity. Eventually upon entering they must ring a bell.
 * Q. What is the place of worship?**

A.Hinduism began in India but by no known people. Today it is practiced by 14% of the worlds population, the most common countries that practice Hinduism are India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Malaysia. Recently though it has been spreading to the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
 * Q.Where did Hinduism begin and where is it practiced today?**

A.There is no unified system of beliefs for the hindu religion. Even with no unified system they still have many beliefs. They believe in idol worship, reincarnation, karma, dharma, and moshka. The 'Grihasha Dhrama' has four main goals, 'karma'(sensual pleasure), 'artha'(wealth and property), 'dharma'(the laws of life), 'moshka'(liberation from the cycle of births). Their moral beliefs are to be non-violent, truthful, friendship, compassion, fortitude, self control, purity, and generosity.
 * Q.What are the main beliefs of this religion?**


 * Q.Does Hinduism have a god?** A.Hinduism does not have a real god, but a supreme spirit called Brahman. The hindu's refer to him as the eternal, conscious, irreducible, infinite, omnipresent, spiritual source of the universe of finiteness and change. He takes no human form, but just a supreme being. They also have Trimurti, this is the most important, it contains the creator, destroyer, and preserver. Vishnu is the preserver, and Siva is the destroyer.

A. There is the sanskrit, vedas, and upanishads. The sanskrit is the oldest known language, the vedas is the ancient text, and the upanishads are their writings.
 * Q.What are the sacred writings of this religion?**

A.They practice fulfilling the duties of ones life.
 * Q.What are their practices, how do they worship, and they how do they practice there beliefs?**
 * Yoga-the practice of relaxing movement
 * Puja-a ritual hindus perform every morning and night in which they bathe and dress before eating


 * Q.What are the Hinduism holidays and why do they celebrate it?**
 * Devali-Hindu new year
 * Holi-Spring festival(splash colors or chalk on each other) -to celebrate spring
 * Raksha Bahhan-Wedding ceremony

**Q.What are the main symbols of Hinduism?** A. The swastika is an ancient symbol with crossed arms. To hindus it is a sign of peace and good luck. Unfortunately in 1933 the Nazis took over in Germany, which eventually led to the Holocaust. They took the swastika and used it as their symbol, except they turned it slightly to mean death and hatred. That is why many people give the swastika a bad reputation.