Rituals:- The vast
majority of Hindus engage in religious
rituals on a daily basis. Most Hindu s observe
religious rituals at home. However, observation of rituals greatly vary amon g
regions, villages, and individuals. Devout Hindus perform daily
chores such as worshiping at the dawn after bathing (usually at a family shrine,
and typically includes lighting a lamp and offering foodstuffs before the
images of deities), recitation from religious scripts,
singing devotional hymns, meditation, chanting mantras,
reciting scriptures etc. A notable feature in religious ritual
is the division between purity and pollution. Religious acts presuppose some
degree of impurity or defilement for the practitioner, which must be
overcome or neutralised before or during
ritual procedures. Purification, usually with water, is thus a typical
feature of most religious action. Other characteristics
include a belief in the efficacy of sacrifice and concept of
merit, gained through the performance of
charity or good works, that will accumulate over time and reduce
sufferings in the next world. Vedic rites of fire-oblation (yajna) are now
only occasional practices although they are highly revered
in theory. In Hindu wedding and burial
ceremonies, however, the yajña and chanting of Vedic mantras are still
the norm.
Diwali,
the festival of lights, is a prime festival of Hinduism. Shown
here are
traditional Diyas that are often lit during Diwali.
Occasions like birth, marriage, and
death involve what are often elaborate
sets of religious customs. In Hinduism, life-cycle rituals
include Annaprashan (a baby's first intake of
solid food), Upanayanam ("sacred thread ceremony" undergone
by upper-caste children at their initiation into formal education.), Shraadh
(ritual of treating people to feasts in the name of the deceased). For most
people in India, the betrothal of the
young couple and the exact date and time of the wedding are matters
decided by the parents in consultation with
astrologers. On death, cremation is considered obligatory for all except sanyasis,
hijra, and children under five. Cremation is typically performed
by wrapping the corpse in cloth and burning it on a pyre.
