Hinduism

Hinduism
Interesting symbol of Hinduism

The swastika is a symbol in the hindu culture that is in the shape of an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles, in either right-facing form or its mirrored left-facing form. It is often shown meaning “well being”. Today the swastika occurs mainly in modern day culture of northern India, while sometimes as a geometrical motif and even at times a religious symbol. To the Hindu people the two symbols represent the two different forms of the creator god Brahma. The side facing right represents evolution of universe, while the side facing left represents involution of the universe. Additionally it is often seen as pointing in all four directions (north, east, south and west) which signifies a grounded stability. The swastika has a sun symbol that can be seen as a representation of the god Surya. It is considered extremely holy by all Hindus, and is regularly used to decorate items related to Hindu culture. Throughout India, it can be seen on the sides of temples, religious scriptures, gift items, and letterheads. The Hindu deity Ganesha is often shown sitting on a lotus flower on a bed of swastikas.

Hindu religious rituals

Many people from south india celebrate the Theemithi festival by walking barefoot across a pit filled with burning hot firewood, or sometimes even glowing charcoal. This type of fire walking ritual is done in honour of the Hindu goddess Draupati Amman so rather than hurrying across the put, the devotees have to walk across slowly. The ritual begins when the preist traverses the pit was a pot on his head, filled with sacred water. The prey's is then followed by other men. who seek to proves their piety by withstanding the pain of her burning feet. People that participate in this ritual often suffer from burns on their feet and some even with worse injuries, with some even falling into the burning pit.

A famous festival in India called the thookam festival takes the backs of devoted Hindus pierced by sharp hooks; the men are then lifted off the ground onto a scaffold using ropes. Sometimes, children are even tied to the hands of participants. The ritual originated from southern parts of India but has now been banned by the Indian government after continued pressure from human rights organizations.

Work Cited

 "Hinduism/Religious Symbols of Hinduism." - Wikibooks, Open Books for an Open World. Web. 2 Jan. 2016.

"10 Bizarre Indian Rituals - Listverse." Listverse. 4 Dec. 2012. Web. 2 Jan. 2016.