What is Hinduism?
The clip explores Hindu religion through worship described by 11 year old Vraj. Strong visuals show what happens at a Hindu mandir and Vraj describes the daily impact for him.
Hindu is over 4,000 years old, made up of lots of different Indian religious traditions. Worship reflects beliefs: the one true God, Brahman, has millions of qualities represented by millions of different gods and goddesses. Murtis, images of the divine, can be found at temples and in Hindu homes. Vraj compares Hindu beliefs to a bunch of flowers: every petal or flower is different, but there is 鈥榦ne bunch.鈥 Going to worship at a shrine is seen as making a visit to the gods and goddesses. Mandirs, Hindu places of worship, are centres for the community and worship, with many murtis to pray to. Vraj describes what he does: 鈥淲hen I come to the Mandir to worship god I walk in and ring the bell to awaken god and then I go to the gods and bow down to them And I would ask for something or thank them for something that鈥檚 happened. We believe in one God.鈥
Simran and Vraj worship God in the form of Shiv or Shiva, the creator of this world, but the other murtis are honoured as well: Vraj says: 鈥渋f I wanted strength I might go to the monkey god, Hanuman, or if I wanted intelligence I鈥檇 pray to Ganesh, the elephant god.鈥
The film shows the service of worship called Aarti, performed at least twice a day. Vraj says it makes him feel closer to god through focusing with closed eyes on a relaxing song.
Murtis (images) can be very decorative or much simpler. The kind of image doesn鈥檛 matter, but the feelings that go with worship do matter. Vraj talks a bout some beenfits of worship he has experienced:
1. It helps me facing my exams
2. It gets my brain working
3. It helps me to focus
4. It makes me calm
5. It gives me peace
Duration:
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