Indian religion: Lights of a Diwali celebration What are the main Indian religions? Three major world religions - Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam - have been important in India. Hinduism started in India in the Stone [...]
Hinduism: Arjuna fighting Karna, with Krishna as his charioteer (Duttapara Temple, ca. 1500s AD) What does "Hindu" mean? The word Hindu comes from the river Indus. So it just means [...]
The god Ganesh (Musee Guimet, Paris, from Tamil Nadu, ca. 1500 AD) Who was Ganesh? Ganesh was one of the Hindu gods. He has an elephant head, so he's easy to spot in [...]
A woman creates a pattern with colored sand for Diwali All over India, women use colored rice flour or wheat flour, or colored sand, to make patterns on the ground to celebrate holidays like Diwali. People [...]
Airavetesavara temple to Shiva in southern India (1100s AD) For a great project on Hinduism, and to learn the important vocabulary of this religion, write words related to Hinduism on pieces of [...]
Flowers and Diwali lamps - the Diwali festival What does "Diwali" mean? Diwali is a Sanskrit word originally meaning "a row of lights". "Dipa" is the Sanskrit word for "light". Diwali [...]
What is dharma? Arjuna fights Shiva (in a story from the Mahabharata) because that is his dharma Dharma is an Indian idea Dharma is a Sanskrit word originally meaning order or [...]
Ganesh cursed the moon (Musee Guimet, Paris, from Tamil Nadu, ca. 1500 AD) Narada offered a sacrifice Now long ago Brahma was sitting with Shiva when a man called Narada came along. And Narada [...]
Buddhism in India - Buddha Reincarnation and the wheel In the 500s BC, during the later part of the Vedic period in India, the idea of reincarnation became very strong among Hindus. Most people [...]
Brahma (Musée Guimet, Paris,from Madhya Pradesh, about 1100 AD) Who was the god Brahma? Brahma was, along with Vishnu and Shiva, one of the three main gods of Hinduism. More about Vishnu And about [...]
