The Age of Shiva: Shiva becomes the God of Cool for young urban Indians. He has a calm exterior, but Arjun P.
Kishore, 24, a software professional with Cognizant in Bangalore, can fly into one heck of a rage when provoked. And there's only one god for all rages: Shiva. Kishore already has two tattoos of the deity, and is zeroing in on the design for a third. He is currently reading the Shiva Purana Retold by author Ramesh Menon and while there are some who wonder what is wrong with him, many more, he says, come by to borrow the book. "I couldn't for the life of me sit for a pooja, but with Shiva there are no rules. Nataraja has gone from mandatory bronze souvenirs gifted to visiting foreign delegations to dude of the hour and deity superhero. The serial Devon Ke Dev… Mahadev on channel Life OK has current television viewer ratings of 2.1, and has hit highs of 8.2 for key episodes.
"People don't say I look divine, they say I look sexy. Amitabh Bachchan to comment that he never thought he'd see the day when a book is celebrated with a movie-worthy party. Hinduism. Hinduism is the dominant religion, or way of life,[note 1] in South Asia, most notably India.
It includes Shaivism, Vaishnavism and Shaktism among numerous other traditions, and a wide spectrum of laws and prescriptions of "daily morality" based on karma, dharma, and societal norms. Hinduism is a categorisation of distinct intellectual or philosophical points of view, rather than a rigid, common set of beliefs. Hinduism, with about one billion followers[web 1] is the world's third largest religion, after Christianity and Islam.
Hinduism has been called the "oldest religion" in the world,[note 2] and some practitioners refer to it as Sanātana Dharma, "the eternal law" or the "eternal way"[3] beyond human origins. Western scholars regard Hinduism as a fusion[note 3] or synthesis[note 4] of various Indian cultures and traditions,[6][note 5] with diverse roots[note 6] and no single founder. Etymology Definitions Colonial influences Indigenous understanding Sanātana Dharma Growing Hindu identity. Neo-Vedanta. Neo-Vedanta , also called neo-Hinduism and Hindu Universalism , [ web 1 ] is a modern interpretation of Hinduism which developed in the 19th century in response to western colonialism and orientalism .
It contributed to the Indian freedom struggle and India's identity as a modern, tolerant and independent nation. It presents Hinduism as a "homogenized ideal of Hinduism" with Advaita Vedanta as it's central doctrine. History [ edit ] Colonialism and modernism [ edit ] With the colonisation of India by the British a new era in the history of India began. ... the 'solution of synthesis'—the effort to adapt to the newcomers, in the process of which innovation and assimilation gradually occur, alongside an ongoing agenda to preserve the unique values of the many traditions of Hinduism (and other religious traditions as well). [ note 1 ] Vedantification [ edit ] Neo-Vedanta, also called "neo-Hinduism" [ note 2 ] is a central theme in these reform-movements.
Ramana Maharshi [ edit ] Notes [ edit ] Hindu Deities - All About the Goddesses. Hinduism as a religion is called as `apauruseya` which means of impersonal origin.
Hindu Gods are also known as such, they are eternal deities appearing to be sovereign and different, but in reality are aspects of the same ‘Supreme God’. A Hindu deity (god or goddess; note small g) represents a particular aspect of the Supreme Being. Within Hinduism a large number of personalities, or ‘forms’ of this Being, are worshiped as deities or incarnations. Read more about the Hindu Gods Durga Goddess Durga represents the power of the Supreme Being that preserves moral order and righteousness in the creation.
The worship of Goddess Durga is very popular among Hindus. Durga is depicted as a warrior aspect of Devi Parvati with 10 arms who rides a lion or a tiger, carries weapons and assumes mudras, or symbolic hand gestures. Kali Kali, also known as Kalika, is a Hindu goddess associated with death and destruction. Saraswati. Shiva Lingam - Meaning and the myths. The Sanskrit word ‘ Lingam’ means symbol. Thus the literal meaning of Shiva Lingam is the symbol of Shiva. The Supreme Shiva doesn’t have a form and every form is his form. The Shiva Lingam represents him, the Supreme Shiva¸ who is formless. The way when we see a smoke, we infer the presence of fire, the moment we see Shiva Lingam we immediately visualize the existence of the Supreme Shiva.
It has been a common myth that Shiva Lingam represents male genital organs. The Lingam Purana states: प्रधानं प्रकृतिर यदाहुर्लिगंउत्तम । Meaning: the foremost Lingam which is devoid of colour, taste, hearing, touch etc is spoken of as Prakriti or nature . The nature itself is a Lingam ( or symbol) of Shiva. Another authentic reference comes from Skanda Purana where lingam is clearly indicated as the supreme Shiva from where the whole universe is created and where it finally submerge.
आकाशं लिंगमित्याहु: पृथ्वी तस्य पीठिका।