Hinduism

From its creation Hinduism has been a very influential religion in India. It was brought about once the Aryans left India and modified over the years. Often times the people of India are wrongly referred to as Hindus when Hindus are only the people practicing Hinduism. These people follow the strict yet simple rules of the religion; the cast system and the Vedas. These are to be respected and influence the people's daily life and have done so ever since their creation. The rituals are not questioned and are everyday affairs. Some of the traditions may have seemed a bit barbaric to the British at their time of rule however the people were used to them and treated them with great care.

It can be said that Hinduism is and has been an asset to the people of India ever since it creation and that it has had more positive effects than negative ones.

As the Aryans left the Indian peninsula they left behind them the necessary elements to create a new religion; Hinduism. The people of India gathered what had been left and used it to found Hinduism. They created the Vedas that are as the Bible for the Christians and instated the caste system. The caste system is the basis of Hinduism. Each Hindu has his place in the caste according to his social class and may never change caste during his current life. This caste system also helped to maintain order and unity among the Indian states. Hinduism was spreading wildly and is currently the first and most important religion in India. At the top of the Caste system are the Brahmins that are the priests of Hinduism. No one is able to be above them because they are the closest to the gods and are almost perfect. All the Hindus belong to a cast according to their job and the job of their father. The only way any of them could change caste is by reincarnation. This possibility to change cast motivated many to work harder and lead honest lives creating order amongst the people. It shows how Hinduism is a great factor of influence in their lives and that if they abide by it it is as a form of government.

Hindus did not need to go to church every day or pray in a specific way and at a specific time, all they needed to do was to follow the Vedas and obey the caste system. This point attracted many people to the religion because most people did not have time to spare for such things and needed to get on with their work. Their contribution to Hinduism was their work and on occasions their prayers to the gods they worshiped. This brings up another point which is the one of the several Hindu gods. The Hindus believed in different gods according to their wishes. There are a variety of gods and any Hindu is free to chose the one or ones he wishes to pray to. Therefore the people found the religion more personal and were able to identify with it better.

Hinduism has several important traditions that needed to be respected. One of them was Suttee. This tradition was not widespread however largely used around the area of Bengal. It consisted of burning the widows of dead men of the upper cast. Most of these women went voluntarily to be burned to show their love and devotion to their husband however some others were pushed by their families and peers. Another tradition specific to Hindus is that of female child infanticide. Most families only wished to have boys to perpetrate the traditions and family line but that was not always the case and sometimes they had girls. In the majority of the cases this was unacceptable and they immediately abandoned the child or killed it and left it to be eaten by the savage animals. These traditions although somewhat barbaric to us were perfectly normal and acceptable to the Hindus. However this may be one of the points which tarnishes Hinduism's good philosophy's. The Vedas contained all the Hindus needed to know about their religion and their duties towards it. The Brahmins expected every Hindu to know his duties and to respect them. If it ever occurred that a Hindu did not follow the rules his punishment would vary from execution to excommunication or more simply a fine and a purification ceremony. These rituals and obligations were there to help the Hindus to get closer to their gods and to live a more fulfilling life. They had a major impact and were as the law for them.

India however did not only have Hindus. There were also Muslims, Buddhists and many more. Unfortunately as in most parts of the world nothing can function without a war breaking out and this is exactly what happened between the Muslims and the Hindus. Both religions were trying to take over power and Gandhi

was trying to prevent a possible split which would weaken the country. However this split occurred between the two religions and a Muslim country was formed and is now called Pakistan. The Hindus on their part stayed in India and developed both their culture and religion setting it even more in the every day life and way of thinking. The problem that occurred with the partition was that there were Hindus living in modern day Pakistan and Muslims in India. Therefore they all had to be transferred back to their country creating massive housing and accommodation problems. This split although feared by Gandhi

was not all that bad after all. It enabled both sides to go more into depth with their theories and traditions. Now India was basically ruled by Hinduism although Buddhism and other smaller religions still reigned there.

A problem encountered by the Hindus was that the state was refusing to accept the long perpetrated tradition of the caste system. It thought that this was a great cause for discrimination and should be abolished but if they really thought about it although it is discriminative towards the people it does create a sort of order amongst them which could never exist if the rules of Hinduism were not to be followed exactly as they are. The caste system never really disappeared and still in modern day India can be seen in certain areas. However one of the main disadvantages of this system is the fact that people are only allowed to marry into their caste making marriage a limited option but on the other hand marriage was decided by the parents anyway so it should not really matter.

Hinduism is in a way not only its own religion. It takes its roots in several others and the others take root in Hinduism it is as a compilation of different religions with each their own specificity's