Rituals and worship

INTRODUCTION

The huge variety of religious practices in Hinduism makes it impossible to give a detailed account of the Hindu ritual. The caste, sect, religion are the main causes of diversification, together with the special circumstances of city life which make a faithful observance of the ritual more difficult. But, although ritual orthodoxy is on the decline among the urban population, it would be a mistake to think that it is dead. In villages and in many homes in the cities, religious practices are faithfully observed and give the devotees spiritual comfort.[1]

I.RITUALS AND WORSHIP

Ritual is essential in all Hindu worship; there are two types of rituals. Vedic ritual based on the Vedas and Agamic rituals concerned with image worship. There are different agamas for different parts of India, giving details about construction of temples, installation of idols and modes of worship.[2]

i) Agamic Tradition

            The worship in Hindu temple follows Agamic tradition, and the word Agama is referred to an ancient tradition, dealing with worship and the philosophical, ritualistic and behavioral aspects, which has come down by word as well as written texts. Agamas are believed to have originated from God at the time of creation itself. The salient feature of Agamas is it recommends image worship. Devotion to deity is to attain salvation and it gave rise to the cult of worship in temple. Agamic texts say about three types of worship namely bodily, verbal and mental. Bodily worship can be with or without image offering sacrifice and services to image. Verbal worship is reciting Vedic hymns and mental worship is meditating alone in seclusion upon God in ones heart or upon the form of Vishnu. The Agama text insists on the household worship.[3]

II. PRACTICES IN HOME

A Brahmin is by caste, the Hindu whose existence is completely under the sway of ritual. The other caste models their religious practices on the pattern of Brahmin life. We shall have a general idea of the ritual duties of all Hindus.[4]

i) Morning worship:- Rising before sun rise, a Brahmin is careful to avoid the sight of in auspicious persons or objects. A widow, a sweeper, a barren woman are inauspicious a ring, a cow, a little child are auspicious. His foot must touch the ground first. Once out of bed, he rinses his mouth three times and winds his Holy thread round his neck and over his right ear. After the morning toilet, he wears his holy thread round his neck and is allowed to break silence. He cleans his teeth, rinses his mouth and bows to the sun. The morning bath follows, preferably in a river, concluded before the sun rises. Seated on a low stool and facing the east, with his sacred thread from his left shoulder, he sips water, and pronounces sacred formulas applying ashes on his fore head, his arms, ribs and knees. He ties his hair. Closing one nostrils after the other, he exhales and inhales, repeating the famous gayatri mantra. Then closing both nostrils and bending his head he repeats mentally the same mantra four times. The whole process is repeated three times. Water is sprinkled to dispel the demons and more water is poured as a symbol of the bath being freed from demons for the sun to rise. The gayatri mantra is repeated 108 times. The morning worship is concluded with different positions of the fingers which symbolize different petitions. [5]

ii)Morning homa:- (oblation) is an offering of ghee, curds and rice to the fire and must precede the first meal. Homa is followed by (svadhyaya) spiritual reading with repetition of gayatri mantra followed by ceremony tarpana.[6]

iii)Deva pujana:- Worship of deity, a small room is reserved in the home as a kind of private oratory where the image of the favourite god(isteva devata), image of other gods, and various utensils were used in worship(bell, copper vessel, spoon, sandal-wood paste, incense, conch-shell, etc) are kept. The water used in the puja must be blessed. The water is sprinkled over the utensils of the worshipper. The special prayers and gestures of the worship depend on the deity who is worshipped. The worship is usually completed by a prayer asking for the forgiveness of sins.

            They did not dispose the time necessary to perform all these duties. A sandhya is also performed at noon and in the evening. It is not necessary that all the family members should involve in rites. Usually, the head of the family does it in the name of all.[7]

III.SACRIFICES

The great vedic sacrifices are no longer celebrated. They have been replaced by the puja of home and temple deities. There are 5 great sacrifices which have preserved in vedic tradition and are occationally performed by wealthy Hindus to assure their liberation or of relative of friend.[8]

i)Maharudra sacrifice:- It is believed to wash away the sins of the person for whom it is offered, whether he be alive or dead. Eleven Brahmins officiate as sacrificers, one as acarya, one as Brahma, one as sadaayapati, one as ganapati, one as upadrastr, four as door keepers, to keep the demons away. The fire lit at the beginning must burn continually for the five or eleven days till the sacrifice lasts. The god rudra and attendant deities are installed. Worship will goes on the whole time and every evening there is arati (waving of lamps).[9]

ii)Gayatri purascarana:- a house holder is expected during his life to repeat the gayatri 2,400,000 times. Towards the end of his life, if he has doubts regarding the fulfillment of that duty, he may perform the Gayatri purascarana. A number of Brahmins are invited who will recite the gayatri during several days until the number is completed. The ritual resembles that of the Maharudra. While the mantra is recieted, ghee is continually poured into the fire.[10]

iii)Candi-patha:- It is performed to propitiate Candi, the consort of Siva. The candi patha is a passage from Markandeya Purana containing 700 stanzas. The form of worship is repeating those stanzas for 100 or 1,000 or 100,000 times.

iv)Homa sacrifice:- In homa sacrifice butter was offered that the smoke of the fire was visible for 20 miles around. The Homa sacrifice is offered to the gods.[11]

v)Sacrifices in Temple

The word sacrifice (yajna) is also used in a broader sense for the five sacrifices which a house holder must offer every day. According to manu smiriti reading the Holy scripture is the sacrifice to Brahma.

 Pitryajnastu tarpanam:- The sacrifice to the ancestors.

Balirbhutayajnah:- The feeding of animals is offered to the elements.

Nryajno thitipujanam:- Hospitality is the sacrifice offered to men.

Animal sacrifice:- Animal sacrifices are not offered to Vishnu and rarely to siva. But the consort of siva, kali, or Durga must be propitiated by the shedding of blood. In the court yard of the temple V shaped iron forks are fixed in the ground. Worshippers bring male goats and buffaloes. The priest’s assistant pass the head of the animal into the fork and the priests beheads the animal. The head must fall at the first stroke of the knife, otherwise the sacrifice is not auspicious.[12]

IV.TEMPLE WORSHIP

Hindu temple is the sanctuary of a god or godess and not a place of public worship. There is no liturgical service for the congregation and the sacraments are not administered in the temple. The priest alone performs the ritual ceremonies without any participation of the laity. Courts and buildings may be attached to the temple for the convenience of the pilgrims. The religious practices which are performed in them have a private character. Some read their holy books, others recite their beads, there are religious songs and religious instructions. The innermost chamber of the temple contains the symbol of the main god, while other shrines may be built around for other deities. There are images for gods and the priest treats the god as living beings. He was given bath, dressed neatly, given meal, rest in noon, before sunset refreshments are given and at dusk lamp wavering ceremony is performed. After changing his cloths the priests prepares him for night rest. Private worship in the temples consists in offering prayers and oblations between the regular intervals of the priestly ritual. The worshipper gives his offering to the priest, bows before the image goes round the temple with his right side turned towards the deity and at the end receives from the priest a little part of the offering which has been presented to the deity. That is called prasada. Vows also can be taken for obtaining of a favor.[13]

i)Image worship

Image worship in India can be traced back to pre-Vedic times; the Indus valley civilization knew this type of worship. The veneration of aniconic symbols like sacred stones and trees is also of very ancient origin. The Bagavad gita commanded bakthi and puja offered to a god if his statue could be enthroned in a room or in a shrine. From second century kings and rich men began to rival one another in building large and beautiful temples. The Hindu image world is complex. The idol should be consecrated before worshipping. It is made of clay, stone or metal, and had been bought or brought without much show of respect. After consecrating the devote worshipper believes that the statue has been transformed into the very body of the god or at least into his adobe.[14]

ii)Variety of Hindu idols:-Hindu scriptures distinguished at least 8 kinds of images according to the material selected: stone, wood, metal, sandal wood, a picture, paper, sand, precious stones and mental image. Ritually images are classified as gold, silver, copper, diamond, stone, sacred or sacrificial wood, iron, conch-shell, brass, etc. The majority of Hindu worshippers adore clay or stone images not mental pictures.

iii)Purpose of worship:- The purpose of image worship is to help the worshipper in mediation and to get concentration.

Aniconic:- Many objects of worship are aniconic.

            Siva is most commonly worshipped in the shape of a stone from the Narmada, the vanalinga, or in the shape of traditional linga.

            Vishnu is worshipped in the shape of a black stone found in the Gandaki river, called Salagrama.

            Durga is adored in the shape of a metallic stone.

            Ganesa is adored in the form of a red stone.

Many of these idols don’t need consecration they are self consecrated.[15]

Vehicles of gods

 Sitala rides an ass, sasthi a cat, Manasa snake, Siva his bull, Durga a lion, Kartik a peacock, Ganesa and mouse, Lakshmi and the owl, Sarasvati and the swan, Agni and the goat, Narayana and garuda bird each deity has a special animal companion, emblem or support.[16]

V.SPECIAL OBSERVANCES

1.Religious practices

i)Astrology and omens:- The astrologer composes the horoscope at the exact moment of the child’s birth and it is the most important document to be consulted before all the events of life; profession, marriage, choice of bride. The future character of the child is described in the horoscope and details such as: color of cloth to wear, education will be decided by astrologer.[17]

ii)Days of the week:-  It carry with them auspicious and inauspicious regulations. Monday (somavara) is specially cedicated to god siva, cloths, shoes and eastward journey should not be done. Monday is auspicious for birthand wedding. Tuesday (mangalavara), Mangala means auspicious and the name of planet Mars. Sowing seeds, shaving, entering a new house or opening a shop, travelling to north are inauspicious. Wednessday (Budhavara) is the day of Mercury, a lucky for a birth of a son but unlucky for a daughter. Anything done on wednessday will bear double fruit. It is a good day to buy cloth or to start a case in court. Thursday (Brhaspatvara) Brhaspati is the preceptor of the gods send your child to a new school, eat white food and do not travel southward. Friday (Sukravara) the day of the planet Venus, a good day to buy land and tress, southward travel should be avoided. Saturday (Sanivara) the day of the planet Saturn and especially dedicated to Hanuman and it is bad and slow day. It is good to begin friendship, engage a servant to move to a new house. Sunday (Ravivara) the day of the sun Barren womens and lepers fast on Sundays. It is a good day to study mantras and to travel.[18]

iii)The days of month and Eclipses:- Eleventh day (ekadasi) of every month is holiest and brings luck to any enterprise or journey. Widows and devout Hindus fast on this day. The first, fourth, ninth and fourteenth days are inauspicious. Women fast on full moon day till moon rises. The amavasya day is dedicated to the ancestors. When eclipse occurs Hindus bathe and repeat gayatri mantra to help the sun from defiling influence of Rahu.[19]

iv)Demons and ghosts:- Hindus wear amulets around the arm to avoid evil influences of demons and wicked spirits. The amulet contain the image of a god, a small bit of paper ar bark on which a spell is written, a coil of thread, a tuft of hair etc. Wandering spirits must be propitiated by offering them a home and worship.[20]

VI.IMPACT OF RITUALS IN CHRISTIANITY

As we are living in a Hindu based society, lot of rituals and observances have been followed by Christians. When missionaries came many of the rituals and observances which has cultural values and religious based are condemned and converted Christians are not allowed to follow them. But it is necessary to think because today Christianity is transmitted into cultures, so it should be analyzed. Christians often rejected that they are free from rituals and observances but they follow certain rituals on the basis of Christianity which has no cultural values.

            In some traditional church arathi is offered in the altar, Hindus offer flowers and arathi to their deity. Paying homage to a man is done by garlanding and in Hindu worship homage to God is done by flowers. Christians observe a day for dead all saints day as that of Hindu who gives thithi in remembering their forefathers.

CONCLUSION

There are many rituals and rites followed by Christians it is not Hindus who are doing such rituals. Often we condemn them as evil; there are rituals which can be assimilated by church. The new convert finds our churches and our worship as unfamiliar because we following western ritual. Christianity does not lie in the fact Hinduism is full of superstitions, because in the middle ages Christians were attracted to witch craft and there are rituals and practices like Hindu does and believes.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Smet,De.R,and J. Neuner, Religious Hinduism, Bombay, St. Paul society,1997.

Brown, A. David, A Guide to Religions, New Delhi, ISPCK, 1973.

Micheal ,Jesudhasan. Worship in the Agamic tradition of Hinduism, Bangalore, ATC, 2006.

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[1] R.De Smet and J.Neuner, Religious Hinduism, Bombay, St Pauls Society,200

[2] Jesudhasan Micheal, Worship in the Agamic tradition of Hinduism, ATC,17

[3] Ibid, 19

[4] R.De Smet and J.Neuner, Ibid.

[5] Ibid

[6] Ibid,201.

[7] Ibid.

[8] Ibid,202

[9] Ibid.

[10] Ibid.

[11] Ibid,203.

[12] Ibid,203

[13] David A Brown, A Guide to Religions,New Delhi, ISPCK,81

[14] R.De Smet and J.Neuner,Ibid,220

[15] Ibid,223

[16] Ibid224.

[17] Ibid,205.

[18] Ibid.

[19] Ibid,206.

[20] Ibid,207.