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Hinduism

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The caste system:

An essay on this topic has been relocated to another essay.

Hindu sects and denominations:

About 80% of Hindus are Vaishnavites, who worship Lord Vishnu. Others follow various reform movements or neo-Hindu sects.

Various sects of Hinduism have evolved into separate religious movements, including Hare Krishna, Sikhism and Theosophy. Transcendental Meditation was derived from a Hindu technique of meditation. The New Age movement has borrowed many of its concepts from Hinduism.

What does the mark on the forehead mean?

The colored dot is variously referred to as a "tilaka," "bottu," "bindiya," "kumkum," or "bindi." It is a sign of piety, and a reveals to other people that the wearer is a Hindu. It symbolizes the third eye -- the one focused inwards toward God. Both men and women wear it, although the practice among men is gradually going out of style. In the past, many unmarried women wore black marks, whereas many married women wore red. But in recent times, women often wear dots that match the color of their saris. ₄

Hindu sites on the Internet:

Web sites with lists of links to Hinduism:

	The Yahoo search engine lists over 200 Hinduism sites. See: http://dir.yahoo.com/
	About.com has a collection of articles on Hinduism at: http://hinduism.about.com/

Web sites devoted to Hindu festivals, fasts, temples, rituals, tours, etc:

	Bharatonline.com is a travel agency in India that supplies customized vacation packages, hotel bookings, airline tickets, railway tickets and car rentals. See: http://www.bharatonline.com/ They have an information section on Hindu temples in India at: http://www.bharatonline.com/temples.html
	The Char Dham Tours describe a pilgrimage to holy sites in India. See: http://www.char-dham.com/
	Diwali fesival contains "Information on festival celebrations for diwali, bhai duj, dhan teras, govardhan puja, lakshmi puja, kali pooja. Also find pooja process, gift traditions, importance, calendar, rangoli patterns, divali cards and divali recipes." See: http://www.diwalifestival.org/
	Durga Puja is a website maintained by the Society for Confluence of Festivals in India. They have a site devoted to the Durga Puja celebration, dedicated to the Goddess Durga, the Mother of the Universe. See: http://www.durga-puja.org/
	123 Greetings provides many free online greeting cards that you can send to friends and loved ones at Diwali. See: http://www.123greetings.com/
	Kashi Miksha Inc. provides service toHindus living around the world by performing last rituals at holy Ganges on behalf of the deceased's family member. See: http://www.kashimoksha.com/index.htm
	Holi-Cards facilitates sending free online greeting cards for Holi (a.k.a. Vasant Mahotsava and Kama Mahotsava). This is Hinduism's spring festival, celebrated on the day after the first full moon in March. See: http://www.holi-cards.com/
	Hindu Festivals.com features quotations, a Hindu calendar based on astrology, free cards celebrating Hindu festivals, etc. See: http://www.hindu-festivals.com

Web sites that discuss Hinduism:

	There is a Hindu E-mail digest at: http://www.hindunet.org/
	Faith Library has a series of essays in their "Rites and Rituals" section on many religions, including Hinduism. See: http://www.faith.com/
	Hindu Paintings has an amazing and beautiful website, with many articles describing symbolism in Hindu art. See:  http://www.hindupaintings.com/
	Hinduism Today is a "Monthly Magazine Affirming Sanatana Dharma and Recording the Modern History of a Billion-Strong Global Religion in Renaissance." See: http://www.himalayanacademy.com/
	The Hindu Universe has a great deal of information available on Hindu scriptures, news groups, WWW sites, festivals, customs, anti-defamation work, etc. See: http://www.hindunet.org
	Khatu Shyam ji is the name of Lord Krishna's present time Incarnation. He is worshiped all over india as well as in the rest of the world. He is believed to fulfill all wishes of his devotees. See: http://www.khatushyam.in/
	Two Newsgroups devoted to Hinduism are: alt.hindu http://www.hindunet.org/, and soc.religion.hindu at: http://www.hindunet.org/.
	Pathways to Metaphysics contains many Hindu-related essays. See: http://www.geocities.com/
	Sacred-texts.com has descriptions and translations of Hindu sacred texts. See: http://www.sacred-texts.com/
	A website devoted to Shaivam -- the branch of Hinduism that worships Lord Shiva -- is at: http://www.shaivam.org/
	The Vivekananda Centre London is a non-commercial Hindu educational organization which follows the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda. See: http://www.btinternet.com
	Wisdom of Vedas has sections dealing with current issues, beliefs, ancient temples, religious literature, etc. See: http://indowave.tripod.com/
	The World Vaisnava Association's home page is at: http://www.wva-vvrs.org/
	The World Wide Center for Self-Realization has a website with many essays on spirituality, Hinduism, the Bhagvad Gita, Jainism, Yoga, the Upanishads, meditation, etc. See: http://www.godrealized.com/

References used:

The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.

1. "The Caste system," at: http://members.tripod.com/ 
2. "India's social customs and systems: The caste system," at: http://www.investindia.com/
3. " 'Untouchables' on Verge of Turning to Christ," Religion Today summaries for 2001-OCT-5.
4. "Dot your eye," Snopes.com, at: http://www.snopes2.com/

Copyright © 1995 to 2011 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Latest update: 2011-FEB-22
Author: B.A. Robinson
Hyperlinks last checked: 2007-JAN-12

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