HINDU CULTURE

HINDU CULTURE

Sara Másmela 11th grade  

India is a country located in South Asia and it is the second more populated country in the world. Its capital is New Delhi and has one of the seven wonders of the world. It is characterized by the Hinduism as its religion, which influences in its cultural development and Indians daily life.

Its religion has 5 gods: Agni (god of fire, stars and sun), Brahma (creator of the universe), Ganesha (god of wisdom and cautious), Indra (god of war, rain and thunder), and Devi (feminine aspect of divinity).

One of the sacred rites in the Hinduism is the marriage, it is the most important in the Hindu culture. At the wedding, woman wears red with trimmings, jewelry and embroideries with gold thread. Also, the man has a colorful costume. They have to walk around fire seven times as a sample that they are going to stay always together, end, when it ends the husband sprays a red dust to his wife. When any woman is married, she puts in their front a gem called “Bindi”, which symbolizes that she is married.

Costumes that women and men use in India change according to the place where they are. The traditional costumes are “Sari” for women, and “Dhoti” or “Lungi” for men. Nevertheless, the most popular costume in India is the handmade.

In case of art, sculptures and architecture, Indians make pictures and sculptures about their gods, and some constructions too, but other ones, have Indian historical events, as the Taj Mahal.

The Taj Mahal is not a place of worship to gods; it is a tomb. In 1607 Shah Jahan met a Persian-Islamic girl, Mumtaz Mahal. They got married, but, the princess died during the birth of her 14th child.

Shah Jahan ordered the construction of his wife’s tomb in 1631 and it finished in 1653, the construction was completed in 22 years, employing around 20.000 assistants and 1.000 elephants. The Taj Mahal gathers Islamic, Persian and Indian architectural styles. The Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan’s tombs are located in the Mausoleum (the central part of the construction).

Now the Taj Mahal is one of the seven wonders in the world, and attracts a lot of tourists around the year to Agra city where it is located.

In the other hand, India has an important river, the Ganges river. Indians consider it as a sacred river, for that reason, when an Indian die, its corpse is thrown to the river because they believe that it will reincarnate in a cow or in a mouse. That is the answer to why Indians do not kill these animals.

As you can see, India is a country with a lot of cultural wealth, and historical places to visit. Anyday you want to undertake a trip to this wonderful country, you can use this information and continue learning about it.