Families shuffled into the Hindu Society of North Carolina Temple in Morrisville to offer milk, water and prayers to Lord Shiva, a major deity of the Hindu religion Monday, Feb. 20.
“We are celebrating the Maha Shivaratri ,” V.D . Sharmah , a priest of the temple, said. “It is the celebration of Shiva’s wedding anniversary to the Goddess Parvati . The people come here in the morning, and they will stay until 11:00 tonight.”
Hinduism is made of multiple deities, and with so many forms and interpretations, the idea behind the worship of God can be confusing to those who are not familiar with the religion, according to Sharmah .
“Hinduism is consisted of various religions, each of its own beliefs,” Darshan Dave, a sophomore in business administration, said. “But at the core we believe that God is one. Whether you believe in Allah or Jesus, God is God and has infinite names. The different deities are the different manifestations of God. For instance, sometimes the human can be angry or sad, and those deities can be those representations.”
Dave said with the many forms of manifestations, there are three main deities that stand out to make the Great Trinity : Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma. They consist of everything that stands for God, including anger, sadness, creation and destruction. These three manifestations of God tend to be worshipped the most in Hinduism.
Dave said misconceptions of his faith naturally arise for non-Hindus who may believe Hinduism consists of pantheism and polytheism, where praying to deities may be mistaken for idol worshipping.
“You can worship without any idols,” Dave said. “When you pray, you create something, and you create a spirit in [the deities].”
The diversity of Hinduism has created a religion with many interpretations and practices united by common religious texts, including the Vedas. However, other religions today stem from the ideas Hinduism established.
“Hinduism is a very ancient religion,” Chakrapami Kumara , a priest of the Sri Venkateswara Temple of North Carolina, said. “From Hinduism, Buddhism is born. And Sikhism is a branch of Hinduism. Jainism , Sikhism , they are like branches of the tree, where the base is Hinduism. People divert a little bit, but Hinduism is the root. The water [nourishing the tree] would be the believers and followers.”
Hindus believe in equal respect for all other religions and faiths and do not believe in the concept of having missionaries who actively seek out people to convert to their religion. Rather, many strive to allow people to be informed and then make their own decisions. One way they do this is by leaving their temples open to all visitors and tourists, welcoming people who wish to learn more about their religion.
“This country allows us to practice our own religion,” Kumara said. “We should not spoil this dutiful system in this country. We should respect our religions, and they have to learn from others if there is any good reason in that religion. We have to respect each other. We need that kind of mutual understanding and mutual friendship for all religions.”
A major upcoming Hindu celebration coming up is Holi , which began March 8, but students will celebrate March 16 on Harris Field. Also known as the “Festival of Colors,” Holi is one of the major religious celebrations of the Hindu religion. The celebration stems from the story when Vishnu killed the demonness Holika , according to Jayesh Patel, a volunteer of the Hindu Society of North Carolina.
“We celebrate with colors,” Patel said. “We put colors on each other. We forget the differences of friends and relatives. If there is a fight, we try to forego the fight.”
