Hinduism Week Finale 2023

 

Hinduism is one of the oldest religions in the world. It began about 5000 years ago, linked to the people who lived near to the Indus River in about 2500 BC.

Hinduism has no single founder or prophet. The Hindu faith draws on a number of sacred texts and there is no standard set of beliefs, so it is a religion which is followed in different ways by different groups of people.

Hinduism has grown to be the world’s third largest religion, after Christianity and Islam. 

 Today more than a billion people in the world are Hindus.

• All Hindus believe that life, death and rebirth are a continuous process that we are all part of.
• Many gods are worshipped in Hinduism. Each Hindu god is said to be a different part of the supreme God ‘Brahman’.
• Hindus believe that God can be seen in a person or an animal. They believe that God is in everybody.
• As well as visiting temples, Hindus worship God in their own homes and most houses have either a room or corner in which there is a family shrine.
• ​Hindu temples look very different depending on where they are in the world, but they always have an orange flag outside.
• Hindus believe that certain rivers are sacred and have the power to wash away sins (actions that are wrong in the eyes of God). The Ganges River in Northern India is especially sacred to Hindus.
• Hindus believe that all living things have souls, which is why very committed Hindus are vegetarians.
• Cows are considered to be sacred animals among Hindus because they produce milk for people. In India cows are allowed to wander freely, so they can sometimes cause traffic jams if they stroll on roads!

 

This week we have been learning so much about the Hindu faith and have celebrated Diwali.  Each child in Year 1 to Year 6 visited the Sri Navadhurgai Amman Temple in Mitcham.  One of our lovely Teaching Assistant's, Mrs Kumar, is a member of this Temple and had arranged for every child to have the opportunity of actually visiting the Temple and learn first-hand from the Hindu people.  The children had a wonderful time learning all about the Hindu faith and their traditions. This afternoon we had a special Assembly to combine everything we had learned. We also had a special treat of a Hindu dance! 

Our children in Nursery and Reception had a special presentation from Mrs Kumar who told them all about what it was like as a small girl growing up in Sri Lanka.

Thank you to Mrs Kumar and all the lovely people at her Temple for an amazing week!