Comparing (Several Prominent) Religions of India

Grade Level: 6

Objective: To begin to understand the cultural context and development of some of the most prominent Indian religions

Source: Hands-On Ancient India by Daud Ali

K. and I have been working our way through several texts about Ancient India.  One of our favorite texts has been Hands-On India, which includes lots of drawings and photographs and a number of hands-on activities.  Today K. worked on a textile-print art project and a comparison chart of several Indian religions.  Here's what he came up with:

Buddhism  (500 BC)       

 -Siddhartha Gautama created Buddhism and later became known as the Buddha (enlightened one)

-Siddhartha (a Brahmin), was born into the warrior caste and left his family at age 30 to look for enlightenment

-He gained many followers and taught a “middle way” between pleasure and suffering

-His middle way became popular with Indians who didn't benefit from the caste system

-Siddhartha found his enlightenment at the Bodhi tree, which became an important symbol for Buddhists

-After Buddha died his followers built Stupas and statues

-Buddhism was spread by many, most famously King Ashoka who was said to have built 80,000 stupas

Hinduism (AD 200)

-Rooted in Aryan caste system (which dates back to about 1,300 BC)

-Most Hindus worship either Vishnu or Shiva

-Vishnu often symbolizes happiness, preservation, and kingship.  Often he is represented by a blue- skinned figure

-Shiva is associated with destructive force, he commands beings called ganas.  Sometimes he is represented with a trident.

-Krisna is Vishnu in human form.

-Kali (the goddess of death) is  Shiva’s wife, the elephant god Ganesha is the son of Shiva (and the god of wisdom and prosperity)

-Hindu temples usually have a statue of one of the gods in it.  Worshipers perform puja at the statues

  

Islam (AD 622)

-means “submission to God”

-in AD 1007, sultan Mahmud, the Muslim leader of the city of Ghazin in Afghanistan, started a series of attacks in Northern India to loot the rich temples. Islam gradually spread among Indian people

-Islamic Sufis played an important role in sharing God’s love for all people.

-They worshipped in a very emotional style which appealed to Hindu peasants

-By the 1700s, nearly a quarter of India’s population was Muslim--they showed great tolerance to other religions and cultures, especially the Hindu faith

-The Islamic Mughal rulers were patrons of the arts and built glorious palaces, gardens, and tombs

Sikhism (AD 1539)

-As Islam spread through Northern India, Hinduism and Islam existed side-by-side--a new religion emerged that had elements of both.  It was called Sikhism it was founded by a man called Guru Nanak.

-Sikhism rejected the strict Hindu caste system and embraced the idea that all people were equal before God while keeping many Hindu festivals and rituals.

-Sikhs worshiped in temples called gurdwaras

-The fifth guru Arjan wrote the Sikh holy book or Adi Granth

-In the 1600s the Muslim Mongol rulers in Delhi began to persecute the Sikhs.  The tenth guru Gobind Singh decided that Sikhs could protect themselves.  He formed a military order called the khalsa.  Members carried a comb and dagger, wore a steal bangle, breeches, and did not cut their hair.  Sikh men took the title Singh