Hindu Pilgrimage Essays - Hindu Pilgrimage Sites, Rigvedic Rivers

Hindu Pilgrimage annon The following essay addresses that of the Hindu pilgrimage as to why pilgrimage is an important aspect of Hindu religion? Firstly, the essay focusses on points which support pilgrimage as a fundamental and key aspect of the Hindu community. Secondly, a perspective denying pilgrimages have any significant role for Hindu and their religion is discussed. It does seem though, to me, that without the aspect of pilgrimage, the Hindu religion would still function quite noramally because although the pilgrimage sites give darsan, they do not seem to be able to assist people with their day to day problems, whereas holy men do. First though we need to know exactly what darsan means to Hindus. Darsan means seeing in Hindu religion and when people go to a temple, they say they do not go to worship but rather for darsan - they go to see the image of the deity. The pinacle act of Hindu worship, is to stand in the presence of the deity and to look upon the image with their eyes, so as to see and be seen by the deity. The deity is believed to actually be within the image, and beholding the deity image is a form of worship where through the eyes one gains blessings. A pilgrimage is a religious journey; people undertake pilgrimages so they can worship at special places which are connected to their religion. Journeying to holy places of pilgrimage are generally carried out as acts of faith and devotion in accummulating religious merit or to atone for sins. Pilgrimages are also regarded by Hindus as a religious duty from which darsan can be attained. There are thousands of pilgrimage sites - tirthas (sacred, fords or crossings) in India, where many places of pilgrimage are renowned for their divine images. And it is the darsan of these divine images that are sought , because the darsan is believed by Hindus to be far greater and significant than that which can be granted and given by holy men i.e. sadhus. It entails then, that holy places of pilgrimages are an extension of additional darsan, of which can be given and received by travelling on a pilgrimage. For example, pilgrims go to the sacred hill of Tirupati for the darsan of Sri Venkatesvara, an ancient icon believed to be a form of Visnu. According to legend, the Lord came to bless a particular devotee who was faithful in his duties towards his parents. The devotee took no time out from his duties to greet the Lord properly, and so threw a brick for him to stand on which impressed Krsna, and so Krsna has stood there ever since. It is important, however, to understand that Hindus do not only travel as pilgrims for the darsan of divine images but also seek thedarsan of the pilgrimage places themselves, which are believed to be the natural places of where gods have dwelled. For instance, the river Ganga also known as the Ganges is said to have flowed in heaven before she agreed to come to earth. Siva caught Ganga in his tangled hair to break her fall, and from his head she flowed down through the Himalayas, so legend goes. And this is why in Hindu hymns, the Ganga is praised as a liquid form of Siva's divine energy. The Ganges is the holiest river of all , where all Hindus desire to bathe in this river, for it is believed by Hindus to wash away all their sins. No sin is too heinous, and no character too black to be washed away by the waters of the Ganges. Essentially, all water used in rituals by Hindus is symbollically transformed into sacred water by summoning the presence of Ganga and other sacred rivers. Every great river is supposed to hold the divine essence, and its waters held to cleanse people from all moral guilt and contamination. On the whole, pilgrimages are very significant to Hindus due to being able to, by and large, eradicate all their sins and wrong doing by bathing in the water of holy rivers. There are difficulties that have to be endured when undertaking a pilgrimage, however, Hindus believe it is well worth it. As an extreme example, for hundreds of years some tirthas were the final goal of many pilgrims, who committed suicide there in order to be released from the cycle of rebirths. Hinduism generally considers suicide a crime, but at certain places, it can become an act of liberation, though this is not the norm for pilgrims.( Klostermaier , K , 1989 , p 312 ) A

Field Day Activities for Elementary Students

Field Day Activities for Elementary Students The school year is coming to an end how will your class celebrate? With a school field day, of course! Here you will find the top 8 field day activities for elementary students. Each of these activities is easy to set up and will provide hours of entertainment. Note: The activities listed below are for a small group or a whole group setting. Each activity may require special materials. Egg Toss This isnt the classic game you may be thinking of. This egg toss game requires a variety of different colored plastic eggs. Randomly divide students into groups and assign each group a color egg. Set up a bullseye type target and label with points. The outer hole is 5 points, the inner hole is 10 points, and the center hole is 15 points. The object of the game is to get the eggs in the hole. The team with the most points wins. Dress up Relay This is a unique spin on the classic relay race. Divide students into teams of two and have each team stand one behind another in a straight line. Choose one person from each team to stand at the opposite end of the room. On your go, students will take turns running to the end of the line to put one piece of silly clothing on their classmate. (By silly, think a wig, clown shoes, dads shirt etc.) The team who has their classmate completely dressed and are all standing back in line, wins. Hula Hoop Dance Off This field day activity is pretty self-explanatory. Each student is given a hula hoop and at your go, must dance while hula hooping. The person who dances the longest while keeping up the hula hoop wins. Balance Beam Egg Walk For this field day activity, you will need a balance beam, spoon, and a few dozen eggs. You can either divide students into teams of two or have each student play for themselves. The object of the game is to carry the egg on the spoon across the balance beam without falling off. Tic Tac Toe Toss Tic Tac Toe Toss is among one of the most popular field day activities for elementary students. This game requires nine Frisbees, which you flip upside down and use as the tic tac toe board. It also requires Popsicle sticks, (which you glue together to form an x) and butter lids, (which will be used as the o). To play the game, have students toss their x or o onto the Frisbee to see who can get tic tac toe. The first one that gets three in a row, wins. Mystery Bowls Do you want to creep out your students? For this field day activity, students will have to guess what they are feeling while blindfolded. In a small fish bowl place objects such as cold pasta, peeled grapes, gummy worms, and jello. Have students take turns trying to guess what they touched. The first team to guess the most jars wins. (It is best to divide students into teams of two for this game.) Stack Them up Relay Children are naturally competitive and love relays. For this game, all you need is paper cups and a table. Divide students into teams of two and have them stand in a relay line. The object of this field day game is to be the first team to stack their cups into a pyramid. To begin, one person from each team runs to the table across the room and places their cup on the table and runs back. Then the next team member does the same thing but they must place it in a position that a pyramid can be formed by the last person. The first team to stack their cups into a pyramid wins. Then the next team member does the same thing but they must place it in a position that a pyramid can be formed by the last person. The first team to stack their cups into a pyramid wins. Go Fish Spelling No field is complete without a fishing game. Fill a baby swimming pool with words students have learned throughout the school year. Make sure to place a magnet on the back of each word. Then adhere a magnet on the end of a fishing pole or yardstick. Divide students into teams, and have each team compete against each other to create a sentence. The first team to create a sentence with the words they fished out in three minutes wins.