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Avahana
''Prana pratishtha'' () is the rite or ceremony by which a ''murti'' (devotional image of a deity) is consecrated in a Hindu temple. The Sanskrit terms ''prana'' means "life" and ''pratishtha'' means "to be established." Following detailed steps outlined in the Vedic scriptures, verses (mantras) are recited to invite the deity to reside in the ''murti'' (image).Heather Elgood (2000), Hinduism and the Religious Arts, Bloomsbury Academic, , pages 14–15, 32–36 Practised in the temples of Hinduism and Jainism, the ritual is considered to infuse life into the Hindu temple, and bring to it the numinous presence of divinity and spirituality.V Bharne and K Krusche (2012), Rediscovering the Hindu Temple, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, , page 53 Etymology The word ''prāna pratishthā'' is a compound Sanskrit term combining ''prāna'' and ''pratishthā.'' ''Prana'', which comes from the root "''pra''", meaning "to breathe". This term refers to life or vital energy, the essence for l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jainism
Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religions, Indian religion whose three main pillars are nonviolence (), asceticism (), and a rejection of all simplistic and one-sided views of truth and reality (). Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four , supreme preachers of ''dharma''. The first in the current time cycle is Rishabhadeva, who tradition holds lived millions of years ago; the 23rd is Parshvanatha, traditionally dated to the 9th century Common Era, BCE; and the 24th is Mahāvīra, Mahavira, who lived . Jainism is considered an eternal ''dharma'' with the guiding every time cycle of the Jain cosmology, cosmology. Central to understanding Jain philosophy is the concept of ''bhedavijñāna'', or the clear distinction in the nature of the soul and non-soul entities. This principle underscores the innate purity and potential for liberation within every Jīva (Jainism), soul, distinct from the physical and menta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Murti
In the Hinduism, Hindu tradition, a ''murti'' (, ) is a devotional image, such as a statue or icon, of a Hindu deities, deity or Hindu saints, saint used during ''Puja (Hinduism), puja'' and/or in other customary forms of actively expressing devotion or reverence – whether at Hindu temples or shrines. A ''mūrti'' is a symbolic icon representing divinity for the purpose of devotional activities. Thus, not all icons of gods and saints are ''mūrti''; for example, purely decorative depictions of divine figures often adorn Hindu temple architecture in intricately carved doorframes, on colourfully painted walls, and ornately sculpted rooftop domes. A ''mūrti'' itself is not God, but it is merely a representative shape, symbolic embodiment, or iconic manifestation of God. ''Murti'' are also found in some nontheistic Jainism, Jain traditions, where they serve as symbols of revered mortals inside Jain temples, and are worshiped in ''murtipujaka'' rituals. A ''murti'' is typically ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Invocation
Invocation is the act of calling upon a deity, spirit, or supernatural force, typically through prayer, ritual, or spoken formula, to seek guidance, assistance, or presence. It is a practice found in numerous religious, spiritual, and esoteric traditions, where it serves to establish a connection between the human and the divine or metaphysical realms. Invocation can be directed toward a singular deity, multiple deities, spirits, or abstract forces, and may involve formal liturgies, spontaneous prayers, chants, or symbolic actions. Unlike evocation, which is generally understood as calling a spirit to appear outside the practitioner, invocation often implies inviting the entity to be present within or to closely align with the practitioner. The purpose of invocation varies across cultural and religious contexts. In many traditions, it is used to request divine intervention, protection, wisdom, or blessings in personal or communal matters. Invocation may also serve to con ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ritual
A ritual is a repeated, structured sequence of actions or behaviors that alters the internal or external state of an individual, group, or environment, regardless of conscious understanding, emotional context, or symbolic meaning. Traditionally associated with gestures, words, or revered objects, rituals also occur in non-human species, such as elephant mourning or corvid object-leaving. They may be prescribed by tradition, including religious practices, and are often characterized by formalism, traditionalism, rule-governance, and performance. Rituals are a feature of all known human societies. They include not only the worship rites and sacraments of organized religions and cults, but also rites of passage, atonement and ritual purification, purification rites, oaths of allegiance, dedication ceremonies, coronations and presidential inaugurations, marriages, funerals and more. Even common actions like handshake, hand-shaking and saying "hello" may be termed as ''rituals''. Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ceremony
A ceremony (, ) is a unified ritualistic event with a purpose, usually consisting of a number of artistic components, performed on a special occasion. The word may be of Etruscan language, Etruscan origin, via the Latin . Religious and civil (secular) ceremonies According to Dally Messenger III, Dally Messenger and Alain de Botton, in most Western countries the values and ideals articulated in both church and Civil ceremony, civil ceremonies are generally similar. The difference is in what Messenger calls the "supernatural infrastructure" or de Botton the "implausible supernatural element".Messenger, Dally; ''Murphy's Law and the Pursuit of Happiness: a History of the Civil Celebrant Movement'', Spectrum Publications, Melbourne (Australia), 2012 Most religions claim some extra advantage conferred by the deity, e.g., Roman Catholics believe that through the words of consecration in the Mass in the Catholic Church, mass ceremony, God himself becomes Real presence of Christ in t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hindu Temple
A Hindu temple, also known as Mandir, Devasthanam, Pura, or Kovil, is a sacred place where Hindus worship and show their devotion to Hindu deities, deities through worship, sacrifice, and prayers. It is considered the house of the god to whom it is dedicated.; Quote: "The Hindu temple is designed to bring about contact between man and the gods of Hinduism religion" (...) "The architecture of the Hindu temple symbolically represents this quest by setting out to dissolve or decrease the boundaries between man and the divine". Hindu temple architecture, which makes extensive use of squares and circles, has its roots in later Vedic traditions, which also influence the temples' construction and symbolism. Through astronomical numbers and particular alignments connected to the temple's location and the relationship between the deity and the worshipper, the temple's design also illustrates the idea of recursion and the Microcosm–macrocosm analogy, equivalency of the macrocosm and t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mantra
A mantra ( ; Pali: ''mantra'') or mantram (Devanagari: मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words (most often in an Indo-Iranian language like Sanskrit or Avestan) believed by practitioners to have religious, magical or spiritual powers. Feuerstein, Georg (2003), ''The Deeper Dimension of Yoga''. Shambala Publications, Boston, MA Some mantras have a syntactic structure and a literal meaning, while others do not. ꣽ, ॐ (Aum, Om) serves as an important mantra in various Indian religions. Specifically, it is an example of a seed syllable mantra ( bijamantra). It is believed to be the first sound in Hinduism and as the sonic essence of the absolute divine reality. Longer mantras are phrases with several syllables, names and words. These phrases may have spiritual interpretations such as a name of a deity, a longing for truth, reality, light, immortality, peace, love, knowledge, and action. Examples of lo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified by adherence to the concept of ''dharma'', a Ṛta, cosmic order maintained by its followers through rituals and righteous living, as expounded in the Vedas. The word ''Hindu'' is an exonym, and while Hinduism has been called the oldest religion in the world, it has also been described by the modern term ''Sanātana Dharma'' () emphasizing its eternal nature. ''Vaidika Dharma'' () and ''Arya dharma'' are historical endonyms for Hinduism. Hinduism entails diverse systems of thought, marked by a range of shared Glossary of Hinduism terms, concepts that discuss God in Hinduism, theology, Hindu mythology, mythology, among other topics in Hindu texts, textual sources. Hindu texts have been classified into Śruti () and Smṛti (). The major Hin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agama (Hinduism)
The Agamas (Devanagari: , IAST: ) are a collection of several Tantras (Hinduism), Tantric literature and religious text, scriptures of Hindu schools.Julius Lipner (2004), Hinduism: the way of the banyan, in The Hindu World (Editors: Sushil Mittal and Gene Thursby), Routledge, , pages 27–28 The term literally means tradition or "that which has come down", and the Agama texts describe cosmology, epistemology, philosophical doctrines, precepts on meditation and practices, four kinds of yoga, mantras, temple construction, deity worship and ways to attain sixfold desires. These canonical texts are in Sanskrit and Tamil language, Tamil. The three main branches of Agama texts are Shaivism, Shaiva, Vaishnavism, Vaishnava and Shaktism, Shakta. The Agamic traditions are sometimes called Tantrism, although the term "Tantra" is usually used specifically to refer to Shakta Agamas.Mariasusai Dhavamony (1999), Hindu Spirituality, Gregorian University and Biblical Press, , pages 31–34 with fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tantras (Hinduism)
Hindu tantric literature refers to esoteric scriptures in Hinduism. Classes The word ''tantra'' is made up by the joining (''sandhi'' in Sanskrit) of two Sanskrit words: ''tanoti'' (expansion) and ''trayati'' (liberation). Tantra means liberation of energy and expansion of consciousness from its gross form. It is a method to expand the mind and liberate the dormant potential energy, and its principles form the basis of all yogic practices. Hence, the Hindu tantric scriptures refer to techniques for achieving a result. The Hindu tantras total 92 scriptures; of these, 64 are purely ''Abheda'' (literally "without differentiation", or monistic), known as the Bhairava Tantras or Kashmir Śaivite Tantras, 18 are ''Bhedābheda'' (literally "with differentiation and without differentiation" monistic or dualistic), known as the Rudra Tantras), and 10 are completely ''Bheda'' (literally "differentiated" or dualistic), known as the Tantras. The latter two (''Rudra'' Tantras and ' T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anekantavada
(, "many-sidedness") is the Jain doctrine about metaphysical truths that emerged in ancient India. It states that the ultimate truth and reality is complex and has multiple aspects and viewpoints. According to Jainism, no single, specific statement can describe the nature of existence and the absolute truth. This knowledge ('' Kevala Jnana''), it adds, is comprehended only by the Arihants. Other beings and their statements about absolute truth are incomplete, and at best a partial truth. All knowledge claims, according to the ''anekāntavāda'' doctrine must be qualified in many ways, including being affirmed and denied. Anekāntavāda is a fundamental doctrine of Jainism. The origins of ''anekāntavāda '' can be traced back to the teachings of Mahāvīra (599–527 BCE), the 24th Jain , and the predecessor Tirthankars. The dialectical concepts of ''syādvāda'' "conditioned viewpoints" and ''nayavāda'' "partial viewpoints" were expounded and illustrated from ''anekānta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
