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India is the second most populated country in the world. The population in India is estimated to be over 1 billion by the end of this century. According to the census taken in 1991, the country's population was around 844 million. The population of the state of Uttar Pradesh is equal to that of the Japan, the seventh most populous country in the world. The government started a family planning program aimed at controlling the increasing population. However, so far, this has not been as auccessful as predicted. Thus, overpopulation is the greatest problem for India.
There is a low literacy rate in India. As India is an agriculturist country, most of the people living in the rural part of India are farmers. These farmers have little or no education at all. They live in large families, sometimes in joint, where four or five children are common. Another misconception is a family with no sons, has no heir. This creates a competition between the (wo)man and nature to see who wins - in the race of making a male baby.
In contrast to these villages are the cities where most of the people are educated enough to decide how many offspring they should have. However, thousands of people migrate daily from villages to cities in search of work making these cities overpopulated. Many of these villagers, without enough money to lead a successful city life, live in shanty slums, on pavements or on roads. Bombay, Bangalore, Calcutta, Madras, and New Delhi are some of the well known overpopulated cities.
India is such a diverse country that people differ from state to state in look, likes, culture, food, and clothes. People in the north and northwestern regions of Kashmir, Rajasthan, Punjab are said to be the descendants of Indo-European Aryans. They are tall, fair, and have pronounced features. The Rajputs of Rajasthan are said to be the descendants of the Huns of Central Asia.
The Central Indian region (Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Bihar) are inhabited by a mixture of Aryan and the indigenous Dravidian races. Dravidians are dark, short and are used to living in a typical hot Indian summer.
A combination of Mongolian and Dravidian people live in the Eastern Indian regions of Assam, Manipur, Nagaland and Mizoram. These people are characterized by their high cheek bones and small, slanted eyes.
The Indians from the southern region are a mixture of Dravidians and Aryans.
In India, religion plays an important role in the lives of people. India is a composite entity of people of different religion living together in peace and harmony. The main religions are Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Buddhists, and Jains. The majority of the people in India are Hindus.
Hinduism
About 7 out of 10 people are Hindus. Hindus believe in a supreme being called Brahman. This supreme power is represented by three main Gods. Brahma, the generator/creator, Vishnu, the operator/preserver; and Shiva, the destroyer. There are hundreds of other gods and goddesses. Some of the main ones are Ganesha- the elephant headed god who is worshipped before starting any holy ceremony; Saraswathi - who is the god of education; and Lakshmi - the god of wealth.
Hindus beleive in reincarnation (rebirth) of a life. That is, when a person dies, he or she is born again as a different living being in a different part of the world. The soul of a living being is always alive. It is the body of that person that gets old or worn out and dies. Once the person dies, the soul is transferred to another body. Therefore, the aim of a Hindu is to get away from this cycle of birth and rebirth. It is believed that, if one leads a good life, is kind and helpful to others, then that person will be more likely get out of this cycle, or to say, will receive MOKSHA.
Hindus worship many gods in many different ways. Some go to the temple offering flowers and fruit as a sacrifice or bring flowers and sweets as offerings. Some people have a small shrine in their home, usually in a kitchen corner or a separate room where all members of the family worship. Some Hindus do neither. In Hinduism, going to a temple and worshiping the god is not compulsory.
Caste system
Traditionally, the Hindu society is divided into four classes called castes. These castes are based on the types of jobs people did in the ancient days. The highest cast is the Brahmans who used to work as priests and teachers. The next heighest class is the Kshatriyas whose main work was to rule and guard the land. They used to be the kings and soldiers. Next are the Vaisyas who are merchants and traders. The last caste is the Sudras who were the servants and the craftsmen. People who belong to a particular caste marry others of the same caste. However, the above system is not the same today. It is becoming a common thing for a Brahmin to do work other than being a priest or teacher and to marry an other person who is not a Brahmin.
Marriage
Hindus believe that an unmarried man or woman has no social status. Hindus consider a marriage as a lifelong partnership which is sacred and unalterable. A traditional marriage is arranged by the parents of the boy and the girl after consulting the astrologers, matching horoscopes, comparing status and family backgrounds. Once the alliance is fixed, the preparation for the wedding begins. The detailed rituals done during this period vary from caste to caste and region to region. However, the basic vedic ritual remains the same for all castes and for thousands of years.
On the wedding day, the bride is dressed in colorful silk clothing with jewelry. The wedding ceremony is a day long event and is rich in symbolism. The priest constructs an altar for the god of fire, Agni. All the required rituals are performed in front of the fire god. Family members and friends involve themselves in this ceremony with great enthusiasm and excitement. The marriage is complete when the groom ties a sacred thread called Mangala Sutra around the bride's neck and takes a oath in front of the fire god that he will protect and take care of his wife during all phases of life. After this, the couple walk around the fire in the clockwise direction and receive blessings from all elders present and good wishes from friends and other family members. Thus, the union of the bride with the groom is sanctified making divorce unthincable.
In recent years, the formal education of both women and men has pushed the age of marriage to middle or late twenties. Even the formalities involved in selection of a bride or a groom has relaxed to a certain extent. Inter cast marriages are becoming common and the time involved in a marriage has reduced considerably. Many couples prefer to have a reception in a five star hotel while the rituals are performed in a traditional choultry.
Rituals and Beliefs
For a Hindu, rituals are part of the life. From the time of birth to the time of death, a hindu involves him(her)self in various rituals inorder to obtain Moksha. Each ritual is filled with rich symbolysm and considered as a prayer for prosperity in this life and the next. There are hundreds of rituals to be performed. However, in these modren days, some of them are becoming obsolete.
The cow is considered as a holy animal. Hindus worship the cow as the divine mother. Therefore, beef is forbidden. In Hinduism, each god is associated with an animal. The cow is associated with the lord Krishna, the elephant is associated with Ganesha, the bull with Shiva, the peacock with Murugan and so on. This association of gods with animals is one of the reasons for many Hindus being vegetarians.
Water is considered as sacred. The river Ganges is considered as the holiest river and many Hindus feel blessed when they take a dip in Ganges. Many Hindus travel thousands of miles to take a dip in Ganges. Most of the temples have a pond in their premises for washing hands and feet.
| Uday B. Murthy | Created: Feb 27, 1996 |
| umurthy@cs.iupui.edu |
