TSR Hindu Society

Hello everyone! I'm a Hindu born in kerala but now living in northern ireland. so what does everyone do here?

Hey!

Well, we don't do much I think lol. This is an inactive society, partly because there is rarely any engaging conversation! Maybe you could change that

Are you any specific sect, group or anything of the sort?

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Hey!

Well, we don't do much I think lol. This is an inactive society, partly because there is rarely any engaging conversation! Maybe you could change that

Are you any specific sect, group or anything of the sort?

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Aww I think it's cute that there's a Hindu society bcos where I live I'm the only Hindu in town n there's no temples nearby! ������

What do you mean by sect/group? ������

It can be a pain being alone.



He means what branch or sub-group do you follow.

Are you a Saivite, or a Vaishnaiva or a Gaudiya Vaishnava or do you follow Smartism, Shaktism?

etc

Yeah it can be hard at times but we celebrate all the traditional festivals every year which is nice! ������
Is it bad that I don't know any of the sectors you mentioned ������ cos I only know what caste I am and it's called Ezhava. And this is the definition I found on Google ������

Ezhava is a caste-based community of Kerala, India. They are also known as Ilhava, Irava, Izhava and Erava in the south of the region; as Chovas, Chokons and Chogons in Central Travancore; and as Tiyyas, Thiyyas and Theeyas in Malabar.

Very interesting, but that would be your community not your religious tradition.

I understand though, in India especially people just think of themselves to be religious and don't take any note of what tradition they are actually a part of.

But if it's not an issue for you then why should I pry? Hehe.

Omg are you telling em that Durga and Ganesh are not one?

Really surprised that you guys know very little. I will repeat it again. These are just different FORMS of the SAME GOD.

Leave him,he's ignorant,he doesn't know anything about hinduism,just read his previous posts .

It's always better to educate than to let someone be ignorant.

We are called to be the light that extinguishes darkness are we not?

I don't believe the Vedas explicity states anywhere that there is only one God in multiple forms.

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Hi guys I'm a Hindu living in Leicester. I'm a Darji (caste) and a Vaishnava

South Indian hinduism is way different to North Indian hinduism, their rituals and beliefs are so different that even if she says what sect she is from, we may not understand as they do not come under the known ones.

But i have been to the Balaji temple in Dudley and it is so fascinating, they use all their mantras in traditional sanskrit

Some would disagree.

The majority of Vedic adherents do think that the deity's are merely incarnations and avatars/avataras of the Supreme Personality however there is and always has been a large contingent of hardcore polytheists since the founding years of the theology.

You should know full well that Hinduism is to varied an umbrella to make silly little authoritative statements that you think is canon.
You can name pretty much any aspect of core Theology and I can find you a Hindu from a different sect/tradition/guru liniege who would disagree with it.

~Three Mile Sprint~

Exactly but don't worry ,ignore him he doesn't know anything about what is our religion...

Im a Dravidian myself. Im a Tamil from Eelam("now" known as Sri Lanka).

First off i should say that "officially" im a Hindu. But i do not like to use the word "Hindu" because it is a term used by the Persians to refer to people who lived to the west+south of the Indus river(they were not able to pronounce "Indus" hence they called us "Hindu").

I prefer to call myself a saivan(saivite)

I Would also like to make it clear that regardless of what some Hindus might claim, there are some sects in Hinduism that are totally Atheistic.

I believe In this religion because; Hinduism(i use this word for the lack of a better word) because Hinduism is all about free will. It does NOT have a central authority; it does NOT have a central text(those who claim that the Vedas are the core of Hinduism know ziltch/nothing about Hinduism cos Hinduism is practiced differently in different reagions). a good example is the Tamils in south india and Srilanka. For us the Vedas are almost as alien(unknown) as the Bible or the koran. Our sacred texts(at least for the saivites who are the only sect in Eelam) are the "thevarams","thiruvasakams" and the other philosophical works by the ancient Tamil poets and sages.

We hardly ever use sanskrit in our Siva temples, everything is done on Tamil.

I am a firm believer in science and technology and from what i have learned and read that Hinduism fits modern science very well. In fact; i suggest that you read the book "Tao of Physics" by the prominent astrophysicist Fridjoff Carpa.

Siva is not a "god" but a manifestation of the all-pervasive force of this universe. It is neither man Nor woman.(im a firm believer in equal rights for everyone).

Also; there is another important reason for Us Tamils(Dravidian) to Be Hindu Saivites

the reason is that Siva is a pre-vedic Dravidian Deity. He is a Native god of the Indian Indigenous population as proven by the Excavations at the Dravidian Civilization of the Indus river

http://www.maravot.com/shiva.gif


The Dravidian origins of the Indus Civilization proven (all linguistic scholars agree) by the world renowned Linguist Asko Parpola(the one who was instrumental in decoding the Babylonian writings)

http://harappa.com/script/parpola0.html

Siva(north Indians call it "shiva") derives from the Dravidian(Tamil) word "Sivappu" meaning "red".
he was and has been the deity of the Ancient Dravidian people; it is not surprising that he is also called as "Dhakshinamoorti"(literally meaning the "god of the south").

and we shouldn't forget that the King of Eelam "Ravanan" was and ardent Siva devotee.

The fact that Yoga is a Dravidian system(found in Indus valley) also reinforces my beliefs. I love Yoga Meditation because it accepts that fact that there is not a "set path" but many different paths; many paths as there are many differences amongst Humans. It does not clump everyone together and say"hey you! all of you should follow this exact path or you will fail". Hinduism is all about "self realization' and achieving enlightenment.

And another reason why i like Hinduism is that there is no one to say "this is right/this is wrong". I can do anything i want and no one will say "oh god! you godless heathen! you will surely go to hell!"....lol cos there are no heaven/hell In Hinduism

The thing I love about Hinduism is how it does not say that other religions are wrong. it in fact says that "all rivers lead to the ocean". It does not ask a person to blindly believe in dogma.Hindus are the most tolerant and accepting people in the world

Also; the Caste system that had subverted Hinduism to serve its own ends is no different from the Inquisition justified by christianity and the jihad justified by islam


In fact; you would be surprised to know that in Eelam(Srilanka), Brahmins are Not the high caste!. Ask any Srilankan Tamil about it and they would agree with me!. The High cast are the "Vellala" community and they(and other Hindus) have clearly confined the Brahmin's priests to the temples. The Brahmin's have no say whatsoever in politics or the day-to-day social life of the Tamils in Eelam.

but sadly, in India Brahmins who were supposed to be priests have practically twisted the system to serve their own ends(i hasten to add that not "all" Brahmin's are like that and i hate to generalize)

So for me; Being a Saivite is not only about self realization and achieving enlightenment; but also about preserving the timeless Dravidian culture and feeling part of my community..of connecting with my ancestors who lived millenia ago..and about discovering myself.

Source:From a devout dravidian brother and Historian

http://tamilelibrary.org/teli/tamil.html
http://harappa.com/script/parpola0.html
http://tamil.berkeley.edu/Tamil%20Chair/...
http://www.pitt.edu/~asian/week-1/i-shiv...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dravidian_s...

I also live in Leicester (vellalar caste)

yh i think so too. even a lot of the north and south indian festivals are very different. after reading this thread i feel like im so uneducated abt my own religion..



wow how do you guys know so much about all this?

Study, study, study.

I make a point to read the Bhagavatam/Gita/Vedas every day, and usually pick up and read a book of commentaries or teachings of Gurus every couple of months.
More you read the more you practice, the more you learn my friend!