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India Religious Tours
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| HINDUISM :
Most Indians are Hindus. Hinduism goes back to a
hoary antiquity. Its earliest manifestation is seen in the Rig Veda, the oldest religious text in
the world, whose principal divinities were, among others, Indra, the king of gods; Varuna, the
omnipresent god of wind; Surya, the sun god;
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Hindu Temple
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Hindu Godess
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Agni, the fire god; and Yama, the lord of the dead in northern
India and spread out to all parts of the sub-continent, their religious beliefs, philosophy,
and pantheon underwent gradual transformation. Besides the five principal cult
divinities, Surya,Shiva,Vishnu,Ganesha, and Devi, numerous popular cults, local hero-spirits,
and minor deities formed integral parts of the Hindu pantheon. In Rajasthan, the temples are
all dedicated to these cult divinities with the sole exception of the Brahma temple on the
bank of the Pushkar lake.
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JAINISM :
Jainism, the religion of the Jinas or "Conquerors", was founded by
Mahavira, in the 6th century BC in Bihar, eastern India. It has a strong and visible presence in
Rajasthan, with about 2 percent of its population, mostly rich and influential businessmen and
officials, as followers.
Using their position and wealth they built many
beautiful temples, hospices, and repositories of books and manuscripts from anciSent times.
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Mahavira
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The two main sects of
Jinism are the Digambers, the "sky-clad" ones, and the Svetambaras, the "white clad" ones. The
latter believe in the original canonical texts and follow them scrupulously while the former do not.
Jain believe in salvation through successive rebirths. |
CHRISTIANS :
There is a very small population of Christians in Rajasthan, amounting to only 0.
12% of the population. They are found predominantly in Ajmer and Jaipur, where there are several Catholic and
Protestant churches. The Buddhist population is negligible in Rajasthan, representing only 0.01% of the population.
ISLAM :
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Rajasthan has had a Muslim population from the time of the Ghori
invasion in 1193.A mystic Islamic group called Sufis,became very popular in medieval India at
the same time as its Hindu-oriented counterpart, the Bhakti (devotion to God) movement. Both
were products of the unique interaction between Hinduism and Islam during the 14th and 15th
centuries .
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Ajmer Sharif
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One of the world's greatest Sufi shrines lies in Rajasthan. It
is that of the Sufi Saint,Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti (1142-1256 A.D.), a direct descendant of
Prophet Muhammad's son-in-law, Ali. He came to Ajmer during the reign of Prithviraj Chauhan,
who gifted the saint with the land on which his shrine now stands. At the age of 114, the
saint locked himself in his cell to pray. Six days later his disciples broke open the door and
found the Khwaja Saheb dead.That is why his urs (feast) is celebrated for six days. His dargah
(mausoleum) is the most popular Muslim pilgrimage center in the subcontinent. Hindus, Muslims,
Sikhs, and Jains alike believe that this benevolent Sufi Saint.
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