HINDU RELIGIOUS SECTS : There are six major religious sects in Hinduism. They are :- Vaiṣṇavam [worship of Lord Vishnu], Śaivam [worship of Lord Shiva], Śāktam [worship of Divine Mother as Shakti], Gāṇapatyam [worship of Lord Ganesha], Kaumāram [worship of Lord Kaarthikeya] and Sauram [worship of sun or Lord Surya]. Prior to the advent of Ādi Śankarācārya, one of the greatest Hindu philosophers, each of this sect claimed supremacy over others and Śankarācārya unified all these sects into mainstream Hindu thought. Śaivam is a religion where Lord Śiva is considered as supreme deity and worshipped in different forms, Rudra, Śiva, Maheśvara, Sadāśiva etc. Śaivam has got number of subgroups like Veera Śaivism, Śaiva Siddhānta and Kāṣmira Śaivism. All the schools of Śaivam believe that Lord Śiva is the Ultimate and evolved numerous āgamas, myths, rituals, etc. to substantiate their beliefs and claims. Though these schools are based completely on Śiva worship and other rituals oriented towards Śiva only, they have certain ingredients that are found in the Vaiṣṇava philosophy, Viśiṣtādvaita. Vaiṣṇavam, a religion of worship of Lord Viṣṇu, has Viśiṣtādvaita of Śri Rāmānujācārya, a great 11th century Hindu philosopher, as their basic fulcrum. Lord Viṣṇu is an inner controller [antaryāmin] and everything else is dependent on Lord Viṣṇu only. Vaiṣṇava schools worship Lord Viṣṇu in different forms like Nārāyaṇa, Govinda, Acyuta, etc. After Śri Rāmānujācārya, the mādhva school of philosophy started its own variation of Vaiṣṇavism and Vallabha tradition followed suit and placed Lord Krishna as the Ultimate and the only God. Pāncarātra Āgamas and Vaikhānasa Āgamas formed the basis of Viṣṇu worship, rituals and the famous Bhāgavata tradition. Śākta school of thought is the worship of Divine Mother as a form of manifestation of Power. Divine Mother is worshipped in different forms, Durgā, Kāli, Lalita, etc. Devotion mixed with tantric tradition gave rise to different shades of Śākti worship, ranging from the most benign to very ghastly forms of worship. Gāṇapatyam is the worship of Lord Ganeśa, the short limbed, pot bellied deity with an elephant head. Ganeśa is worshipped by all the Hindus as a dispeller of evil and failure. He is worshipped in different forms, Gaṇapaty, Vigneshwara, Vināyaka etc. He is the embodiment of Siddhi [success] and Buddhi [wisdom]. No Hindu ritual goes without first worshipping Ganeśa. Kaumāram is the worship of Lord Subrahmaṇya or Kumāra, the son of Lord Śiva and Pārvati. He was the commander in chief of the Devas or gods. He is endowed with all auspicious qualities. Worship of a child Subrahmaṇya or Bālasubrahmaṇya is popular in the southern states of India. Kārthikeya is considered as a deity aiding Yoga. Sauram is the worship of sun or Lord Sūrya. Worship of the sun is a feature found in all civilizations in different ways since sun is the source of energy and bestower of light and heat. Much importance is attached to sun worship by the agricultural community as an expression of gratitude. Sun’s movement from northern solastice to southern solastice and vice versa are marked as auspicious days. Sun is portrayed as moving in the single wheeled chariot drawn by seven horses and this form is found in most sun temples. Famous Gāyatri mantra takes sun as an external manifestation of divine energy. Pañcāyatana Worship: Sri Ādi Śankarācārya introduced a Pañcāyatana pūjā or worship in which one deity of one’s choice out of the above gods is placed in the centre surrounded by the other gods. This form of worship at the grass root level unified the warring sects, instilled respect for other forms of worship and strengthened the pillars of Hinduism.
Posted on: Sun, 09 Mar 2014 02:45:25 +0000
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