Articles — Hindu Teachings

Aarti

Aarti and Why We Wave the Lamp

What aarti means, why the lamp is moved in circles, the story behind Om Jai Jagdish Hare, and why we cup our hands over the flame at the end.

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Ahimsa

The Cow, Ahimsa and Vegetarianism in Hindu Thought

Why Hindus honour the cow, what the scriptures say about non-harm and sattvic food, how diet varies across communities, and how gratitude at the table expresses the same ahimsa that shapes a life.

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Customs

Namaste, Touching Feet and Everyday Hindu Customs

The small daily habits of a Hindu home, from the joined palms and the touched feet to the shoes at the door and the lamp at dusk, and the meaning each one carries.

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Dharma

The Four Purusharthas: Aims of a Human Life

Dharma, artha, kama and moksha are the four aims a Hindu life is meant to hold together. Here is how they balance one another and unfold across the stages of life.

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The Core Philosophy: Understanding Dharma

At the heart of Hindu thought lies the concept of Dharma. While often translated as "religion," its meaning is much broader. Dharma represents the cosmic order, duty, and the "right way of living."

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Diwali

The Five Days of Diwali Explained

Diwali is not one night but five, each with its own story and ritual. A walk through Dhanteras, Choti Diwali, Lakshmi Puja, Govardhan Puja and Bhai Dooj, and why the lamp matters.

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Durga

Durga and the Meaning of Shakti

When no god could defeat the buffalo demon, their combined power took the form of a woman on a lion. The story of Durga explains what Hindus mean by Shakti.

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Ganesh chaturthi

Ganesh Chaturthi: Ten Days with Ganapati

Ganesha comes home as a guest for ten days each year. The birth story, the modak offerings, the Sukhakarta aarti, Tilak's public pandals and the farewell at the water.

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Ganesha

Why Ganesha Is Worshipped First

Before any puja, wedding or new venture, Hindus call on Ganesha. The story of his elephant head and the meaning of his form explain why he comes first.

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Ganga

Ganga and the Sacred Rivers of India

How Ganga came down to earth, the seven sacred rivers, Yamuna and Krishna, the Narmada parikrama, the ghats of Varanasi, the kalash of Ganga jal at home, and the hard question of pollution.

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Gita

The Essence of Bhagavad Gita

The Bhagavad Gita is a 700-verse Hindu scripture that is part of the epic Mahabharata. It is a conversation between Prince Arjuna and Lord Krishna, who serves as his charioteer. The Gita addresses the moral and philosophical dilemmas faced by Arjuna on the battlefield of…

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Gunas

The Three Gunas: Sattva, Rajas and Tamas

Sattva, rajas and tamas are the three qualities that colour everything in nature, from food to mood. Here is how to recognise them in daily life and how to rise through them.

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Guru

The Guru-Shishya Tradition

Why Hindu tradition insists on a living teacher, the Upanishadic stories of great students, lineage and initiation, the duties on both sides, and how to find a guru today.

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Guru purnima

Guru Purnima: Honouring the Teacher

On the full moon of Ashadha Hindus honour Vyasa and their own teachers. The meaning of guru, the Guru Stotram, Dakshinamurti's silence, and how the day is kept.

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Hanuman

Hanuman: Strength, Humility and Devotion

Hanuman could leap an ocean and lift a mountain, yet he counted none of it as his own. His story shows what strength looks like when it is held with humility.

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Holi

Holi: The Story of Prahlada and the Colours of Spring

Behind the clouds of coloured powder lies a boy who would not stop praying, a tyrant who burned, and a blue god who stained his beloved's face. The stories and meaning of Holi.

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Janmashtami

Janmashtami and the Birth of Krishna

Krishna was born at midnight in a prison cell, carried across a flooded river and swapped for a girl. How Hindus keep that night, from fasting and lullabies to the pots of Dahi Handi.

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Kali

Kali: The Fierce Mother

Black, naked, garlanded with heads and dancing over Shiva, Kali is the most frightening image in Hindu worship, and millions of people call her Ma. Here is why.

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Krishna

Krishna: The Cowherd, the King and the Teacher

Krishna is loved as a butter-stealing child, as the beloved of Vrindavan, and as the charioteer who spoke the Gita. One life holds three faces of the same God.

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Lakshmi

Lakshmi and Saraswati: Wealth and Wisdom

Lakshmi gives prosperity and Saraswati gives knowledge, and tradition insists the two belong together. Who they are, how they are worshipped, and why one without the other goes wrong.

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Mahabharata

The Mahabharata: Dharma in Difficult Choices

An introduction to the great epic of the Bharatas, its story, the Gita at its heart, and why Yudhishthira, Bhishma and Karna show that dharma is rarely simple.

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Makar sankranti

Makar Sankranti, Pongal and the Harvest Festivals

In mid-January the sun turns north and the whole subcontinent celebrates: sesame sweets in Maharashtra, kites in Gujarat, Lohri fires, four days of Pongal and the boiling pot.

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Mantra

Om and the Gayatri Mantra

The three sounds of Om and the silence that follows, the Gayatri mantra in plain words, who Savitr is, and how to chant with a mala of 108 beads.

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Meditation

Dhyana: Meditation in the Hindu Tradition

What meditation means in the Hindu tradition, from Patanjali's eight limbs and the Gita's instructions to a ten-minute routine a beginner can sit down and try today.

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The Power of Mantra Meditation

Mantras are sacred sounds, words, or phrases used in meditation and prayer in Hinduism. The most powerful mantra is 'Om' or 'Aum', considered the primordial sound of the universe. Mantra meditation involves repetitive chanting or mental repetition of these sacred sounds. This…

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Murugan

Kartikeya and Murugan: The Warrior God of the South

Kartikeya, called Murugan in Tamil, is the six-faced son of Shiva born to lead the gods to war. In the north he is a side shrine; in Tamil Nadu he is the most beloved god of all.

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Nakshatra

The 27 Nakshatras: The Lunar Mansions

The Moon's twenty-seven mansions explained: the story of Daksha's daughters, the birth star and naming, the padas, the ruling deities and lords, and the oldest layer of Indian astronomy.

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Navaratri

Navaratri: Nine Nights, Nine Forms of the Goddess

Over nine autumn nights Hindus worship the Goddess in nine forms, from the mountain's daughter to the giver of perfection. What each night means, how it is kept, and how it ends in victory.

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Onam

Onam and the Return of King Mahabali

Every year Kerala welcomes back the king it lost. The story of Mahabali and Vamana, the ten days of flowers, the banana-leaf sadhya, boat races and tiger dancers.

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Panchang

How to Read a Panchang

The Hindu lunisolar calendar explained: months and pakshas, the five limbs of the panchang, leap months, muhurta and rahu kaal, and a worked example of reading one day's entry.

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Philosophy

The Six Darshanas: Schools of Hindu Philosophy

Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Samkhya, Yoga, Mimamsa and Vedanta are the six classical schools that accept the Vedas. Here is what each one asks, and how they pair up.

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Pilgrimage

Tirtha: Pilgrimage, Char Dham and the Kumbh Mela

What a tirtha is, the Char Dham and the Himalayan Chota Char Dham, the Jyotirlingas and Shakti Peethas, Sabarimala, the Kumbh Mela and the Pandharpur wari, and counsel for a first yatra.

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Pranayama

Pranayama: The Breath in Yoga and Worship

Prana as life-force, the main breathing practices explained safely for beginners, the breath's place in daily ritual, the nadis, and a short sequence to practise each morning.

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Puja

How to Perform a Simple Daily Puja at Home

A practical guide to setting up a small home altar and performing a short daily puja, from the lamp and bell to the inner attitude that makes it worship.

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Puranas

The Puranas: How Stories Carry Philosophy

What the Puranas are, the eighteen great ones and their five themes, the Bhagavata and the Krishna stories, and how these texts shape the festivals and temples of everyday Hinduism.

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Raksha bandhan

Raksha Bandhan and the Bond of Protection

A thread on the wrist, a tilak, a sweet and a promise. The stories behind the rakhi, the ritual step by step, and what Shravana Purnima means beyond brothers and sisters.

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Rama

Rama: The Ideal King and Maryada Purushottama

Rama is called maryada purushottama, the best of men who stayed within the bounds of dharma. His life shows what it costs to do right when every choice wounds someone.

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Ramayana

The Ramayana: Story and Lessons

The story of Rama, Sita, Lakshmana and Hanuman told in brief, what each character teaches, and how the epic was retold by Tulsidas, Kamban and many others.

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Samsara

Samsara, Karma and Moksha: The Cycle and Its End

Hindu thought sees life as a long journey through many births, carried by karma. Here is how the cycle works, what liberation means, and why freedom, not heaven, is the goal.

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Samskaras

The Sixteen Samskaras: Hindu Rites of Passage from Birth to Death

What a samskara is, the traditional list of sixteen, and a closer look at the rites most families still perform, from naming a newborn to the seven steps of marriage and the last rites.

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Shiva

Shiva Nataraja: The Cosmic Dance

The dancing Shiva holds a drum and a flame, raises one foot and stands on a dwarf. Every detail of the Nataraja image carries a teaching about how the universe moves.

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Shivaratri

Maha Shivaratri: The Great Night of Shiva

On the darkest night of late winter, devotees of Shiva fast, keep vigil and bathe the lingam through four watches of the night. The stories behind the vigil and how it is kept.

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Shraddha

Shraddha and Pitru Paksha: Remembering the Ancestors

The fortnight each autumn when Hindus feed and remember their ancestors: tarpana, pinda daan, the crows, Gaya, Mahalaya, what to avoid and why, and the meaning underneath it all.

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Symbols

Sacred Symbols of Hinduism: Om, Swastika, Tilak and Rudraksha

A guide to the signs Hindus live among every day: what Om sounds and looks like, what the swastika really means, how to read a tilak, and why a rudraksha bead is called Shiva's tear.

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Temple

Hindu Temple Architecture: Nagara and Dravida

How a Hindu temple is built as a cosmos: the Vastu mandala, the dark garbhagriha, the tower as mountain, the Nagara and Dravida styles, and the pilgrim's walk to the still centre.

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Darshan and Temple Etiquette

What darshan means, how a mandir is laid out, and the small courtesies of a temple visit, from removing shoes and walking clockwise to receiving prasad.

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Tulsi

Tulsi, Peepal and the Sacred Plants of Hindu Homes

Why a tulsi plant stands in the courtyard, why nobody cuts a peepal, and what bilva, banyan, banana, neem, durva and mango leaves each mean in Hindu worship, with the ecology behind it.

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Upanishads

The Upanishads and the Four Great Sayings

An introduction to the Upanishads, the teaching of Brahman and Atman, and the four mahavakyas, told through the story of a father, his proud son and a lump of salt.

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Vedanta

Understanding Vedanta Philosophy

Vedanta, meaning 'end of the Vedas', is one of the six orthodox schools of Hindu philosophy. It is based on the teachings found in the Upanishads, Brahma Sutras, and Bhagavad Gita. Vedanta teaches that the ultimate reality is Brahman, the unchanging, infinite, and eternal…

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Vedas

The Four Vedas: An Introduction

What the Vedas are, how the Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharva differ, how each one is layered, and how they were carried by voice alone across thousands of years.

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Vishnu

Dashavatara: The Ten Avatars of Vishnu

From the fish that saved the Vedas to the rider still to come, Vishnu's ten descents tell one long story about how dharma is protected when it falters.

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Vrat

Why Hindus Fast and How to Keep a Vrat

Fasting in Hindu practice is a vow, not a diet. The common vrats, the kinds of fast, what is usually allowed, how to break it, and who is excused.

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Yoga

The Four Paths of Yoga

Karma, bhakti, jnana and raja yoga are four routes to the same summit. Here is what each asks of you, which temperament each suits, and how they work together.

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