RELI 1730 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Hinduism Today, Murti, Ganesha

• School: Carleton University
• Department: Religion
• Course: RELI 1730
• Professor: Josee Compion

Document Summary

Hinduism: its conception of the divine and its use of murti. The basics: 1 billion hindus, mostly in india, very ancient origins, without a founder nor a central authority, extremely diverse, beliefs may vary, devotional hinduism. Immanent and sacramental: visual, (cid:862)a(cid:374) i(cid:373)age-making religion in which the sacred is seen as present in the visible world(cid:863) (cid:894)e(cid:272)k (cid:1005)(cid:1013)(cid:1012)(cid:1009), (cid:1005)(cid:1004)(cid:895) Various representations of the divine: both iconic and aniconic, often, with human and superhuman traits (indra, temple of puchenchira, at times, with animal traits (ganesha) Historical context: bhakti (cid:894)(cid:862)de(cid:448)otio(cid:374)(cid:863)(cid:895), (cid:1008)th c, love of a personal god, predominant today, the use of the iconic image, 1st c, grew between the 4th & 7th c, central in hinduism today. Academic/insider viewpoint: hi(cid:374)duis(cid:373) i(cid:373)ages as (cid:862)idols(cid:863) a(cid:374)d thei(cid:396) use as (cid:862)idolat(cid:396)ous(cid:863, antagonism rooted in the. The hindu viewpoint: not the wordship of a statue, but of the divine that has made itself present in the statue.