We admired of the opening remark of our talk on Hinduism :"It's a mythology." With 330 million gods & goddesses, how could it be otherwise.
The starting trinity, we were told, are Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver & Shiva the regenerator. A yogi put it somewhat differently, for western consumption probably - Brahma the Generator, Vishnu the Organiser, Durga the Destroyer. He also told us, for some inexplicable reason, that the opposite is DOG!!
Of course, the subject of caste came up & while discrimination against untouchables is now a criminal offence, it will take many generations for the caste system to be cast off. (95% of all marriages still take within the families' own caste.) The caste system originated with the arrival of the Aryans in India about 2000 BCE. This fact stirred up feelings of unease within us, of course, as has the constant sight of swastiks everywhere. A swastik is apparently a symbol denoting goodness & is usually the 1st decoration to be painted on a new house (or car or lorry...). Disconcertingly, we have often seen them in conjunction with what we call Magen David (Star of David). We have also seen Stars of David on mosques!
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