The document provides information about Hindu religious traditions and symbols. It describes how bracelets can symbolize pledges made to gods, the origins of the monkey god Hanuman, the sacred status of cows in Hinduism, and the story of how Ganesh acquired his elephant head after Shiva mistakenly cut off the head of his son. It also mentions Hindus worshipping trees decorated with statues and flower necklaces.

1. by Diana Gibson

2. These bracelets are wore to symbolize that a person has made a pledge or prayer to a god. When a person wants to make a pledge he goes to the temple takes in his hand flowers, rice, and money to cast before the god. Sometimes you will see men wearing more decorative bracelets, which was placed on him by his sister. It is to remind him that he will protect and provide for her.

3. Here is the temple of Hanuman, the monkey god. Some say he was born as the son of the King and Queen of the Mokeys. To others, he is the son of Anjana, a female Apsara who had been transformed into a monkey by a curse and Vayu, the wind god. It is also said that from his father Vayu Hanuman received his ability to fly.

4. Hindu Temple and a Muslim Mosque

5. The sacred COW The cow is said to be the mother goddess for she produces milk which gives life. In ancient India one would sacrifice a non milk producing cow but, by the early centuries AD, the cow was designated as the appropriate gift to the brahmans (high-caste priests) and it was soon said that to kill a cow is equal to killing a brahman.

6. Through out India you will see these beautiful old trees surrounded by statues of the Hindu deities and flower necklaces (which are blessings). For this particular tree Hindus will gather around it at 6:00 and worship

7. One day Shiva returned home after a few thousand years of meditation to find his wife, Parvati, taking a bath while another man kept watch. He promptly cut the intruder’s head off before he was reminded that it was his son. Full of remorse but still blood-thirsty he cut off the head of a passing elephant and stuck it on. Ganesh is also hugely popular and is regarded as the god of good fortune. With his long trunk he lifts your problems out of the way. Elephant god Ganesh