Key terms

• Brahman


  Supreme power in the Universe; ultimate reality; God; the life force
• Atman


  The soul, which is believed to be part of Brahman in all living things. It unites with Brahman once moksha is achieved
• Trimurti


  The three major aspects of Brahman; Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Preserver and Shiva the Destroyer
• Avatar

  The incarnations (divine becoming flesh) of a deity, sometimes in human form e.g. Vishnu was incarnated as Krishna
• Puja


  Prayer/worship of the gods often in the form of murtis
• Arti


  A form of Hindu worship in which burning lamps are waved before murtis to invoke the presence of the gods
• Upanayana


  The sacred thread ceremony. This is a Hindu rite of passage
• Mandir


  A Hindu place of worship or shrine
• Bhakti


  Devotion. In bhakti traditions it is believed that love of God is the path to moksha (spiritual liberation)
• Varanasi


  A city, on the River Ganges, in India. A Hindu place of pilgrimage
• Nam Samskar


  The Hindu naming ceremony. The fifth samskar when a child receives its name on about the eleventh day after birth
• Murti


  An image and representation of a deity in a temple, shrine or in the home