WHY DO WE WEAR MARKS (TILAK, POTTU AND THE LIKE) ON THE FOREHEAD?

The tilak or pottu invokes a feeling of sanctity in the wearer and others.
It is recognized as a religious mark.
Its form and colour vary according to one’s caste, religious sect or the form
of the Lord worshipped.
In earlier times, the four castes (based on varna or colour) - Brahmana, Kshatriya,
Vaishya and Sudra - applied marks differently.
The brahmin applied a white chandan mark signifying purity,
as his profession was of a priestly or academic nature.
The kshatriya applied a red kumkum mark signifying valour
as he belonged to warrior races.
The vaishya wore a yellow kesar or turmeric mark signifying prosperity
as he was a businessman or trader devoted to creation of wealth.
The sudra applied a black bhasma, kasturi or charcoal mark signifying
service as he supported the work of the other three divisions.
Also Vishnu worshippers apply a chandan tilak of the shape of “U,”
Shiva worshippers a tripundra of bhasma, Devi worshippers a red dot of kumkum and so on).

WHY DO WE PROSTRATE BEFORE PARENTS AND ELDERS?

Indians prostrate before their parents, elders, teachers and
noble souls by touching their feet.
The elder in turn blesses us by placing his or her hand on or
over our heads.
Prostration is done daily, when we meet elders and particularly on
important occasions like the beginning of a new task,
birthdays, festivals etc.
In certain traditional circles, prostration is accompanied by
abhivaadana, which serves to introduce one-self,
announce one’s family and social stature.
Man stands on his feet.
Touching the feet in prostration is a sign of respect
for the age, maturity, nobility and divinity that
our elders personify.
It symbolizes our recognition of their selfless love for us
and the sacrifices they have done for our welfare.
It is a way of humbly acknowledging the greatness of another.
This tradition reflects the strong family ties,
which has been one of India’s enduring strengths.
The good wishes (Sankalpa) and blessings (Aashirvaada)

WHY DO WE DO NAMASTE?

Indians greet each other with Namaste.
The two palms are placed together in front of the chest and
the head bows whilst saying the word Namaste.
This greeting is for all people –
younger than us,
of our own age,
those older than us,
friends, even strangers to us.
There are five forms of formal traditional greeting
enjoined in the Shaastras of which Namaskaram is one.
This is understood as prostration but it actually refers to paying homage
as we do today when we greet each other with a namaste.
Namaste could be just a casual or formal greeting,
a cultural convention or an act of worship.
However there is much more to it than meets the eye.
In Sanskrit namah + te = namaste.

WHY DO WE HAVE A PRAYER ROOM?
Most Indian homes have a prayer room or altar.
A lamp is lit and the Lord worshipped each day.
Other spiritual practices like japa - repetition of the Lord’s name, meditation,
paaraayana - reading of the scriptures, prayers, and devotional singing etc are
also done here.
Special worship is done on auspicious occasions like birthdays, anniversaries,
festivals and the like.
Each member of the family - young or old - communes with and
worships the Divine here.

WHY DO WE LIGHT A LAMP?
In almost every Indian home a lamp is lit daily before the altar of the Lord.
In some houses it is lit at dawn, in some, twice a day – at dawn and dusk – and
in a few it is maintained continuously - Akhanda Deepa.
All auspicious functions commence with the lighting of the lamp,
which is often maintained right through the occasion.
Light symbolizes knowledge, and darkness - ignorance.
The Lord is the “Knowledge Principle” (Chaitanya) who is the source,
the enlivener and the illuminator of all knowledge.
Hence light is worshiped as the Lord himself.

Yesterday i was IRC’ing with my fellow hacker and since not much work was there , the talks shifted to the philosophy of Free software and its new comfortable avtar ie, Opensource.

The best thing about what we agreed about all that exist in the Opensource domain is that nobody owns the code or the software .Its just a whole community of like minded people who deliver every six months ,the most viable,secure ,powerful desktop,Servers without fail. The most astonishing thing is that nobody has to be commited towards developing opensource.Every single bit of software has been written by hackers who simply enjoy coding in their leisure time.Yet softwares are so professional and so widely used.

I asked the guy who has been in this project for a couple of years and works with cisco. “why are you working on this project so much , not your company supports this , you dont earn anything , why do u contribute to this “. He said its giving back time . and i realised its true.
Almost all of us hail from middle class families, families which couldnt really afford a computer .I bought my first pc only when i entered second year in my college.While you see many people rush up to computers much earlier ,my little cousin in chennai uses a computer to make custom labels for his notebook at the age of 8 .

I had the GREATEST OPPORTUNITY to know the MOST INTERESTING FACTS about HINDUISM.
If I do not share with others it is really a Sin, I believe.
So this is an attempt to Give all in parts in this Site, seen mostly by many.
This is actually a Reproduction and Not my Creation.

WHAT IS HINDUISM?
Hinduism is Not a Religion but a Way of life. Unlike other religions, Hindu dharma has many specialties.
This is not known as a religion, it is known as the Dharma;
Sanaathana Dharma.
Sanaathana means, according to Bhagavath Geetha,
which cannot be destroyed by fire, weapons, water, air,
and which is present in all living and non living being.
Dharma means, the way of life which is the
‘Total of all Aachaaraas or Customs and Rituals’.
Sanaathana Dharma has its foundation on scientific spirituality.
In the entire ancient Hindu literature we can see that science and