Let us look briefly  at the history of the religions of South African Indians.

Christianity is the religion practiced by those who follow the teachings of Jesus Christ.  He lived in Palestine about two thousand years ago. Most o f the Western countries follow this religion. When the British conquered India around the year 1750, Christianity was spread in India.  Today a small percentage of Indians are Christians. In South Africa, some who were Hindus by birth were converted to the Christian faith.

Islam is the religion followed by the Muslims.  The Muslims are followers of  the Prophet Mohammed.Phophet Mohammed lived in the seventh  century. God is known as Allah by Muslims. When the Turks conquered some parts of India over nine hundred years ago, they spread Islam in India. During the Moghul rule of India about four hundred years ago, many more Hindus were converted to Islam. India today still has many Muslims. When it became independent in 1947, a new country-Pakistan-came into being and many Muslims from India migrated to settle there.

Hinduism is the original religion of the Indians. It is the oldest of all living religions; it is said to be as old as the world. Hinduism is the mother of most world religions. It is also known by the names”SANATANA DHARMA”, and” VAIDKA DHARMA”.SANATANA DHARMA MEANS”ETERNAL RELIGION”. The Term SANATANA DHARMA is used not only because the religion is eternal, but also because it is protected by God Himself, and because it can make us eternal, VEDIC DHARMA is the religion of the VEDAS. TheVEDASare the fundamental scriptures of the Hindu religion.

Lord Buddha was born as a Hindu. He made some changes here and there in the Hindu religion and created and brought about the another new religion which eventually came to be known as Buddhism. But in India Buddhism as a philosophy is being practiced as the part and parcel of Hinduism. So, as the same way, made some changes to the Hindu religion and Jainism in its present form was born. It is believed that even Lord Jesus, too, lived amongst the sages of India, leading a highly religious life in Kashmir and Benares. A careful study of Christianity will show that it is not very different from Hinduism.

DIWALI  FESTIVAL

TODAY, THE DIWALI FESTIVAL IS BEING CELEBRATED BY PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD, ESPECIALLY BY HINDUS, BHUDDISTS, AND SIKHS AND ALSO EVEN THE PEOPLE OF OTHER FAITHS ARE CELEBRATING DIWALI. SEVEN HUNDRED THOUSAND YEARS AGO, LORD RAM WON OVER THE UNCONQUERABLE MIGHTY WARRIOR KING RAWANAN AND FREED THE PEOPLE IN LNAKA. TO COMMEMORATE THE VICTORY AND THE FREEDOM OF THE PEOPLE IN LANKA, THE FIRST DIWALI WAS CELEBRATED BY LORD RAM AT RAMESWARAM IN BHARAT (SOUTH INDIA).

DIWALI IS ALSO CALLED “FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS” BECAUSE IN THIS FESTIVAL, PEOPLE DECORATE THEIR HOMES, STREES, TEMPLES AND PALACES BY LIGHTS TO SHOW THEIR PEACE AND HAPPINESS AND THEY SEND WELL WISHES WITH SWEETS AND FRUITS TO THEIR NEIGHBOURS, RELATIVES AND FRIENDS.  IN THE EVENING S, THEY ORGANISE PLAYS AND VARIOUS RELIGIOUS PERFORMANCES IN FRONT OF THEIR TEMPLES.

TODAY, DIWALI FESTIVAL HAS MANY NAMES:

THE FIRST HOLY FESTIVEL ON THIS  EARTH,DEEPAWALI,FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS,FESTIVAL OF UNITY,FESTIVAL OF LORD RAM,FESTIVAL OF BHARAT,FESTIVAL OF VICTORY,FESTIVAL OF FREEDOM,FESTIVAL OF JOY& HAPPINESS,FESTIVAL OF PEACE ...ETC.
THIS FESTIVEL IS FOR EVERY HUMAN BEING ON THE FACE OF THIS EARTH, WHO IS WILLING TO LIVE IN PEACE AND HARMONY.

THEREFORE, LET’S GET TOGETHER AND ENJOY THE FESTIVAL OF PEACE WITH OUR RELATIVES AND FRIENDS.

WMHO SECRETARY-MR. SHAHJEE (416 992 7882)