Fire altars have played a central role in both Hindu and Zoroastrian religious rituals. In the Hindu tradition, fire altars were central to ancient Vedic religious life as the place where many yajnas or rituals were performed. The kindling of sacred fire at a fire altar continues to be central for many Hindu domestic rites, including marriage, and for public rites such as the consecration of a temple. In the ancient Zoroastrian tradition, the central rites called yasna were and are still performed in the presence of the purifying fire. In a fire temple the Afargan or fire vase... Read more about fire altar

(also: Minakshi) The material form of Goddess Meenakshi is best known as the reigning goddess of the popular South Indian temple town of Madurai, where her large temple complex is at center of town built in concentric square processional streets around the temple. She is the bride of Shiva called Sundareshvara, the “beautiful Lord,” but is also worshipped in her own right. In the U.S., her first and largest temple is in Houston.

The Rig Veda is a collection of more than 1,000 hymns dating in its oral form to at least 1,200 B.C.E. The hymns are addressed to a variety of Vedic gods, with many invoking Agni, the sacred fire. It is the oldest of the four samhitas, “collections,” which also include the Yajur, Sama, and Atharva Vedas.

Yogoda Satsang Society was founded in India by Paramahansa Yogananda (1893-1952). During the 1920s when Yogananda settled in Los Angeles, the American organization became known as the Self-Realization Fellowship. Yogananda was the first Hindu teacher of yoga to settle in the United States for an extended period. The organization he founded has more than 400 centers in 44 countries. Since 1925, the organization’s international headquarters has been atop Mt. Washington, five miles from downtown Los Angeles.

The Laws of Manu constitute one of the classic sources of teaching about Dharma in the Hindu tradition. Dating to the period from about 200 BCE to 200 CE, this articulation of law or dharma begins with the story of creation and then covers such subjects as the duties and responsibilities of each of the castes (varnas) and each of the stages of life (ashramas), the special responsibilities of kings and of women, and the consequences of infractions against dharma.

Ramakrishna (1836-86) was a Bengali mystic, a devotee of the Goddess Kali, who also venerated his wife, Sarada Devi, as Holy Mother. In his spiritual experience, he claimed to have had the supreme mystical “God-realization” of many religious traditions and affirmed their unity. His disciple Vivekananda (1863-1902) was very different in temperament, more an activist and intellectual. After Vivekananda’s success at the 1893 World’s Parliament of Religions, he founded both the Ramakrishna Vedanta Society in America and the Ramakrishna Mission in India in the name of his spiritual master.

Venkateshvara, also known as Balaji, is a form of Vishnu or Krishna. The hilltop temple dedicated to him at Tirupati in southern Andhra Pradesh is one of the most popular of all Hindu pilgrimage destinations and the stories of powerful blessings received by pilgrims to this site abound.

A brahmin is a member of the priestly class, charged with the duties of learning the Vedas, teaching the Vedas, and performing rituals. It is the highest of the four general castes of Hindu society.

Krishna is one of the most beloved of Hindu Gods, sometimes called an avatara of Vishnu, but widely worshipped in his own right as the Supreme Lord. The stories of Krishna gather together the ancient and heroic cowherd god of India, the adviser to Arjuna and teacher of the Bhagavad Gita, the divine child, and the playful lover of the milkmaids of Vraj.

The Pushti Marga is the “Path of Grace,” a Hindu tradition of Krishna worship focused on the child Krishna especially known as Shri Nathji. It was launched by Vallabhacharya (1479-1531) and includes lineages of teachers called goswamis, who continue his tradition to the present day. Its most important Indian haveli (palace-temple) is at Nathdvara in Rajasthan. In the U.S. there are Pushti Marga temples or havelis in Vraj, Pennsylvania and Sayreville, New Jersey.

A Vaishnava or Vaishnavite is a worshipper of Vishnu or one of Vishnu’s many forms, such as Krishna or Rama, as Supreme Lord. Vaishnava is also used to name the Hindu traditions of Vishnu worship, such as the Sri Vaishnava and the Gaudiya Vaishnava traditions. Collectively, they might be called Vaishnavism.

Bhakti is devotion to or love of God. The term is derived from a Sanskrit root meaning “to share.” Hence, it conveys the sense of a personal relationship with the Lord, expressed in such forms as chanting, singing, dancing, and temple worship.

Jnana is wisdom, transforming knowledge, especially the knowledge of the identity of the atman or soul and the ultimate reality of Brahman. It is this inner realization to which the teachings of the Upanishads point, and it is this wisdom which is explicated in philosophical systems such as Advaita Vedanta.

Prana-pratishtha, “establishing the breath,” is the name of a particular rite of sanctification that establishes the divine breath of life in a murti or image. After this rite, the image must be honored daily as a divine embodiment, the divine guest in the temple.

Since 1971, Pramukh Swami has been the spiritual leader of the worldwide Bochanasanwasi Swaminarayan Sanstha. He is the spiritual successor in a divine lineage that extends back to Swaminarayan in the 19th century. He is also the administrative leader of the worldwide BSS community.