Friday. December 9, I960

SCARLET AND BLACK

Page Five

 

Religion Is Important Influence
In All ‘Reaims 0f Easl Indian Life

by Walt Ncovcl l7 , 7

its believed to be an incarnation

AHMEDNAGARi INDIA 7 Not one of the three aspects or

has been said that --india is res, the Dime Godhead Thcsc 35.

ligious," that all ot liidia's (IIS- pacts are Brahma) the mama
tinctivo qualities stein irom hcrlpowc Vishnu. the

College Church j

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Study Program SeIiConven‘l'ion
To Build Interest
'" '51 “mm“ 13h: :li‘da'l‘suiilzi

A study group program is her lime.
mg set up to stimulate interest‘
in the Latin Amcrican coilfcre
cnco and to produce a core oi‘

‘Cont. ironi p. l

‘bucutlse oi tlic problems of heat—
,ing the buildings during a regu-

Thc major problem to be con-
sidered will be the all cation oi
iuiids by the various b cllés ot

vast religious heritagc. while this and SM, the mum.“

is a generalization, cspeciaiiy
since the impact of the West. it is
true that as in few other lands
religion aitects ail rcainis oi life.

This was exemplified by the
people ciecting as vice—president
India‘s leading rciigious thinker,

Dr‘ s, Radhakrishnm Also. In? dicated to the other two, there
,1 ,ts a shrine to the powerful Siva

dia’s toreign policy, cvcn thoug

it is iormuiated by the avowedlyiand a p

nonrrcligious Nehi'it, is often cull-

herc to a religiously
call naivc.

This allepcrvasivcness arises
from the bciiei that God is a
Spirit present in all. of creation
ifl‘om rocks and water to the
greatest man. Tiicreiore, there is
no occasion at which it is not
auspicious to worship this Spirit
and there is no oblect upon
which this worship can not be
lavished.

For the educated Hindu this
is a healthy View since it can
iostcr an attitude akin to Albert
SChweitzel": ”Reverenze tor
Life,” But for the uneducated
common man, his religion, when
taken seriously, becomes a con.
tinual round of appeasing the
spirits or gods which are on every
side and which he believes con—
trol his life,

As in all Eastern lands, super-
stition is still prevalent. Evcn
many educated persons believe
in paimistry and astrology.
Witch doctors or grotesquely
costumed “holy men" do a big
business every morning going
from shop to shop driving away
the evil spirits and summoning
the gods of prosperity.

In the shuns are colorful pic-
tures of these gods freshly dc-
coraled \Vltll flowers and per-
haps with incense burning be-
neath them Often chalk foot-
prints oi the gods are drawn
in front Ia signify clearly that
thc shop is protected.

Farmers also attempt to win
the iavor oi the godsto assure
their crops. Next to
fields, sniaii piles of rocks
covered with a deep—orange
powder mark the place at
which they worship daiiy.

Appeals are also made to thc'of this saint. This was apparent»
.shil‘ines ——

deities of the small
which dot the countryside. I
this area, the two most popuia
are the monkey god, who is
especially skillful in fighting
evil, and the elephantrheadcd
god, who is very wise and
brings good tortunc.

The main worship, however,
takes placc at the temples.
which are devoted to some por-
sonage, real or mythical, who

All Kinds of
MAGAZINES
—School Supplies
—Tobaccos
—Pipes
-—Typewriter
Supplies
and

Repair

their i

[using because it attempts to ad- .‘USUBUY represented by a _
mspimdgda," or phallic symbol, which

idealism which the West can only iconnotcs his potency-

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sustaining;
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it is perhaps instructive to
note that most oi the temples
are to Siva, the most lcai-cd,
while only one in all lndia is
devoled to the more abstract
Brahma. Even at temples de—

art ot cvcry worship is
given to appeasing him. He is
“pins

Grnebel
D Richard Gl‘acbcl, Presby-

At these temples there are
no regularly scheduled scrr l,
vices. All worshiii is an a ‘tcrian minister iroin Spring
inn-21y individual basis, ale held, ill, will speak on the
though there are certain days tom, “15 Christmas Realty
on which_ it is most auspicious True?” at chapel on Wednesday.
to worship. 1 F. Gerald Ensiey, Bishop of
The ritual of worship h1 a the lowa Methodist Church will
usual small temple bcgin attcr speak in college church Sunday.
removing your shoes, \v givrl
ing an oiiering to the symbol
which guards the main entrance
This symbol may be a fish, a
tortoise, a bull, imprinted tootisomeone
prints or any number or other me“

things oispcnding upon inanyl When i iii-st arrived, there
factors. The otrcring will be was only one man kncciing in
a c0in,,flowei' pctals or colored front oi the tomb, making a
powder. tnoise like a crosscut saw. With—

, , ,ﬂ in live minutes alter my camera
thihiyﬁﬂgl ‘g‘ﬁenhﬂfg T3": began clicking, there were half

d o 2 en tanatics chanting
lert the god, The worshiper now ? », _- ’
enters the semledzurlmess of the “and“‘g °“ “w“ heads’ smek‘i

i. a , . ing curscs and rolling all over
£323,233“: pgggglgege,;;f;§ tin phas. While that antics
a saint had sat, Siva: iipmdas not unusual in india. they usual.
or an elaborately olccoi-atcd sta-,1y ‘10 “0‘ “w" d‘mng WWI“?-
tue maybe the obioct to which' The most enhancing aspect
ihe offering is given. Thc’bless— or Indian religious life is the
ing or “darscen” or the idol is multitude of festivals herd
received Aby touching the fora-1 throughout the year. While
head 10 "5 foot theoretically occasions toi-
An offering is the“ given to , worship, their main tunction
each oi the smaller idols in is to provide entertainment
niches in the wath The wo,_ I and recreation which is other
shipci— then leaves the holy of I wise completeiy lackingi
holies to receive darscen at i
the outer shrines. I

ly done in order to get this
saint to take vengeance upon
who had wronged

I
These festivals arc usually
held in honor oi some popular

ll'ellslniol'mcd students to pat:
ticipatc in thc oiircampus event
ncxt spring,

The groups and the advisers
of each are: “The Economic
Picture of Latin America,”
Robert F. Vocrtinaii (new
nomics and business); "Latin
'AmerlcziiUSl Diplomatic Rel
lions,” Joseph F, Wall thistory);
“Currant Political Changes in
Latin America," Andrew P. De-
bicki (modern t'oreign lang—
uagcs); "SocialsCuIlurzil Aspects
ot Latin Anicriea," Ralph Lucb.
bcn (sociology and anthropolo
gy); and “Arts in Latin AIHCJ’IV
:a Richard Ceriene (art)

In addition, Latin America
Vt'lll be the topic of cullm’e area
analysis in thc sociology and 2m-
tiiropology course. can, taught
by Luebban, The archeology and

elllhography of this area will heI

emphasiY d. This course has no

prcrcouisnc and may be l‘epeal~
ad [or credit.

A bibliography is being pre-
dated and will be distribuled to
the student body soon. Several
books of current interest are on
open rcserve in the library,

McBoing Bomg
To Be Featured

Tomorrow evening at 930
there will be a Union Christmas
party featuring six UFA car-
toons, According to Dick Hoiek-
vam, a member of the Union
committee, it's not just the
extra-creamy eggrnog and the
freshly baked cookies that will
make it a great party, Gerald
McBoing Being will be there—
in technicolor.

student government, a situaton
that few studcnts know much
iabout. The method under which
ithis is done seems to be without
logical order. according to the

lcadcrs of student government.

chcrai suggestions h a v c
been put forward tor relieving
this situation, among them the

‘possibiiity oi a cciitrai iinnnc—
ing committee—probably con—
sisting of tacuity and students
710 take care of all the nllot‘Ar
tion oi student iunds.

Anothcr major consideratoii
will be the vagueness of the llm»
its at powers for the three ir
tor student governing bodies
moi-c concisc definition of pins
diction and responsibilities amtmw
the bodies is one of the go -
for which the convention will
be striving.

A third problem the eonventon
tmight concern itself with is that
oi the administration's role in
student government, it is telt lile
administrative policy, especi

in the Social Calendar coiniii
tee, should be more precisely e-
iiiicci tor the students so that
their Selfrgovel‘m‘nent can be
more effective.

BOAR'S HEAD
iCont. {ram 1). 1

preceding year's yuie log. Sym—
bolizing iricntlship and the
love at Christmas, a wreath

is placed on the log, than boll]
are lit,

David Totem (classical len—
guagcs) wil give a talk on "A
,Christmas in Spain.” T l: e
,Christmas story irom the New
ITestziment will be read by Mrs,
Winston King. Carols will
.‘sung by the women of the Choir.

 

he

 

 

Such is vhc usual uncmotionai
tonn ot worship, However, it
is not always like this. Every
country has its “holy roiicr'.
i tound this area at the tomb
of a holy man no is wors ip.
pcti by both Muslims and llin.
dus, People conic to this tomb

to get “filled with the spirit"

god or because it is some Spa-t
ciaiiy favorable time of the
year. There will be color 1 dis—l
plays with people competing to‘
put tip the most elaborate; tire—I
works ottcn reaching deafening
proportions; parades carrying,
the idols around town, jamming

INDIA
Cont. p. 7, col. 1

 

 

Giffs for
MEN
of All Ages

Come In
And See
Our
Selection
Before

intranet ins. stivmsig ii». in sic. in. mum.

 

Safe Deposit

John always did take things

seriously . . . like that habit

too
of locking

Available his Coke up in a sale! Sure everybody
. . Y0" Leave likes Coca—Cola . . . sure there’s

at nothing more welcome than the good
taste 61' Coca-Cola. But really—
LARO‘S PPEXION’S

a sate just tor Cokci Incidentally—
NE'W'S STAN’D

. . Y ,1
know the comblllatloll, on) one SE REALLV REFRESHEI)

Boilled under aulhorily of The Coca-Cola Company by
DIARSHALLTUWN COCA-COLA BOTTLLNG CO.
Marshalltuwn. Iowa

 

 

 

 

 

