9th Grade World History

Unit summary: 

Two major world religions, Hinduism and Buddhism, both were founded in south Asia but have spread throughout the region and world. This unit explores the origins, worship practices, rituals, and beliefs of Hinduism so that students can start to build comparisons to other major world religions.  We will also examine current events issues involving Hinduism such as the rise of  Hindu Nationalism in India.

Essential Questions: 

• What can Hinduism teach us about how people in India and around the world who follow the religion think and behave?

• What are the origins, worship practices, rituals, and beliefs of Hinduism?

• What similarities and differences exist between Hinduism and other religions?

Conceptual Understandings

• Hinduism is the oldest religion in the world, and there are a vast array of practices and beliefs found within it. Most Hindus believe in a Supreme God, whose qualities and forms are represented by a multitude of deities (gods). Hindus believe that existence is a cycle of birth, death, and rebirth, governed by karma.

• Despite efforts to eradicate use of the caste system to shape political and social life in India, inequities based on the system persist.

• Hindu Nationalism (Hinutva = "Hinduness") is championed by the right in India including by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of Prime Minister Modi.  It is out of line with the kind of religious pluralism advocated by Ghandi and the religious freedom and separation of church and state enshrined in the country's constitution.