Mala, symbol of luck, happiness and respect

Streets are full of marigold garlands on sale at the Divali eve

Flowers in Hinduism are symbol of creation and regeneration. Perhaps that is why they are the most common decoration material in India and Nepal. And the most popular form of the floral decorations is the garland, or flower necklace, called mala in Nepal and the northern India, and malai in the southern India. During the festival season houses are decorated with flower garlands, they are offered to a temple deity, they are presented to honorary guests as a sign of respect. During the wedding ceremony both bride and groom wear them as good-luck symbols. After a theatrical performance, appreciation to an actor, dancer or musician is expressed by the bestowal of a flower garland.

Cow worship in Hinduism

I believe everyone knows that cow in Hinduism is a sacred animal. For ages cow has been important in the lives of the Indians. They use milk as food, cow-dung as fuel and, if mixed with clay, for plastering huts. Cows play a role of a dowry for daughters and a bribe for Brahmans for a place in paradise. Another reason why the cow is considered sacred is based on the belief that Hindus can reach heaven only after crossing a mythological river, and to cross this river is possible only by holding the tail of the cow.

Kids dressed as Hindu deities

Children dressed as Krishna and Radha

In India and neighbouring Hindu countries there is tradition to dress small children as deities. Usually it happens during big festivals. Most often depicted gods and goddesses are Shiva and Parvati, Krishna and Radha, Vishnu and Hanuman. Here are a few photographs of kids dressed up for different festivals in Nepal.

Snake worship in Hinduism

Serpent sculpture in Sankhu, Nepal

Snake is an object of worship in different forms among the Hindus. It ranks sacred, second only to the cow. Snakes called Nagas are usually represented as gigantic cobras with several hoods, or with a human head and serpent body. In almost all of southern India the serpent is worshiped in its original form either through images representing serpents or actually as live serpents residing in holes within the shrines or outdoor anthills where they are supposed to live.

Chamunda, the terrifying goddess

Chamunda, India, Madhya Pradesh, 10th–11th century, sandstone. Metropolitan Museum of Art  

Chamunda is the dreadful goddess of death and destruction in Hindu mythology. So no wonder she is one of the most horrid looking deity in the Hindu pantheon. Standing on a corpse of a man or seated on defeated demons or a corpse, she has a skeletal body with three eyes, a terrifying face, drooping breasts, protruding teeth, long nails and a sunken belly. She wears a garland of severed heads or skulls. She has four, eight, ten or twelve arms, holding a drum, trident, sword, a snake, skull-mace, thunderbolt, a severed head and drinking vessel or skull-cup, filled with blood. Chamunda is depicted adorned by ornaments of bones, skulls, serpents and scorpions, symbols of disease and death. Her hair is piled up into a chignon tied with snakes and decorated with a tiara of skulls. Sometimes, a crescent moon is seen on her head.

Manasa, the one-eyed snake goddess

Goddess Manasa by Jamini Roy, ca.1920. The San Diego Museum of Art  

Manasa Devi is a Hindu folk goddess of snakes, worshiped mainly in Bengal and other parts of North and northeastern India, chiefly for the prevention and cure of snakebite and also for fertility and prosperity. Manasa is depicted as kind to her devotees, but harsh to people who refused to worship her. Manasa is depicted as a woman covered with snakes, sitting on a lotus or standing upon a snake. She is sheltered by the canopy of the hoods of seven cobras. Sometimes, she is depicted with a child on her lap. The child is assumed to be her son, Astika. She is often called "the one-eyed goddess", as one of her eyes was burnt by her stepmother Chandi.