你对兴都教了解多少呢？透过《畅游行》119期的《满天神佛兴都教》，你应该对它有较立体的认识。在此，让我们继续透过受访者卡薇塔，一起来了解兴都教的信仰与节庆！
Flickr、Unsplash、槟城旅游局/图 Kavita Maheendran/文 李诗琴/翻译&整理
卡薇塔Kavita Maheendran
马来西亚青年理事会成员、电影公司制作人；是第三代印裔。
① 你是第几代移民？你的祖辈来自印度的哪个区域？当地人主要祭拜哪些神明？
我父母的祖辈均来自印度南部的泰米尔纳德邦，父亲来自坦贾武尔，母亲则来自蒂鲁吉拉帕利。“泰米尔纳德”意为“泰（淡）米尔人之地”。我会称自己为马来西亚的第三代印裔。
我父母的祖辈都祭拜马里安曼女神的化身，名为Kula Deivam，是“家神”的意思。
My mother side parents are from Thiruchi, Tamil Nadu and my father side parents are from Tanjavur, Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu = South India or literally translates to land of Tamilians.
From my mother’s side, I am the 4th generation in Malaysia – my great grandparents came to Malaysia with their children (my grandparents). My mom and her siblings were the first generation born in Malaysia.
As for my father’s side, my grandparents were the first one to come to Malaysia. I am considered the 3rd generation. My father and his siblings were the first generation to be born in Malaysia.
Both of my parents’ ancestors worship to a female goddess’ avatar or known as ‘Kula Deivam’ (it means, family God). This female ‘Kula Deivam’ is an avatar of ‘Mariamman’ (main female Goddess Parvathi /wife of Lord Shiva).
槟城的小印度充满了印度文化风情。槟城旅游局提供
② 兴都教有多少支教派？如何区分？
共有4支，分别是湿婆派、毗湿奴派、夏克提派、师摩多派，尤以湿婆派和毗湿奴派为最主要。每个教派的膜拜方式和意识形态都有些许不同，然而它们最后都体现了兴都教的主要思想——生活方式。
There are 4: Saivism, Vaishnavism, Shaktism and Smartism. The main denominations are Shaivism (Lord Shiva) and Vaishnavism (Lord Vishnu). The offerings and Poojai/Poojas (prayers) differs from one another and the ideology slightly differs. Nevertheless, each of these denominations directs back to Hinduism’s main ideology which is “the way of life”.
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黑风洞里的毗湿奴神像。Robert Wilson摄
③ 我们都知道根据伊斯兰教义，到麦加朝圣是穆斯林必须完成的事情，那兴都教徒有没有哪些需要完成的职责呢？
兴都教里没有强制信徒一定要进行哪些仪式。兴都教美的地方在于，每名信徒可以自由选择他们想要的方式。兴都教徒也有类似的朝圣，许多年长的信徒会透过朝圣来靠近“解脱”，以及洗清罪孽。
In Hinduism no one if forced to perform any particular practices. The beauty of Hinduism is that, it is extremely individualistic where one has the freedom on how they practice the religion. Like visitation to Mekkah, Hindus mainly go to either Rameshwaram, Varanasi, Thirupathi, Badrinath and few other more for their pilgrimage. Mostly elderly people participate in the pilgrimage to bring them closer towards ‘Moksha’ (release from the cycle of rebirth) and to wash away their sins.
兴都教的信徒可以自由选择自己的信仰方式。Seng Tslee摄
④ 宗教如何影响一名兴都徒的日常生活？
传统上，一名兴都徒会每天祈祷5次，但如今大部分信徒改为每天早上和傍晚时各祈祷一次。
The ancient vedic way of practicing Hinduism is to worship 5 times in a day, where most Brahmins practices. Over the years, due to working lifestyle – in modern times, most Hindus pray twice (morning & late evening) a day. However for priests, Brahmins and strict Hindu followers do practice worshipping 5 times in a day. On the other hand, Hinduism also stated that one can pray to God at the given time in his/her schedule. Again, that’s how vast and philosophical the religion can get.
⑤ 兴都教里大约有多少神明？
有些人说只有1位，有些说33位，还有人认为有330甚至是3亿3,000万个。我自己认为是33位，其余的都是祂们的化身。
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湿婆有许多的化身。Jorge Láscar摄
⑥ 马来西亚和印度祭拜的神有差别吗？南、北印度呢？
两地祭拜的神是一样的，不过南、北印度之间的祭拜方式就有明显的差别，而穆鲁干神是不受北印度承认的，祂只被淡米尔语系的信徒承认。
All Gods worshipped by both countries are the same. However, there are significant difference between North India and South India worshipping methods. And 1 God that is not recognised by North India is Lord Muruga (son of Shiva and Parvathi). Lord Muruga is known as Tamil God as he only recognised by Tamil speaking land and it is believed that he is God that taught is mantra “Om” to his father Lord Shiva.
马来西亚黑风洞的金色神像便是穆鲁干神。Taylor Simpson摄
⑦ 为什么兴都庙总是五彩缤纷？
从前，兴都庙都是用巨石打造，通常不漆上颜色，后来采用各种颜色代表神明，以及进行装饰。
In ancient days, temples are built and sculptured from massive rocks or stones and usually it is not painted. However, when colours are founded over the years, it is then used as representation of Gods and as decorative purposes.
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黑风洞的内部装饰也是五彩缤纷，吸引许多游客前往参观。Robert Wilson摄
⑧ 兴都庙里总是有各种有关传说壁画和浮雕，有哪些传说是必定会出现在庙里的吗？
大部分庙的门塔上的神像是根据兴都教最重要的经典《吠陀》或古印度文献《往世书》里的神话及故事打造，还有一些则是泰米尔纳德邦传统舞蹈婆罗多舞的舞姿。庙里的壁画则多是《吠陀》里所写的重要事件。
Most temples ‘gopuram’ (tower at the entrance of temple) are often built with statues that depicts the stories or mythologies written in Vedas/Puranas or it is purely on dance poses (Bharathanatyam – Tamil Nadu traditional dance). At the same time, murals at the found on walls also shows the important event that took place in the Vedas.
南方印度庙的建筑结构和格局以人体为想象进行对比设计。Dennis Sylvester Hurd摄
⑨ 关于节庆，我们都知道屠妖节/光明节和大宝森节，除外还有哪些节庆吗？
有的，每个月都有一些节庆，包括丰收节、淡米尔新年、象神诞、九夜节、卡尔迪盖普姆灯节。所有印度人都会庆祝屠妖节，北印度则不庆祝大宝森节。
– Yes there are. Every months there is a festival and celebration or special prayers are conducted. I will list down a few here:
- Ponggal (harvest festival)
- Chittirai Putthandu (Tamil New Year)
- Vinayagar Chathurthi (the birth of Lord Ganesha – elephant God)
- Navarathri (9 days celebration of Hindu Goddess)
- Kaarthigai Deepam (festival of lights to commemorate the greatness of Lord Shiva & avatar of Lord Murugan as 6 faced God)
Deepavali celebrated by all Hindus; people in North India don’t celebrate Thaipusam.
每逢屠妖节总会在马来西亚的各大商场看见KOLAM装饰。 Slices of Light 摄
不论是从卡薇塔，还是专题里另两位受访者卓振宏与曾慧玲的讲解里，突然发现兴都教满天神佛的世界真的好有趣！对于兴都教满天神佛的世界有兴趣的朋友，可以透以下书籍与电影清单，进一步了解它哦！
卓振宏&曾慧玲推荐书单
《追寻印度史诗之美》
“Sacred Structures: Artistic Renditions of Hindu Temples in Malaysia and Singapore”
卡薇塔推荐电影
Karnan (1964) – part of Bagavad Gita
Thiruvilaiyadal (1965)
Sarawathi Sabatham (1966)
Mookuthi Amman (2020)
Dasavatharam (2008)
欲从头了解兴都教，请浏览《畅游行》119期马来西亚专题《满天神佛兴都教》，点击订阅。
