Nepal is the only country in which Hinduism is recognized as the state religion, but Buddhism, Islam and many other religions are also common here. What they all have in common is daily religious expression. In the morning, people gather in temples to offer offerings and puja to the gods.
Hinduism.
The word Hinduism appeared in the 19th century to define the basic beliefs of the Aryans - immigrants who left Central Asia in 1500 BC. and local people in India.
Main ideas: the heavenly law governs the state of the world, a person is aware of and respects the heavenly law. Lead your life in the proper Hindu way, observe the rules and all the rites, adopt the birth caste. The caste system determines the code of conduct and performance of rituals, affects all aspects of life: occupation, eating, weddings, etc.
Hindu principles. Drachma - religious law and moral code, acting on which you can get enlightenment. Karma is the balance of the present life and the reaction of the past. A life properly lived will bring rebirth into a better life. Samsara is a cycle of reincarnations determined by karma. Moksha - liberation from samsara, in which the individual unites with the universal time space of the past and future, the final clarity, i.e. Nirvana.
Each deity has different names, different symbols, attributes, manifestations. The main Hindu gods are Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.
Brahma is the creator of the universe. Attributes - a rosary, a source of holy water, a ladle and books. Brahma is usually represented as having four heads, which allows him to observe the world. The number of existing statues of Brahma is small.
Saraswati, the wife of Brahma, is the goddess of knowledge and music. She is often depicted playing a veena (a seven-stringed musical instrument) with a rosary and a book, seated in a lotus on a peacock or swan, often with a crescent moon on her forehead. Buddhists worship her as a form of Manjushri, the wisdom of the Bodhisattva.
Vishnu is the guardian of life and peace. Attributes - shell, disk, lotus and wand. The incarnation is Garuda, the mythical bird-man. It often appears in some of the following forms:
Narayan, which means "one who investigates all branches", or universal knowledge.
Buddha, the ninth reincarnation of Vishnu.
Rama, a warrior who saved his wife Sita from Ravan, the demon king of Ceylon.
Krishna, the embodiment of masculinity, was bewitched by milkmaids and cowherd boys, with whom he frolicked. The forms Rama and Krishna are most popular in India.
Shiva - destruction and restoration. Attributes - trident, tambourine, tiger skin, lingam (phalos). The incarnation is Nandi, the buffalo.
Pashupati, owner and protector of animals, especially cattle.
Bairav, a form of Shiva who seeks to destroy everything, including evil. Usually his statue is black, with a necklace of human skulls.
Hanuman, monkey god. Symbolizes loyalty and willingness to help. Associated with successful military operations, Rama helped in the fight against King Ravana, who imprisoned his wife Sita for 12 years.
Ganesh (Ganapati), one of the most popular gods in Nepal. Unerring, charitable, and of great power, he can decide the outcome of any human enterprise. Son of Shiva and Parvati. Once Shiva found Parvati with her lover, and deciding that Ganesh was not his son, he tore off his head. At the request of Parvati, Shiva promised to restore life to Ganesh, for this he would behead the first living creature that he met in the forest. He saw an elephant, cut off his head, rushed back and put it in place of Ganesh's head. Ganesh is usually dressed in red, four-armed, the body is covered with layers of sandalwood. The incarnation is a shrew, sometimes a rat or a mouse, therefore, all these animals are sacred.
Parvati, Shiva's wife. Benevolent manifestations: Devi, Yuma, Shakti or Annapurna (bringing abundance). Evil Manifestations: Kali, Durga and Bhagavati
Buddhism.
Based on the reflections of Gautama Siddharta (GAUTAMA SIDDHARTA), also called Sakwamuni (after the sage from the Sakwa clan), who later became the Buddha (enlightened).
The philosophical doctrine and code of conduct is based on three jewels: the Buddha himself, the Dharma (Buddha's teaching), and the Sangha, the Buddhist society.
The Buddha was born in Lumbini, Nepal, in 544 B.C., the son of a raja (so-called wealthy landowners) who were looking for the cause of human misfortune. As a result of experiments and travels, he achieved enlightenment through meditation in Bodh Gaya.
Dharma is the doctrine of four truths discovered through meditation:
1. Existence is misery.
2. Everything in life brings suffering: birth, satisfaction of vital needs and death. The beginning of suffering is in the needs and desires of people and the desire to possess material values (illusion of feelings).
3. Unhappiness is born from selfish desires and passions.
The Sangha is a Buddhist society. It was originally used to refer to a society of monks, but later this concept expanded. Show the path to enlightenment.
About 100 years after the death of the Buddha, society came to controversy regarding the path to enlightenment. The traditional Theravada Buddhist school follows the original teachings of the Buddha. The Mahayana school adopted some changes regarding the path to enlightenment (Zen appeared).
A bodhisattva is a person who has achieved enlightenment, but instead of going to nirvana, he chose to teach others to achieve enlightenment.
Tantrism.
The spread of the Akhayan school began in the first century AD. on the outskirts of India. Hindus and Buddhists were in contact with the animist religions and adopted some of their beliefs and exercises: yoga (physical exercises necessary to control body functions), mantras (multiple repetition of magical syllables). Ultimately, it transformed into Lamaism, which is also widespread in Nepal. Such methods serve the purpose of shortening the road to enlightenment.
Prayer Flags and Prayer Drums take prayers to the sky. Prayer wheels are rotated clockwise to send mantras into the sky. Usually it is a copper cylinder with prayers written in Sanskrit. Inside the drum is a parchment on which the Tibetan spell OM MANI PADME HUM is repeatedly printed. Some translations of this mantra:
Oh, the jewel hidden in the lotus.
- One particular interpretation of this incantation is the same prayer of the Bodhisattva Padmapani: O Padmapani, give me the jewel in the lotus, which is a blessing in attaining nirvana through the teachings of the Buddha.
More general interpretation: O jewel resting in the lotus, the Buddha's teaching remains pure in our minds and souls.
Religious enmity, religious wars are a common phenomenon in world history. In Europe of the 17th century, Christians exterminated entire areas inhabited by people of the same nationality as them, but belonging to another Christian denomination. Islam asserted itself in Arabia with fire and sword. But there are also happy exceptions - countries in which there has never been a strife on religious grounds. One of them is Nepal.
Nepal is the only Hindu kingdom in the world, and at the same time, the birthplace of the founder of Buddhism - Prince Siddhartha Gautama, who later received the name of Buddha, that is, awakened, enlightened. In the middle of the 1st millennium BC. The Kirati tribe, who professed Buddhism, came to Nepal from the east, and Buddhism became the dominant religion here for eight hundred years. His influence waned when the Newar people invaded the Kathmandu valley from India around 300 AD. Hinduism - the religion of these newcomers - has since become the official religion of Nepal. The change from one dominant religion to another was peaceful and painless, many of the shrines of Nepal are equally revered by both Hindus and Buddhists. This is explained by the fact that Hinduism has never had a complete theological system; it easily absorbs other cults, recognizing new deities as incarnations of its ancient gods.
The Hindu god can act not only in the form of another deity, but also a person. For example, the Nepalese king is considered the incarnation of Vishnu, one of the main Hindu gods. And the goddess Kumari exists only in the guise of a living girl. The temple is the home of the Kumari. The goddess is chosen from girls at the age of three or four, guided by very complex criteria. A girl remains a goddess until, for whatever reason, she loses at least a drop of blood. After that, she is given a good dowry, but marrying a retired goddess is not so easy - it is believed that marriage with her will be overshadowed by all sorts of misfortunes.
In Hinduism there is no priesthood in the usual sense for us. Brahmins who perform the duties of priests do not take any special vows, live an ordinary life in the world, run a household and have a family. People who have renounced the world and devoted themselves to one of the Hindu gods are called sadhus. They lead an ascetic life, and the people consider them sages. It is to the sadhus, and not to the brahmin priests, that the Nepalese usually go with their sorrows or when some decision needs to be made. Everyone brings something with him - sadhus have no other sources of existence.
The Hindu pantheon is huge. Temples are dedicated to the main gods, altars are dedicated to less significant ones. One of the temples is the sanctuary of the monkey king Hanuman. Immediately after birth, the legend says, Hanuman grabbed the Sun, mistaking it for an edible fruit, and the god Indra barely managed to take away the luminary from the gluttonous baby. The epic "Ramayana" tells how the selflessly noble and powerful Hanuman - he possessed such strength that he tore off hills and mountains from the earth - helped the god Rama to rescue his bride Sita from captivity. In India and Nepal, monkeys are considered, if not direct descendants of the divine Hanuman, then at least his relatives. The Nepalese believe that monkeys understand human speech and can talk - they just hide it so that they don't make them work. It must be said that the relatives of Hanuman, who live in abundance in Nepal, lost the strength and nobility of their great ancestor.
One of the two supreme Hindu deities - the god Shiva - is dedicated to the temple of Pashupatinath. This is not even a temple, but a vast temple complex, located near the Nepalese capital Kathmandu on the banks of the sacred river Bagmati. Every day, crowds of pilgrims flock here not only from all over Nepal, but also from neighboring India. To perform a puja, an offering to the formidable Shiva, is the duty of every believer. Most sacrifice roosters, which can be bought right there near the temples. Having stood in a long line, the believers hand over the birds to the attendant - he cuts their throats and irrigates the altar with sacrificial blood. Some give goats as a gift to Shiva. Immediately nearby, you can wash the carcass in order to take it home later - after the ceremony, the Nepalese use the meat of sacrificial animals for their intended purpose, that is, for food.
Every Hindu dreams of being escorted to Pashupatinath on his last journey, although there is a place for a funeral ritual at every temple standing on the river bank. After the farewell ritual in the temple, male relatives on a stretcher carry the deceased to the ghatami - a stone platform for cremation, on which a funeral pyre is laid in advance. Only the son of the deceased can set fire to the fire, so the absence of sons in the family is considered a terrible misfortune. Hindus believe that the soul of a person after death moves into a new shell - into a plant, animal or person. Whether a new incarnation will be favorable or unfavorable depends on karma - that is, the sum of good and bad deeds committed in a lifetime. So that nothing interferes with the resettlement of the soul, there should not be a trace of the former body shell on the earth - the muddy waters of the Bagmati carry the ashes to the Ganges, sacred to Hindus.
Buddhists also cremate their dead, but some - distinguished during their lifetime by special holiness - are mummified and placed in sanctuaries - stupas. This word is translated from Sanskrit - the language of sacred Buddhist texts - as "crown" or "heap of earth." The Boddhanath Stupa in Kathmandu was built in the 3rd century BC. and has since been updated several times. The eyes on the gilded wall of the temple are not an element of decor. It is believed that the Buddha himself looks at the believers with them. Also, these bright flags hung everywhere serve not for decoration. They contain mantras - prayer appeals to Buddhist saints.
Of all the holy places for Buddhists - and there are a great many of them in Nepal - the most revered temple complex in Lumbini, a small town near the Indian border. According to legend, it was here that in 700 BC. on the day of the full moon in May, on the shore of the lake under the shade of a sprawling tree, Queen Maya gave birth to a son, Siddhartha, whose name is translated as "fulfilled his destiny." The appearance of the boy was accompanied by many signs, and one hundred and eight sages gathered in Lumbini to interpret them. They announced that Siddhartha would become either a great ruler or a teacher like no other on earth. The prince achieved full enlightenment over the years and became the first Buddha, the founder of a new religion. The fact that the Buddha was born in Lumbini is evidenced by the inscriptions on the column, installed 300 years after his death by King Ashoka. It was through the efforts of Ashoka that Buddhism spread to most of South Asia. Despite the fact that Nepal is the birthplace of the Buddha, Buddhism came to the country from the northeast, from the territory of modern China. To this day, Chinese Buddhist temples and monasteries operate in Nepal. Above the entrance to one of the temples, instead of the Sanskrit script, Chinese characters are inscribed, and the pot-bellied Buddha statues that adorn its interior are clearly made in Chinese, and not Indo-Nepalese style. The art of making traditional Buddha figurines is especially developed in the city of Patan, the second largest after Kathmandu. The main materials are soft volcanic stone and bronze. This work is painstaking, and ordinary Nepalese cannot pay big money for figurines. Good luck is considered when an order is received from European Buddhists or from monasteries.
Monasteries in Nepal often have a greater impact on people's lives than government offices. The advice received from a monk is strictly followed. Anyone familiar with sacred texts and fulfilling religious precepts can become a Buddhist monk. If desired, the monk is free to leave the monastery at any time and return to the world. The life of a monk is spent in meditation, reading sacred books and prayers. Each uttered prayer brings a Buddhist closer to nirvana - the final deliverance from earthly suffering. Each revolution of the prayer wheels, which are installed in all Buddhist monasteries, is also counted for prayer. It remains to be hoped that the prayers that we whispered when our plane fell over the Himalayas into another air hole will also be counted to us at the moment of rebirth. After all, this aircraft belonged to an airline named after the founder of Buddhism.
In the middle of the 1st millennium BC. V Nepal from the east came the Kirati tribe, who professed Buddhism, and for eight hundred years Buddhism became the dominant religion here. His influence waned when the Newar people invaded the Kathmandu valley from India around 300 AD.
Hinduism- the religion of these newcomers - has since become the official religion of Nepal. The change from one dominant religion to another was peaceful and painless, many of the shrines of Nepal are equally revered by both Hindus and Buddhists.
This is explained by the fact that Hinduism has never had a complete theological system; it easily absorbs other cults, recognizing new deities as incarnations of its ancient gods.
hindu god can act not only in the form of another deity, but also a person. For example, the Nepalese king is considered the incarnation of Vishnu, one of the main Hindu gods. And the goddess Kumari exists only in the guise of a living girl.
Temple- home of Kumari. The goddess is chosen from girls at the age of three or four, guided by very complex criteria.
A girl remains a goddess until, for whatever reason, she loses at least a drop of blood. After that, she is given a good dowry, but marrying a retired goddess is not so easy - it is believed that marriage with her will be overshadowed by all sorts of misfortunes.
IN Hinduism there is no priesthood in the usual sense for us. Brahmins who perform the duties of priests do not take any special vows, live an ordinary life in the world, run a household and have a family.
People who have renounced the world and dedicated themselves to one of the Hindu gods are called sadhu. They lead an ascetic life, and the people consider them sages. It is to the sadhus, and not to the brahmin priests, that the Nepalese usually go with their sorrows or when some decision needs to be made. Everyone brings something with him - sadhus have no other sources of existence.
Hindu pantheon huge. Temples are dedicated to the main gods, altars are dedicated to less significant ones. One of the temples is the sanctuary of the monkey king Hanuman.
Immediately after birth, legend has it, Hanuman seized Sun, mistaking it for an edible fruit, and the god Indra barely managed to take away the luminary from the gluttonous baby.
In the epic Ramayana"It is told how selflessly noble and powerful Hanuman- he possessed such strength that he tore off hills and mountains from the earth, - he helped the god Rama to rescue his bride Sita from captivity.
In India and Nepal monkeys they consider, if not direct descendants of the divine Hanuman, then at least his relatives.
The Nepalese believe that monkeys understand human speech and can talk - they just hide it so that they don't make them work. It must be said that the relatives of Hanuman, who live in abundance in Nepal, lost the strength and nobility of their great ancestor.
One of the two supreme Hindu deities - god Shiva- dedicated pashupatinath temple. This is not even a temple, but a vast temple complex, located near the Nepalese capital Kathmandu on the banks of the sacred river Bagmati.
Every day, crowds of pilgrims flock here not only from all over Nepal, but also from neighboring India. To perform a puja, an offering to the formidable Shiva, is the duty of every believer. Most sacrifice roosters, which can be bought right there near the temples.
Having stood in a long line, the believers hand over the birds to the attendant - he cuts their throats and irrigates the altar with sacrificial blood. Some give goats as a gift to Shiva.
Immediately nearby, you can wash the carcass in order to take it home later - after the ceremony, the Nepalese use the meat of sacrificial animals for their intended purpose, that is, for food.
Every Hindu dreams of being escorted on his last journey precisely in Pashupatinath, although there is a place for a funeral ritual at every temple standing on the river bank.
After the farewell ritual in the temple, male relatives on a stretcher carry the deceased to the ghatami - a stone platform for cremation, on which a funeral pyre is laid in advance. Only the son of the deceased can set fire to the fire, so the absence of sons in the family is considered a terrible misfortune.
Hindus believe that the soul of a person after death moves into a new shell - into a plant, animal or person.
Whether the new incarnation will be favorable or unfavorable depends on karma- that is, the sum of good and bad deeds committed in a lifetime. So that nothing interferes with the resettlement of the soul, there should not be a trace of the former body shell on the earth - the muddy waters of the Bagmati carry the ashes to the Ganges, sacred to Hindus.
Buddhists also cremate their dead, but some - distinguished during their lifetime by special holiness - are mummified and placed in sanctuaries - stupa.
This word is translated from Sanskrit- the language of sacred Buddhist texts - as a "crown" or "heap of earth". The Boddhanath Stupa in Kathmandu was built in the 3rd century BC. and has since been updated several times. The eyes on the gilded wall of the temple are not an element of decor.
It is believed that they themselves look at the believers Buddha. Also, these bright flags hung everywhere serve not for decoration. They contain mantras - prayer appeals to Buddhist saints.
Of all the holy places for Buddhists - and there are a great many of them in Nepal - the most revered temple complex in Lumbini, a small town next to the Indian border.
According to legend, it was here that in 700 BC. On the day of the full moon in May, on the shore of a lake under the shade of a sprawling tree, Queen Maya gave birth to a son, Siddhartha, whose name is translated as "fulfilled his destiny."
The appearance of the boy was accompanied by many signs, and one hundred and eight sages gathered in Lumbini to interpret them. They announced that Siddhartha will become either a great ruler or a teacher, which has not yet happened on Earth. The prince achieved full enlightenment over the years and became the first Buddha, the founder of a new religion.
That Buddha was born in Lumbini, according to the writings on the column, installed 300 years after his death by King Ashoka. It was through the efforts of Ashoka that Buddhism spread to most of South Asia.
Although Nepal- the birthplace of Buddha, Buddhism came to the country from the northeast, from the territory of modern China. To this day, Chinese Buddhist temples and monasteries operate in Nepal.
Above the entrance to one of the temples, instead of the Sanskrit script, inscribed Chinese characters, and the pot-bellied Buddha statues decorating its interior are clearly made in Chinese, and not Indo-Nepalese style.
The art of making traditional Buddha figurines is especially developed in the city of Patan, the second largest after Kathmandu.
The main materials are soft volcanic stone and bronze. This work is painstaking, and ordinary Nepalese cannot pay big money for figurines. Good luck is considered when an order comes from European Buddhists or from monasteries.
Monasteries in Nepal often have a greater impact on people's lives than government agencies. The advice received from a monk is strictly followed.
Anyone familiar with sacred texts and fulfilling religious precepts can become a Buddhist monk. If desired, the monk is free to leave the monastery at any time and return to the world.
The life of a monk is spent in meditation, reading sacred books and prayers. Each uttered prayer brings a Buddhist closer to nirvana - the final deliverance from earthly suffering.
Behind prayer each revolution of prayer wheels, which are installed in all Buddhist monasteries, is also counted.
It remains to be hoped that the prayers we whispered as our plane fell over Himalayas into the next air hole, will also be counted to us at the time of rebirth. After all, this aircraft belonged to an airline named after the founder of Buddhism.
The vast majority of Nepalese are Hindus; there are many Buddhists here, because in the south of Nepal, in the village of Lumbini, according to legend, the Buddha was born. Hindus often pray in Buddhist temples, as well as Buddhists in Hindu ones. Here there is no clear division between Buddhism and Hinduism: they are very closely intertwined, and the believers themselves do not come into conflict with each other, as well as with representatives of other religions. Tolerance and religious tolerance are the defining features of the Nepalese mentality.
Hinduism
Nepal is the only country in the world where Hinduism is the official religion. At the same time, Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism, the oldest religion on the planet, was born on the territory of this particular state. Statistics claim that 80.6% of Nepal's population is Hindu. However, according to unofficial data, there are much more Hindus in the country, however, not all of them profess this religion in its pure form, as they practice elements of Buddhism, animism and some local beliefs.
One of the characteristic features of Hinduism is the deification of people: for example, in special temples in Kathmandu and some other large cities of Nepal, Kumari live - living incarnations of the goddess Taleju, who were worshiped by the Nepalese king himself. By the way, before the establishment of a republic in Nepal, he was also a living deity - he personified the god Vishnu.
The worship in Nepal is carried out by brahmins - representatives of a special caste, who, however, are not priests. They do not take vows and live an ordinary life outside the temples - they start families, are engaged in cattle breeding, agriculture, crafts. But wandering yogi sadhus, on the contrary, are revered as sages who are alien to the worldly. They are ascetics, spending many hours in meditation, traveling from temple to temple, living on alms.
The pantheon of Hindu gods is extensive, but temples are built only in honor of a few of them - Shiva, Vishnu, Rama, Sita, Parvati, Lakshmi. The most revered by Hindus around the world, the Pashupatinath Temple, dedicated to Shiva, stands in Kathmandu; believers dream of ending their earthly journey here in order to be reborn in a better incarnation. Pujas are performed in the temples - sacrifices, during which the brahmins kill the animals (goats, sheep, roosters) brought by the Nepalese so that drops of their blood fall on the altar, and then give the carcasses to the owners - the meat can be cooked at home and eaten.
Religion of Nepal In Nepal, objects of art, classical and modern, are used in daily religious practice. Unique creations are easy to find intemples and other religious sites. Understanding the intricacies of various religions allows you to fully appreciate the art of Nepal. Nepal is the only country in which Hinduism is recognized as the state religion, but Buddhism, Islam and many other religions are also common here. What they all have in common is daily religious expression. In the morning, people gather in temples to offer offerings and puja to the gods.
Religion of Nepal - Hinduism
The word Hinduism appeared in the 19th century to define the basic beliefs of the Aryans - immigrants who left Central Asia in 1500 BC. and local people in India.
The main ideas of the religion of Nepal: the heavenly law governs the state of the world, a person is aware of and respects the heavenly law. Lead your life in the proper Hindu way, observe the rules and all the rites, adopt the birth caste. The caste system determines the code of conduct and performance of rituals, affects all aspects of life: occupation, eating, weddings, etc.
Nepal religion principles of Hinduism. Drachma - religious law and moral code, acting on which you can get enlightenment. Karma is the balance of the present life and the reaction of the past. A life properly lived will bring rebirth into a better life. Samsara is a cycle of reincarnations determined by karma. Moksha - liberation from samsara, in which the individual unites with the universal time space of the past and future, the final clarity, i.e. Nirvana.
Each deity has different names, different symbols, attributes, manifestations. The main Hindu gods are Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.
Nepal religion
Nepal religion Brahma is the creator of the universe. Attributes - a rosary, a source of holy water, a ladle and books. Brahma is usually represented as having four heads, which allows him to observe the world. The number of existing statues of Brahma is small.
Saraswati, the wife of Brahma, is the goddess of knowledge and music. She is often depicted playing a veena (a seven-stringed musical instrument) with a rosary and a book, seated in a lotus on a peacock or swan, often with a crescent moon on her forehead. Buddhists worship her as a form of Manjushri, the wisdom of the Bodhisattva.
Vishnu is the guardian of life and peace. Attributes - shell, disk, lotus and wand. The incarnation is Garuda, the mythical bird-man. It often appears in some of the following forms:
Narayan, which means "one who investigates all branches", or universal knowledge.
Buddha, the ninth reincarnation of Vishnu.
Rama, the warrior who saved his wife Sita from Ravan, the demon king of Ceylon.
Krishna, the embodiment of masculinity, was bewitched by milkmaids and cowherd boys, with whom he frolicked. The forms Rama and Krishna are most popular in India.
Shiva - destruction and restoration. Attributes - trident, tambourine, tiger skin, lingam (phalos). The incarnation is Nandi, the buffalo.
Pashupati, owner and protector of animals, especially cattle.
Bairav, a form of Shiva who seeks to destroy everything, including evil. Usually his statue is black, with a necklace of human skulls.
Nepal religion- Hanuman, the monkey god. Symbolizes loyalty and willingness to help. Associated with successful military operations, Rama helped in the fight against King Ravana, who imprisoned his wife Sita for 12 years.
Ganesh (Ganapati), one of the most popular gods in Nepal. Unerring, charitable, and of great power, he can decide the outcome of any human enterprise. Son of Shiva and Parvati. Once Shiva found Parvati with her lover, and deciding that Ganesh was not his son, he tore off his head. At the request of Parvati, Shiva promised to restore life to Ganesh, for this he would behead the first living creature that he met in the forest. He saw an elephant, cut off his head, rushed back and put it in place of Ganesh's head. Ganesh is usually dressed in red, four-armed, the body is covered with layers of sandalwood. The incarnation is a shrew, sometimes a rat or a mouse, therefore, all these animals are sacred.
