About one billion people live in India. Most of these people are Hindu. The Hindu religion is also a way of life. In the Hindu religion , there are special ceremonies for important times in a person's life. There are sixteen ceremonies in all. For each ceremony there is a special fire , and priests say prayers and read from a special book. One of these ceremonies is choosing a name for a baby
The birth of a baby is a happy time in a Hindu family Soon after the baby is born , the parents wash the baby and write the word om on the baby's tongue. They write the word in honey with a pen of gold. Om is a special word in the Hindu religion. Hindus say this word over and over again when they are praying