Fast Facts about Hinduism Religion:

Existence Since: Hinduism is the worlds oldest known religion. History of Hinduism can be traced
back to 5000-10,000 B.C.
Facts about size and Rank: It is the third largest religion of the world with more than 1 billion
followers.
Location: Most of the Hindus live in India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka with considerable presence in all
other parts of the world also. About 85% of Hindus live in India. That is why India is also called as
Hindustan.
Known as: People who follow Hinduism are called as Hindus. Hinduism is also known as Hindu
Dharma (f <), Hindu Religion, Sanatana Dharma (Eternal Religion), Vedic Religion, or
Vedic Dharma.
Founder: Hinduism has no single founder. It has been evolving over the thousands of years and will
continue to.
Origin: Hinduism originated in India. Hinduism is largely based on the teachings from Vedas.
Meaning of the word: The word Hinduism actually has no real meaning because Hinduism was not
founded as a religion. The name Hindu is given by the people outside of the India, especially Greeks
and Arabs, to those living in the vicinity of Sindhu river. So, the way of life those people were
following is called Hinduism.
What do they worship: Hindus believe in one God named as Brahman but view other Gods and
Goddesses as manifestations of Him. Therefore, in practice, they worship more than one God. Most
Hindus worship God in the form of an idol. Rivers, mountains, trees, animals, and natural things
which are useful for a human being are revered in Hinduism. Cow is the most revered animal for
Hindus.
Place of Worship: The place of worship of Hindus is called as a temple.
Main Deities: Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu, and Lord Shiva are the creator, protector, and destroyer
respectively. These are the three main deities in Hinduism. Besides them, Lord Ganesha, Lord
Krishna, Lord Hanuman, Lord Rama, and Goddess Parvati are the most popular deities in Hinduism.
Yugas: According to Hinduism, as there are four seasons in a year, there are four Yugas namely Satya-
Yuga, Treta-Yuga, Dvapara-Yuga, Kali-Yuga. At the end of a full cycle of four Yugas, the life on the
earth comes to an end (though not completely) and a new era starts. The humanity enters into a new
era. The present era is known as Kali-Yuga i.e. Dark Age.
Facts about sects in Hinduism: Hinduism consists of different sects like Shaivism, Vaishnavism, and
Shaktism. The common people follow all the three sects collectively worshiping Lord Shiva, Lord
Vishnu, and Devi.
Aims of life: Dharma (righteousness), Artha (wealth), Kama (desire), and Moksha (salvation) are the
four objectives of a Hindus life.
Goal: Salvation is the ultimate goal of a Hindus life.
Stages of life: According to Hinduism, four stages of life are Brahmcharyashram (Student phase),
Grihastahshram (Living with wife and children), Vanprasthashram (leaving the home and pray to God,
may keep contact with family), and Sanyasashram (discard everything in life including wife, children,
and material things).
Contribution: Yoga, Pranayama, meditation, Ayurveda, vegetarianism, and meditation are the best
gifts of Hinduism to the world.
Tantric sex, Palmistry, acupressure, acupuncture, Jyotish Shastra, martial art, and many other ancient
wonders originated in India and are parts of Hinduism Religion.
Hinduism is the source of inspiration for three other major religions of the world viz. Buddhism,
Sikhism, and Jainism.
Zero, point system, and decimal system were invented in India. On the basis of which the modern
science exists.
Sacred Books or Scriptures: Four Vedas, Upanishadas, Bhagvadgita, 18 Puranas, Ramayana, and
Mahabharata are the sacred books of Hindus.
Language: Most of the Hindu scriptures are written in Sanskrit. Sanskrit is considered to be the
mother of all the languages. Sanskrit is considered to be the language of demi-Gods.
The languages Hindus use vary according to regions. They speak all the India languages like Hindi,
Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Malyalam, Gujarati, Kashmiri, etc. Outside India, the languages
spoken by Hindus are English, Sinhali, Indonesian, etc.
Eating Habits: Most of the Hindus do not eat beef and/or pork. They also do not eat non- vegetarian
food on auspicious days. Hinduism strongly advocates vegetarianism. Food is highly revered and
wasting the food is considered as a very bad habit.




Important Hindu Festivals:
1. Diwali The festival of lights.
2. Vijayadashami Celebrating the victory of good over evil.
3. Gudhipadawa Hindu New Year.
4. Mahashivratri The day on which the universe was created
5. Makar Sankranti Transmigration of Sun into Makar Rashi.
6. Navratri Mother Goddess is worshiped for nine days.
7. Ramnavami Birthday of Lord Rama.
8. Ganesh Festival Festival of Lord Ganesha..
Vedic restraints for Hindus are:
1. Ahimsa (not to harm others)
2. Satya (truthfullness)
3. Asteya (Nonstealing)
4. Brahmacharya (Avoiding promiscuity in thoughts, word, and deed)
5. Kshama (Forgiveness)
6. Dhriti (Steadfastness)
7. Daya (Compassion)
8. Arjaya (Honesty)
16 Samskaras in a Hindus life: Samskaras are the rituals which are performed at different stages of a
human life.
1. Garbhadhana. 2. Pumsavana. 3. Simanatonnayana. 4. Jatakarman. 5. Namakarana 6. Nishkramana. 7.
Annaprashana. 8. Chudakarana. 9. Karnavedana. 10. Upanayana. 11. Vidyarambha. 12. Samavartana
13. Vivaha. 14. Vanprastha 15. Sanyasa 16. Antyeshti.

Hindu Philosophy: Hindu philosophy is divided broadly in six different parts called as Darshanas.
1. Samkhya 4. Vaisheshika
2. Yoga 5. Mimamsa
3. Nyaya or logics 6. Vedanta
Karma: Karma means your deeds. Hindus believe that our fate depends upon our Karma i.e. as you
sow so shall you reap. If you do bad Karma, you have to compensate for it in this as well as your next
life. Your next life depends upon your Karma.
Reincarnation: A soul dwells in every living thing. Body is mortal but the soul is immortal. When we
die, our soul enters a new body and the cycle continues until we get salvation.
Caste System: Originally, there were no castes in Hinduism but there were four Varnas viz
1. Brahmin (priests).
2. Kshatriya (warriors)
3. Vaishya (Businessmen)
4. Shudra (labor)
These Varnas were further divided into castes and sub-castes. Originally, caste system was not
based upon birth. Now a day, caste is determined by the birth. During medieval period, the
persons belonging to a particular caste were supposed to do the same business as of their
ancestors. This type of caste system no longer exists. People are free to do whatever they want.
Castes come into play mainly during marriages. In arranged marriages, people prefer to marry the
person from the same caste.
Basic concept of Hinduism:
It will be easier to understand the basic concept of Hinduism if you know Law of Conservation of
Energy. For those who have a science background or have some interest in science know the Law
of Conservation of Energy very well. It is like this:
Energy can neither be created nor destroyed. Only one form of energy can be transformed into
other. The sum of all the energies in the universe remains the same.
According to Hinduism, human body is perishable but the soul is immortal and is subjected to the
continuous cycle of birth and rebirth. The soul changes bodies as a living person changes his/her


clothes. So, the thing which we call death is actually just a transformation of soul from one body
to another as the energy changes from one form to the other. This cycle continues births after
births and the soul is subjected to sufferings endlessly.
So, the ultimate goal of a Hindus life is to attend salvation (also called as Moksha or Nirvana)
i.e. freedom from the cycle of birth and rebirth. One can attend salvation when the soul of a
person fully becomes one with the supreme spirit called Brahman (or God) who is eternal,
genderless, omnipotent, and omniscient.
Interesting facts about Hinduism: So far, we have seen some common Hinduism facts, but now
we will have a look at some interesting Hinduism facts.
1. The institution of marriage was founded and put forth in practice by Hindus.
2. The first law maker, Manu, was a Hindu and Manu Smriti was the first book on law in
the world.
3. Rigveda is the oldest literature known to mankind.
4. Hindus believe that Vedas are written by Gods.
5. According to Vedas, lending money on interest is a bad karma
6. Acupuncture and acupressure are vital parts of Hindu customs.
7. Do you know the fact that Vedas were preserved for more than 5000 years without
the help of printing technology? This was done by reciting and memorizing all the
hymns and through Teacher-Disciple tradition (Guru-Shishya Parampara).
8. India is the home of four great religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism.
9. Sanskrit is the oldest language known to mankind.
10. The concepts of decimal system, zero, point, pi and many others were used first by
Hindus.
11. According to Vedas, Om is the sound which was present at the time of creation of
universe and it is the only symbol, which represents the God (Brahman).
12. Parents, teachers, and food are considered next to God.
13. Wasting food is considered as a very bad habit in Hinduism.
14. There is no officially-declared Hindu country in the world as there are Islamic and
Christian countries. Nepal was the only Hindu country, but it has now become a
republic country.
15. Hindu community is the second most tortured community in the world after Jews.
16. Hindus do not wear footwear inside the temples or homes.
17. Because of the usefulness of rivers, they are highly revered in Hinduism. People call
them as mother. Ganges is the highest revered river for Hindus.
18. Kashi Vishwanath Temple is the holiest temple for Hindus. It is located in Varanasi,
Uttar Pradesh.
19. Kashi is situated along the banks of the river Ganges. It is the holiest place for
Hindus. Some Hindus believe that if you die in Kashi, you would attend salvation.
Some people prefer to spend the last days of their lives in Kashi.
20. There have been substantial evidences that Hinduism had spread all over the world
including Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Russia, USA, Italy, and many other parts of the
world.
21. Hindu population constitutes about 14% of the world population.
22. Hindus believe that we get the human body when our soul passes through 8,400,000
species (Yonis).

Hinduism as Philosophy:
The gods of the early Indo-Europeans were gods of light, but this light
was not moral light but rather the illumination of the mind or
understanding.
Philosophy can be defined as strictly rational speculation, concerned
with the ultimate nature and meaning of reality, apart from revelation,
to satisfy a purely intellectual need Custance, p. 30

There is only one God, but endless are his aspects and endless are his names. Call him by any name and worship him in any aspect that pleases you, you are sure to see him
Shri Ramakrishna, quoted in Prabhavananda (1836-1886)

Important Terms in Hinduism:
Sacred Cow honored by Krishna
Indian scriptures tell us that the cow is a gift of the gods to the human race. It is a celestial
being born of the churning of the cosmic ocean. Guias the cow is called in Hindi, is symbolic
of Earth itself . It follows that the cow represents the Divine Mother that sustains all human
beings and brings them up as her very own offspring. .
Ahimsa doing no injury by word or deed
Atman the soul
Avataras alternate forms that gods take
Bhakti devotion
Brahma the personal creator god
Brahman the impersonal pantheistic god
Brahmanas priestly commentaries on the Vedas
Brahmin the priest & priestly caste
Sacred Cow honored by Krishna
Dharma duty; everyone in whatever place in life has his/her dharma
Karma cause and effect
Maya conscious illusion making power
Moksha transcend samsara; get off the wheel of rebirth and redeath
Om primordial sound vibration


Pandit One from the hereditary priestly caste learned in the ancient texts, customs, and
rituals
Puja Homage, showing respect to the deities
Puranas Mythological texts of ancient times and popular devotional texts
Rishi (seer) A poetic sage and authors of Vedic hymns
Samsara life cycle rebirth & redeath
Shakti consort of god
Tilaka decoration on the forehead to indicate god worshipped Sanskrit Ancient language
of the Hindu scripture
Yoga (yoking to divinity) techniques for transforming consciousness and attaining
liberation.
Sudra Serfs, low caste




PREPARED BY: cri.vin.sed