In
the history of mankind, many cultures have come and gone but Hinduism
has withstood many challenges posed by the time and has spread all over
the world. The secret of this success of Hindu religion lies in the fact
in its practical approach towards human life, belief in eternal truths,
and modifications made without changing the basic beliefs.
Despite
being the world’s third largest and the oldest religion, lots of people
are unaware of the facts about Hinduism. There are also a number of
misconceptions about Hinduism, which need to be explained. Therefore, in
this article, we would try to put forth all the Hinduism facts in brief
before the world, so that everybody would have an idea about what
Hinduism is.
Fast Facts about Hinduism Religion:
Existence Since: Hinduism is the world’s 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” (हिंदू धर्म), ” Hindu Religion, “Sanatan 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 Yogas, 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 Hindu’s life.
Goal: Salvation is the ultimate goal of a Hindu’s 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.
Symbols: Aum and
Swastika are the main symbols of Hinduism. Besides those,
Kalash,
Trishul, Tilak, Lingam, Shri, and Yantra are other popular Hindu
symbols. The saffron is the official color of Hinduism and the saffron
flag is the official flag of Hindus.
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 Hindu’s 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
2. Yoga
3. Nyaya or logics
4. Vaisheshika
5. Mimamsa
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.
Dashavatar: According to Bhagavad-Gita,
whenever Dharma weakens or the sins on the earth increase to the limit,
Lord Vishnu incarnates on the earth and removes the sinners and protects
the earth. So far, Vishnu has incarnated nine times and the tenth
incarnation is yet to come. Following are the 10 incarnations of Vishnu
known as Dashavataram:
1. Matsyavatar.
2. Kurmavatar.
3. Varahavatar.
4. Narsimhavatar.
5. Vamanavatar.
6. Parshuram.
7. Ram.
8. Krishna.
9. Buddha.
10. Kalki Avatar.
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 Hindu’s 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).
23.
A few decades back, Yoga, Ayurveda, Vedic Maths, and Hypnotism were
considered as superstitions and/or rubbish but with the advent of modern
science it is proved now that these things are very helpful for us.
24.
Hindus do not worship Lord Brahma individually. He is worshiped only in
the form of trinity i.e. Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahesh together. There is
only one temple of Brahma in the world, which is in Pushkar, Rajasthan.
The same thing applies to Indra. Indra and Brahma are both cursed
because of their weak characters. Some people use this thing against
Hinduism but they should understand that Hinduism is bold enough to
punish every culprit whoever he/she may be. This also proves the fact
that Hindu mythology is not just a fairy tale but is a history in itself
as no culture would abandon its own gods.
25. The Ganges River is
considered as the most sacred river by Hindus. The Ganges is considered
as a goddess. They believe that all of the sins of a person are washed
when he/she bathes in Ganges. Ganges water contains more oxygen than any
other river in the world and the water remains fresh for longer time.
According to a program broadcasted on Discovery, the Ganges water
contains bacteria veg which eats up harmful bacteria. Hence, despite
being over-polluted, there are less harmful bacteria in it.
26.
Practice of cremation is observed by most of the Hindus. The practice of
burial is also observed in a small number of castes.
More Articles Related to Hinduism Facts:
Fasting in Hinduism
Hindu Sect – Aghori
Founder of Hinduism
Tilak
is a vertical sign made by kumkum on the forehead exactly between two
eyebrows of a Hindu male. This is used mainly at the time of rituals or
any religious ceremonies like weddings, birthdays, Munj, etc.
I can probably teach my best friend even more that she knows, and she’s Hindu 
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