Interesting Hinduism Facts

1. Word Hinduism is derived from the river Sindhu which was pronounced by Persians as Hindu, The region of the Indus valley is called Hindustan, and thus the religion of the Indus valley is called Hinduism.
2. Goal of life: To attain self-realization
3. All beings have a soul. advanced souls take bodies with higher abilities like that of humans. All souls evolve up the ladder
4. God is called SatChidAnanda: Ever existing, Ever conscious, Ever new bliss
5. There has been no known founder of Hinduism, Hinduism derives its practices form ancient sages to today's saints, there has been a tradition of sages and saints from thousands of years, at least for last 10,000 years
6. Hinduism is the oldest religion among the existing larger religions
7. Hinduism believes in one god, then why are there so many gods? Hinduism believes in one god many forms. People chose the form through which they wanted to seek god, thus there are so many gods
8. Hindus worship many gods; Shiva, Krishna, Rama, Durga, Kali are among the most worshiped forms of god
9. Hinduism is the world's 3rd largest religion with more than 900,000,000 followers
10. Hinduism originated in India
11. There is no specific higher authority or governing body that is responsible for the religion
12. Countries where most of the Hindu population is concentrated are India, Nepal, Bangladesh,Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Pakistan
13. God is considered both male and female, or as the one who has no sex or both.
14. Scriptures are divided into Shrutis (those which were heard by sages in deep meditation) and smritis (those which were recorded or memorized)
15. Vedas are the known ancient Hindu scriptures. Other famous scriptures are Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Agamas, puranas.
16. Ramayana and Mahabharata are considered as the documentation of the history of India during the times of Rama and Krishna respectively.
17. Bhagavad Gita is considered by most as the holy book of Hindus. however it is not considered as the only book.
18. Dharma, Karma and Reincarnation are the most discussed among hindu topics
19. AUM is considered as the holy sound, because it is believed that consciousness manifested itself as form through the sound AUM
20. There are three foremost deities: Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara, who are considered the parts of one and only god (parabrahman) responsible for the creation, preservation and destruction of the worlds. three letters of the word 'AUM' are considered to represent them.
21. Temples are the places where hindus worship the deities, many people have altars/ rooms in their houses for worship.
22. Rama and Krishna are the most celebrated historic persons who are well known for their adherence to dharma even at difficult times.
23. Places that are considered holy by the hindus are Varanasi, Allahabad (prayag), Haridwar, Rishikesh, Ayodya, Dwaraka, badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri, Nashik, Ujjaini, Puri, Rameshwaram
24. Popular festivals are: Diwali, Maha Shivaratri, Holi, Ram Navami, Krishna Janmastami, Ganesh Chaturthi, Ugadi. Different groups give importance to different festivals
25. There are three sects in Hinduism: Shaiva, Vaishnava and shakti. But they are not definite sects, person of one sect may follow the philosophy of the other sect. Though all sects worship all gods primary importance is mostly given to one's own sect.
26. Yoga, Pranayama, Meditation, Vastu, Jyotish, Tantra, Astrology are the main contributions of Hindu system to the modern world
27. word AUM is the main symbol of Hinduism
28. Sanskrit is the mother language of all indian languages. Most of the scriptures of hinduism are in Sanskrit
29. Rigveda is the one of the oldest literatures
30. Knowledge is transferred from enlightened guru to disciple
31. Varanasi is the oldest city of India and also considered as the most holy of the places
32. After death people are either cremated or buried
33. Wedding has been in practice from 1000s of years
34. Monogamy is the most practiced way. polygamy and polyandry are also practiced though rarely. Vedas suggest that one may marry as many as one can satisfy (materially, providing all necessities) and equal to other spouses
35. If one believes, one can worship idols
36. Manu smriti is the first book written on Codes of good conduct. Some of the codes from this are followed even today (mostly because they are relevant even today and good codes are often relevant all the time)
37. Mahabharatha the most revered book of India is 10 times larger than Iliad and Odyssey combined together
38. Kumbhamela (spiritual gathering of both householders and renunciates) which occurs every 3 years is the largest gathering of humans on the earth
39. Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism originated from Hinduism, all these religions share lots of common philosophies
40. Cow, elephant, snake peacock are closely associated with the religion
41. Fully blossomed Lotus flower is used a symbol of enlightenment, also as the symbol of open heart (full of love)
42. All books that contain knowledge are considered sacred
43. Number 12 is considered special, Poorna kumbha mela is celebrated every 12 years, it is believed that spiritual progress happens in practitioners in the cycle of 12 years. i.e it takes 12 years of disciplined practice to change a habit. Mantras, Japas and pranayama's are practiced in multiples of 12
44. Touching water is accepted as spiritual, it is believed that the water has positive vibrations and also the ability to pass it on.