Hinduism

__Hinduism__

Hinduism is the major religion of India and one of the oldest living religions. The roots of Hinduism date back to Prehistoric times. It is estimeted that 800 million people pratice Hinduism. Hindu literature and philosophy have influenced people throughout the world.

__Beliefs of Hinduism__

Hinduism developed gradually over thousands of years, and many cultures and religions helped shaped it. Hinduism has it's own basic beliefs about dividing life after death and personal conduct. There are no single book for Hinduism that is the main source of its doctrines. Instead Hinduism has many scared writings which contributes to the main beliefs. The most important scared writing include the The Vedas which are the oldest Hindu scriptures and are older than scared writings of any other religion. The Puranas are long verse stories that contain verse stories that might contain important myths about Hindu gods and goddesses and their view on how the world began. The Ramayana and the Mahabharata are long epics. The Ramayana tells the story of Prince Rama and his attemps to rescue Sita. The Bhagavard-Gita is philosophical work,forms part of the Mahabharata. Hindus believe that there is a difference between the inner soul and the outer body, The inner soul is the real person and the outer body is only a container this means reincarnation. In addition, Hindus consider praying a good practice two times a day. Indian temples generally follow a practice of preforming aarti (lighting lights) at dawn and dusk and it is believed that Gods rest during the afternoon and night, so prayers should be offered at dawn and dusk.

__HInduism and its views__ . It's primary emphasis is on universal brotherhood. .Views the world as one big happy family. . Believes that man divine in nature and realization of that supreme truth as the primary aim of all human activity. . Believes in Karma and Reincarnation.

__Discrimination Against Hindus__ In the Flood relief camp the Pakastanian president ordered a probe into the reports of discrimination. Flood victims were being treated on basis of ethnicity. Hindus and Dalits were denied flood relief assistance and some of them were even thrown out of the relief camp. Hindus in Pakistan are also Discriminated against. Hindu kids are not allowed to sit in desks like any other child. They have to stand in the back of the room all day. Some schools don't even except Hindus. Hindus are not to be seen on the streets in Pakistan



__Hinduism Caste System__ Hindus have their own caste system. There are four main castes into which everyone is categorized. It starts with the Brahmins, which is the priests, the scholars, and the philosophers. The second level is called the Kshatriys, this level has all the warriers, rulers, and those concerned with defense. The third level is the Vaishyas all the traders, merchants, and people involved in agricultural production are in this level. The lowest level is called Shudras, this level has the laborers and servants. People outside of the caste system are called the Untouchables, they are the outcastes of the Hindu society. Each person is born into one of these levels depending on the family.

__Hinduism and Reincarnation__ Hindus believe in Reincarnation. You can reincarnate as many times as possible until you reach Brahman. Brahman is the highest level in the caste system. You must do good deeds which is karma in order to reach the Brahman level. Once you reached the Brahman level you don't reincarnate anymore you go to heaven.

__Population of Hinduism followers/Gods__ Worldwide there is an estimate of about nine hundred million Hindu followers in the world right now. The majority of Hindus live in India and areas surrounding that, there are some Hindus in America, South Africa, and Indonesia. Hindus are spread out across the world but are mainly in India. 75% of followers are from India, the other 25% of followers either border India or are a small area else where on the globe. There are believed to be about 330 million Gods in the Hindu Dharma.


 * Country || Hindu Population ||
 * India || 755135000 ||
 * Nepal || 18354000 ||
 * Bangladesh || 15995000 ||
 * Indonesia || 7259000 ||
 * Sni Lanka || 2124000 ||
 * Pakistan || 1868000 ||
 * Malaysia || 1630000 ||
 * USA || 1032000 ||
 * South Africa || 959000 ||
 * Myanmar || 893000 ||

__Conflicts Between Hindus And Muslims__ The Partition of India came about after World War II. Both Britian and British India were dealing with some economic stress caused by war and demobilization. For some intentions wished for a Muslim state to come from British India to have a clean partition between independent and equal "Pakistan" and "Hindustan" once indpendence came. In result leading politicians such as Mohammed Ali Jinnah leader of the All Muslim League and Jawaharal Nehru leader of Indian National Congress should have resulted in peace. After they agreed, about 50% of muslim population of British and India remained in India.

__Ganesha (elephant head)- God of prosperity__ Ganesha has become one of the most common symbols of Hinduism. He is the Lord of success and destroyer of evil obstacles and worshiped as a god of education, knowledge, wisdom and wealth. Body parts of Ganesha represent different parts of Hindu religion. His head represents the Atman or soul and the trunk represents wisdom. All Hindus worship Ganesha regardless of their sectarain beliefs.

__Annapurna Goddess of Food and Cooking__ * Food and Cooking is the goddess's main purpose __Brahma(creator)__ Brahma is the creator of the universe! Brahma is the God of Gods, Brahma is the originator and generator of mankind. Brahma has four heads, he used to have five heads. He lost a head when Brahma lied to Vishnu and Shiva got angry. Brahma grew out of a lotus in the naval of the sleeping Vishnu. The alteration from day to night is caused by Brahma. In order to create the human race, Brahma made a man and woman into himself, one half woman (named Gayatri) and the other half man.
 * Supplies an unlimited amount to anyone.
 * Incarnation of the Hindu goddess Parvati (the wofe of shiva)
 * It is said that Lord Shiva was fed by Annapurna to give him energy (they call energy Shakti) to obtain knowledge and enlightenment.
 * She cares for many
 * She provides people with care and energy (Shakti) to carry on the destiny best.
 * Pictures of Annapurna are found in kitchens and restauraunts.
 * "Anna" means food in Sanskrit.
 * "Purna" means filled completely in Sanskrit.
 * Worshipping this God makes many believe that they will never run out of food.
 * They believe the food when eaten is blessed and is converted to Amruta (Sanskrit for healthy food gives immortality) by Annapurna.
 * The worship of Annapurna began when the food was wiped from the earth and people began to perish.
 * Shiva was ressurected from a ritual sleep to save the perishing and starving people who called out for help. Shiva then ressurected Annapurna to grant Shiva strength to take on this deed. Annapurna was then tasked to make sure no ever go hungry again.
 * Annapurna is Kasi's queen.
 * Annapurna is called "the mother of the three worlds".

__Works Cited__ www.hindu-blog.com/2008/05/understanding-hinduism-hindu-religion-religion.html www.religioustolerance.org/hinduism.html www.adherents.com/religions-by-adherents.html