hinduism??

Question

we're doing a cultural learning in class and some of the topics that our team was assigned to find out of the religion was:

-the holy city
-location with biggest population of the culture being practiced
-major holidays
-basic beliefs
-founder
-origins

and the religion is hindu or hinduism...

if u know anything and its a fact, true to this day, pleaasseee share!

really appreciated!

Answer 1

Hinduism, the world’s oldest religion, has no beginning--it precedes recorded history. It has no human founder. It is a mystical religion, leading the devotee to personally experience the Truth within, finally reaching the pinnacle of consciousness where man and God are one.

Hinduism has four main denominations--Saivism, Shaktism, Vaishnavism and Smartism.

Nine Facts

The following nine facts, though not exhaustive, offer a simple summary of Hindu spirituality or about Hinduism.

1 Hindus believe in a one, all-pervasive Supreme Being who is both immanent and transcendent, both Creator and Unmanifest Reality.
2 Hindus believe in the divinity of the four Vedas, the world's most ancient scripture, and venerate the Agamas as equally revealed. These primordial hymns are God's word and the bedrock of Sanatana Dharma, the eternal religion.
3 Hindus believe that the universe undergoes endless cycles of creation, preservation and dissolution.
4 Hindus believe in karma, the law of cause and effect by which each individual creates his own destiny by his thoughts, words and deeds.
5 Hindus believe that the soul reincarnates, evolving through many births until all karmas have been resolved, and moksha, liberation from the cycle of rebirth, is attained. Not a single soul will be deprived of this destiny.
6 Hindus believe that divine beings exist in unseen worlds and that temple worship, rituals, sacraments and personal devotionals create a communion with these devas (divine beings) and God.
7 Hindus believe that an enlightened master, or satguru, is essential to know the Transcendent Absolute, as are personal discipline, good conduct, purification, pilgrimage, self-inquiry, meditation and surrender in God.
8 Hindus believe that all life is sacred, to be loved and revered, and therefore practice ahimsa, noninjury, in thought, word and deed.
9 Hindus believe that no religion teaches the only way to salvation above all others, but that all genuine paths are facets of God's Light, deserving tolerance and understanding.

God and Lords in Hinduism

God is a one being, yet we understand Him in three perfections: Absolute Reality, Pure Consciousness and Primal Soul. As Absolute Reality, God is unmanifest, unchanging and transcendent, the Self God, timeless, formless and spaceless. As Pure Consciousness, God is the manifest primal substance, pure divine love and light flowing through all form, existing everywhere in time and space as infinite intelligence and power.God is all and in all, great beyond our conception, a sacred mystery that can be known in direct communion.

Hindus believe in one Supreme Being. In the Hindu pantheon there are said to be three hundred and thirty-three million Lords(divine beings). The plurality of Lords are perceived as divine creations of that one Being. So, Hinduism has one supreme God, but it has an extensive hierarchy of Lords.

Hinduism views existence as composed of three worlds. The First World is the physical universe; the Second World is the subtle astral or mental plane of existence in which the devas, angels and spirits live; and the Third World is the spiritual universe of the Mahadevas, "great shining beings," our Hindu Lords. Hinduism is the harmonious working together of these three worlds.

Holy city: Every city is a holy city according to each tradition of Hindus.We can say Varanasi in Northern India and Chidambaram in Southern India.

Location : All over India we celebrate festivals.

Founder: No founder

Holidays and Festivals: We Hindus follow lunar calendar.So dates of festivals change every year according the the astronomical position of the stars. Siva ratri ( God Siva)Deepavali,Ganesha Chaturithi,Kartikai deepam,Pongal(farmers' festival),Hindu New year and many more.These festival are all linked to temple worship and are very spiritual in the sense that we follow non violence ie we do not harm or kill animals or do not drink liquors.

If you need more information,please visit

http://www.himalayanacademy.com/resources/books/wih/

Answer 2

Holy City - there are several. But Benares's is accepted by most Hindus.

Biggest population - whole of India.

Major holidays - Holli, Deepavali; Pongal; Rakki; Sivarathri - celebrated by more Hindus in different regions. To some, some of the above are more major than the others
depending on where they live in India.

Basic benefits - To live a contended and fulfilled life, enjoying inner peace and getting to realize through meditation and prayer that there is only one birth and that is this.-and death is inevitable at any time.

Founder not known. - But research scholars would say Brahma a teacher who lived during the time of human evolution.

Origins - from the Indus valley civilization where people discovered the Truth /Knowledge via meditation.

It is Hinduism.

Now it has got corrupted and changed into different practices all acceptable to all the Hindus - " Paths may be different but the destination is the same". (To realize the self, find inner peace and fulfilment while alive in this birth itself.

Answer 3

For general Class Home Work ,search Wikipedia.if specific questions are there we may discuss.