About Hinduism

Amazing facts about Hinduism

It's the Third Largest Religion

Hinduism is a fabulous religion as well as the world's third largest religion, with 95% of the Hindus living in a single nation.

A Circular Time-Frame

Hindus believe in a circular time frame, rather than the linear time concept of the western world. Each time cycle has four main periods - the Satya Yuga, Tretha Yuga, Dwapara Yuga and Kali Yuga. Then, the cycle starts all over again.

The Oldest Religion

Hinduism is the oldest of the major extant religions. Its fundamental book - the Rig Veda - was written over 3800 years ago. Rig Veda was orally passed on for 3500-odd years. Yet, in its current form, it has no major discrepancies. It is indeed a stupendous achievement that a major body of work can be orally passed down generations with no loss in quality or content.

Wealth Is Not a Sin

Unlike other religions, Hinduism doesn't consider the pursuit of wealth a sin. In fact, wealth is celebrated in the form of many gods, such as Lakshmi, Kubera and Vishnu. Hinduism has a four-level hierarchy: Kama (pursuit of pleasures, including sexual/sensual); Artha (pursuit of livelihood, wealth and power); Dharma (pursuit of philosophy, religion and doing one's duty to society); and Moksha (liberation). We progress from the top to bottom. This is very close to Maslow's hierarchy and thus, Hindus are natural capitalists.

A Parent Religion

Hinduism is the parent religion for two of the other major religions of South Asia - Buddhism and Sikhism. It is also closely associated with its sister religion - Jainism.

Holy Number of Hindus Has Scientific Roots

The holiest number for Hindus is 108. This is the ratio of the Sun's distance (from earth)/Sun's diameter or Moon's distance (from earth)/Moon's diameter. Thus, most of our prayer beads have 108 beads.

Far-Reaching Impact

Beyond India, Hinduism is the dominant religion of many exotic regions such as Nepal, Mauritius, Bali, second biggest religion of Fiji &...