Hinduism

Hinduism is the third largest religion in the world. There are

over one billion followers worldwide. 99.3% of its followers live
in Asia-Pacific region of the world. The three most inhabited
places where Hindus live today are India, Nepal and
Bangladesh. Hinduism was founded around 4000 years ago,
and is the oldest known religion in the world. There was no one
founder, Hinduism was formed over different faiths and beliefs
by the combination of different communities and civilizations.
Hinduism was believed to be founded in the Indus Valley which
is modern day India. Hinduism is a polytheistic religion which
means many gods are worshiped. However, there is one
supreme god who is essentially the most important, Brahman.
Brahman is believed to have no shape or form as well as no
gender. Brahman is a spirit. Brahman was believed to be the
creator of all gods that is why majority of Hindus worship
Brahman.
Hindus believe everyone has an eternal soul. This means,
when you die, they believe you get reincarnated. The new
body your soul goes into depends on how good your karma was
in the previous body. For example, if you had bad karma you
might end up as an animal. If you have good karma you would
end up being a human again. However, if you have excellent
karma you would gain being alone with god in a place called
Moksha. The Moksha is like a heaven in the religion of
Hinduism.
Hinduism has a holy text or sacred book called the Vedas. The
Vedas is the oldest religious book in the world and has the basis
of Hinduism within the pages of it. Devoted Hindus pray three
times a day. They can either pray in a shrine at their house or
they can go to a Mandir which is a holy temple. Hindus may
worship whenever they want. It is not required for them to go
to a Mandir. While Hindus are praying, they would normally
recite some of the Vedas. Or, they would ask for things from
whatever god they are praying to. Once or twice a day Hindus
would place a little gift such as flowers or a little good on an
altar in a shrine to give to the gods. However, if you are not a
wealthy Hindu, they can think what they would like to give to
the gods. At the Mandirs, when Hindus enter they would ring a
bell to awake the gods. Sometimes, Hindus would go to prayer
ceremonies called an Aarti. Aartis are held every morning and
evening in a Mandir. An Aarti involves an Aarti plate or an Aarti
lamp. On the Aarti plate or lamp there would be candles. You
would then put it below a picture or statue of a god also known
as a Murti and you would normally start singing while doing
this.
Kyle Weber-Jones