Hinduism Case

In the Indian subcontinent, a complex variety of religious paths have been developed. Some of these are relatively unified religious systems to include, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. Most of the other Indian religious ways have been categorized together as if there were a single tradition named "Hinduism". This term is derived from a name applied by foreigners to the people living in the region of the Indus River, and was introduced in the nineteenth century under colonial British rule as a category for census-taking.

Hinduism is the third largest and the oldest surviving religion of the world, where its origin took place before history was ever recorded. It is eternal relation and spontaneous by nature. No central organization or authority controls the movements or progress of the faith. It has no founder to give credit to its discovery nor does anyone know its date of origin.

Hinduism is not a religion in the normal sense, but a set of traditions and beliefs evolved over a very long period of time. There are different sects of Hinduism, but they all admire the ancient scriptures called Vedas.

The fundamental concept of Hinduism is the belief in the ultimate reality called Brahman or universal soul and its identification with the Aatman or individual soul. All creatures go through a cycle of birth and rebirth. The status of each birth is determined by the principle of Karma which is defined as fate, destiny or kismet.

The ultimate God of the Hindu religion is Brahman, the absolute reality, which is formless and infinite. For the sake of worshipping the infinite reality with the limited human minds, Gods have been personified and associated with different attributes. The most worshipped Hindu Gods are Shiva, Vishnu and Shakthi (Devi).

Hindu religious practices include seeking an awareness of God and looking for blessings from different Gods. The interpretations of God may differ from person to person. Hinduism has developed several practices that can help one to relate himself with the divinity. Hinduism is actually based on idol worship. Hindus worship the idols of their Gods and Goddesses at the temple or at their homes. Hindus do not believe that it is necessary to visit temples and they are usually only visited during religions festivals.

Hinduism is associated with many symbols and icons and these symbols get their meanings from mythology, scriptures and cultural traditions. Every symbol and icon has a sacred implication.

There are six basic beliefs in Hinduism. It believes in one and all pervasive Supreme Being who is both transcendent and immanent, the universe undergoes endless cycles of creation, preservation and dissolution, it believes in karma, the law of cause and effect by which each individual creates his own destiny by his or her thoughts, words and deeds, it believes that all life is sacred and pure to be loved and respected, it believes that our soul reincarnates through many births until it attains moksha