It is the third largest and the oldest religion of the World. No one is actually
certain how old is Hinduism but it can be said with certainity that Indus valley
civilisation contributed some ideas to Hindu religion. The earliest known Hindu
scriptures are the "Vedas". Vedas describe the religion of Aryans, who invaded
India around 1500 B.C. The Vedic religion was not Hinduism although hindus consider Vedas
as their scriptures. Of the Hindu "Trinity" Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver,
and Mahesh (Shiva) the destroyer only Vishnu's name appears in the oldest Vedas. The
concept of Trinity dates back to 500 A.D. Around the same time, the importance of
goddess began which appears in many forms of Shakti (Shiva's consort). However, Upanishads
which were written several hundreds years later have characteristic Hindu ideas of
unity of soul with Brahman, karma, reincarnation, and salvation (Moksha- escape from
reincarnation). The notion of class and caste which was absent in Vedas starting appearing
during this period. Hindus are mainly divided into three groups i) Shivites, who are devoted
to Shiva, whom they consider as their creator and preserver of the universe
ii) Vaishnavas, who assign the above roles to Vishnu and iii) Shaktas, who worship Shakti.
These divisions of Hinduism are not very rigid as in other faiths and it is not strange
for people of one belief to mix with others. The Hindus do not form congergations and mostly
worship at home. They worship other God and Goddesses as well as these are considered as another
reincarnation of main Hindu Gods. As a result, the major Gods and Goddesses are worshiped in
many names and forms. Hindus have little missionary feeling because they believe that the
proper way to become a Hindu is to born one. Hindu rituals cover all areas of a person's life.
Hindu society has a high standard of conduct, with little immorality, crime, or violence.

UNIQUENESS OF HINDUISM

• There are many definitions of the word 'Hindu' based on geography, religion, or politics etc.
  but none of them is perfect. It is a way of life, therefore, there is no need to define Hinduism.
  We should simply recognise the fact that Hindu society exists.
  
• Hinduism is universal and contains different schools of philosophy and religion.
  
• Hinduism is the oldest religion of the world but it reforms and changes with the
  demands of the time, thus it is ancient but remains moderm.
  
• Every Hindu keeps these four objectives in view and tries to achieve them:
  1) Duty (Dharma)
  2) Material prosperity (artha)
  3) Enjoyment (kama)
  4) Salvation (moksha)
  
• Theory of Action (karma): we reap what we sow. We must take responsibility
  for all actions we do in this life.
  
• To achieve the above objectives life is divided into four segments:
  1) Celibacy (bramacharya)- student life i.e. acquiring knowledge.
  2) Family life (grihastha)- enjoyment and prosperity and participation in
  running of society and the nation.
  3) Retirement (vanaprastha)- delegate responsibility to younger generation to
  perform selfless social service.
  4) Renunciation (sanyas)- complete renunciation of the world for union with God.
  

IMPORTANT HINDU PLACES

Four Math

• Jyotirmath (Garhwal-Himalaya)
• Goverdhan (Jagannath puri)
• Shengari (Karnataka)
• Sharda (Dawarika-Gujarat)
  
  Four Kumbhasthal
  
• Haridwar (Uttar Pradesh)
• Prayag (Allahbad-U.P.)
• Avantika (Ujjain-Madhya Pradesh)
• Nasik (Maharashtra)
  
  Four dham
  
• Badrinath (Himalaya)
• Jagannathpuri (Orissa)
• Rameshwar (Tamilnadu)
• Dwarika (Gujarat)