Hinduism

Hinduism is considered to be the oldest religion in the world and is ascribed almost 5000 years of age . Grounded on the ancient heritage of the so-called Vedic literature , Hinduism has been constantly changing Nowadays , it is the third largest religion (or , to be more exact , group of religions ) with about 900 million followers worldwide , who are called Hindus . In India alone around 80 of the population are Hindus and there are approximately 1 million Hindus in the United States (Lindner , 2000 342

Due to the ancient history of Hinduism , knowledge about

its emergence is currently not firm . The earliest artifacts of this religion are dated of 3000 B .C , and what can be said definitely is that over millennia Hinduism was shaped by external factors , like for instance invasions Under the classical theory of Hinduism`s origin , the main influence on it was from Aryan Indo-European tribes which came to India around 1500 B .C . from the areas of Central Asia and modern Russia , and which brought their religion called Vedism , so that Vedic and Indian beliefs mixed However , this view of the Aryan invasion has been recently challenged and today historians no longer consider it the fact that this invasion had too deep an influence on history of India . The influences by other cultures are of course not rejected altogether , but rather they are thought today to be a minor factor in the history of Hinduism

Around 800-600 B .C , during intellectual , cultural , and spiritual uprise , Buddhism emerged in India and had a profound impact on Hinduism due to its practice of using parables for religious teaching and due to its transformation of Indian religious education and art . Maybe because of this fresh stimulus Hinduism grew in strength , so that until the 11th A .D . at the expense of Buddhism it was gaining additional strength Indeed , Hinduism now not only professed worship to a personal deity , but augmented its emotional aspect with the usage of songs , poems and other religious practices which made Hinduism even more attractive for many common people . Since 11th century A .D . Islam became a visible factor in traditionally Hindu areas and began to conflict with Hinduism . Starting from the 17th century Islam began to dominate and finally flourished so that Hinduism remained widespread only in the south of India . Also Hinduism has been much influenced by western traditions as for example when in the 18th and 19th centuries European missionaries tried to convert Hindus to Christianity . This forced Hindu adherents to reform and sometimes revive , many traditional practices of Hinduism

Hinduism posits the existence of one God , named Brahman , who is the source of reality so that other gods of Hinduism are his different manifestations . Hinduism is therefore a henotheistic religion which asserts that there is one true God , but reconciles his existence with other gods . In this way , Hindus worship different gods , among which there are three main ones : Brahma , who created the world Vishnu , who preserves the world and Shiva , who destroys...