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The
world's third largest religion
Overview:
Hinduism differs from Christianity
and other Western religions in that it does not have
a single founder, a specific theological system, a
single system of morality, or a central religious
organization. It consists of "thousands of different
religious groups that have evolved in India since
1500 BCE."
Hinduism has grown to become the
world's third largest religion, after Christianity
and Islam. It claims about 762 million followers -
13% of the world's population. It is the dominant
religion in India, Nepal, and among the Tamils in
Sri Lanka. There are about 1.1 million Hindus in the
U.S., and about 157,015 in Canada.
Hinduism has traditionally been one
of the most tolerant of religions. However, over the
past few years, a Hindu nationalistic political party
has controlled the government of India. Anti-Christian
violence has escalated.
Name
of the religion:
This religion is called:
Sanatana Dharma,
"eternal religion," and
Vaidika Dharma,
"religion of the Vedas," and
Hinduism -- the most commonly used name in North America. Various
origins for the word "Hinduism" have been
suggested:
It may be derived from an ancient inscription translated
as: "The country lying between the Himalayan
mountain and Bindu Sarovara is known as Hindusthan
by combination of the first letter 'hi' of 'Himalaya'
and the last compound letter 'ndu' of the word `Bindu.'"
Bindu Sarovara is called the Cape Comorin sea in modern
times.
It may be derived from the Persian
word for Indian.
It may be a Persian corruption of the word Sindhu
(the river Indus)
It was a name invented by the British administration
in India during colonial times.
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