INTRODUCTION

TO
WORLD
RELIGION

Presented by:
Igrid Kyla M. Layesa
Jana Patricia Belino
HINDUISM
Hinduism  is an Indian religion or dharma, a
religious and universal order or way of life by
which followers abide.  As a religion, it is the 
world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion
followers, or 15–16% of the global population,
known as Hindus.
The word Hindu is an exonym, and while
Hinduism has been called the oldest religion in
the world,  many practitioners refer to their
religion as Sanātana Dharma a modern usage,
which refers to the idea that its origins lie beyond 
human history, as revealed in the Hindu texts
. Another endonym is Vaidika Dharma the dharma
related to the Vedas.
 Hinduism is the world’s oldest
HISTORICAL religion, according to many
scholars, with roots and customs
BACKGROUN dating back more than 4,000
D years. Today, with about 900
million followers, Hinduism is the
third-largest religion behind
Christianity and Islam. Roughly
95 percent of the world’s Hindus
live in India. Because the religion
has no specific founder, it’s
difficult to trace its origins and
history. Hinduism is unique in that
it’s not a single religion but a
compilation of many traditions
and philosophies.
2/7/20XX 3
Hinduism developed over many centuries from a variety of sources:
cultural practices, sacred texts, and philosophical movements, as
well as local popular beliefs. The combination of these factors is
what accounts for the varied and diverse nature of Hindu practices
and beliefs. Hinduism developed from several sources:
Prehistoric and Neolithic culture, which left material evidence
including abundant rock and cave paintings of bulls and cows,
indicating an early interest in the sacred nature of these animals.
The Indus Valley civilization, located in what is now Pakistan and
northwestern India, which flourished between approximately 2500
and 1700 B.C.E., and persisted with some regional presence as late
as 800 B.C.E.
The civilization reached its high point in the cities of Harrapa
and Mohenjo-Daro. Although the physical remains of these
large urban complexes have not produced a great deal of
explicit religious imagery, archaeologists have recovered some
intriguing items, including an abundance of seals depicting
bulls, among these a few exceptional examples illustrating
figures seated in yogic positions; terracotta female figures that
suggest fertility; and small anthropomorphic sculptures made of
stone and bronze. Material evidence found at these sites also
includes prototypes of stone linga (phallic emblems of the
Hindu god Shiva). Later textual sources assert that indigenous
peoples of this area engaged in linga worship.
According to recent theories, Indus Valley peoples migrated to the
Gangetic region of India and blended with indigenous cultures,
after the decline of civilization in the Indus Valley. A separate
group of Indo-European speaking people migrated to the
subcontinent from West Asia. These peoples brought with them
ritual life including fire sacrifices presided over by priests, and a
set of hymns and poems collectively known as the Vedas.
The indigenous beliefs of the pre-Vedic peoples of the subcontinent
of India encompassed a variety of local practices based on agrarian
fertility cults and local nature spirits. Vedic writings refer to the
worship of images, tutelary divinities, and the phallus.
 Hinduism has no historical
founder of the religion as a
whole, no figure comparable to
Jesus, the Buddha, Abraham, or
Muhammad. As a consequence,
there is no firm date of origin
for Hinduism, either.
BELIEFS OF HINDUISM
Truth is eternal.
There is one world soul/god called
Brahman. All gods and goddesses
are extensions of the one world soul.
Hindus believe that their purpose on
earth is to find their Dharma.
BELIEFS OF All souls are immortal. All
souls have atman, which is
HINDUISM the connection to the universe.
Karma is the good and bad a
person does in this life, which
determines their fate in the
next life.
Hindus believe
in reincarnation, the idea that
after death the soul is born
again in a new physical form.
This is also called
transmigration.
BELIEFS OF
HINDUISM
The Caste System divides Hindus into
four categories based on their karma
and dharma. 
Brahmin : priests
Kshatriya: warriors and rulers
Vaistrya: farmers, merchants, teachers,
artisans
Sudras: servants, laborers
Dalits (outcastes): street sweeper,
latrine cleaner
BELIEFS OF
HINDUISM
Moksha is freedom from the
cycle of life and death. 
Follow your Dharma, which is
determined by your Karma,
in order to achieve Moksha.
River Ganges is sacred. Many
Hindus make pilgrimages to
the Ganges. 
HOLIDAYS
Diwali is the "festival of
lights." It is celebrated in the
fall.

Holi is the "festival of colors."

It is celebrated in the spring. 
SACRED TEXTS
VEDAS
The Vedas are a large body of
Hindu texts originating in Vedic P
eriod in Northern India, the Rig V
eda being composed ca. 1200 BCE,
and its Samhita and Brahmanas
 complete before about 800 BCE.
Composed in Vedic Sanskrit H
ymns, the texts constitute the oldest
layer of Sanskrit literature and the
oldest scriptures of Hinduism.
There are four vedas: the Rigveda,
the Yajurveda, the Samaveda and
the Atharvaveda. Each Veda has
been subclassified into four major
text types – the Samhitas (mantras
and benedictions), the Aranyakas
 (text on rituals, ceremonies,
sacrifices and symbolic-sacrifices),
the Brahmanas (commentaries on
rituals, ceremonies and sacrifices),
and the Upanishads (text discussing
meditation, philosophy and spiritual
knowledge).
UPANISHADS
The Upanishads are a collection of Hindu
texts which contain some of the central
philosophical concepts of Hinduism.
The Upanishads are commonly referred
to as Vedānta, variously interpreted to
mean either the "last chapters, parts of
the Veda" or "the object, the highest
purpose of the veda". The concepts of B
rahman (ultimate reality) and Ātman
 (soul, self) are central ideas in all the U
panishads, and "know your Ātman" their
thematic focus.
SMIRITI
The texts that appeared afterwards were called S
mriti. Smriti is a literature which includes various
shastras and Itihasas (epics like Ramayana, M
ahabharata), Harivamsa Puranas, Agamas and D
arshanas.
The Sutras and Shastras texts were compilations
of technical or specialized knowledge in a
defined area. The earliest are dated to later half of
the 1st millennium BCE. The Dharma-Shastras
 (law books), derivatives of the Dharma-Sutras.
Other examples
were Bhautikashastra "physics", Rasayanashastra
 "chemistry", Jīvashastra "biology", Vastushastra
 "architectural science", Shilpashastra "science of
sculpture", Arthashastra "economics"
and Nītishastra "political science". It also
includes Tantras and Agama literature
PURUNAS
The Puranas are a vast genre of Hindu texts
that encyclopedically cover a wide range of
topics, particularly legends and other
traditional lore. Composed primarily in
Sanskrit, but also in regional
languages, several of these texts are named
after major Hindu deities such as Lord V
ishnu, Lord Shiva and Goddess Devi. The
Puranas do not enjoy the authority of a
scripture in Hinduism, but are considered
a Smriti. These Hindu texts have been
influential in the Hindu culture, inspiring
major national and regional annual festivals
of Hinduism. The Bhagavata Purana has
been among the most celebrated and
popular text in the puranic genre.
TWO MOST POPULAR GODS

SHIVA VISHNU
AVATARS OF VISHNU

KRISHNA RAMA
GODDESSES

LAKSH
SARASWATI
MI
KALI
Wife of Shiva
Black in color & wearing a necklace of
skulls.
She is a bloodthirsty goddess.
A violent destroyer of her enemies
Affectionate and caring for her devotees.
GANGES RIVER
Falling from
Its source of
Vishnu’s feet
onto Shiva’s
head and out
from his hair,
the water of
the Ganges is
sacred enough
to purify all
sins.
BANARAS – HINDU’S
HOLY CITY
Pilgrims come from all over to bathe in
the Ganges.
Countless Hindus come to Banaras to die.
It has 1500 temples, most of them devoted
to Shiva.
It is a gathering place for the religiously
learned and their disciples.
ACTIVITY
SAMSARA
KARMA
DHARMA
VEDAS
VISHNU
SHIVA
Enumerate
1.Hinduism’s oldest text.
2.Hinduism’s most popular sacred text.
3.The Hindu’s holy city.
4-8. The four major castes.
9-10. The two most popular Gods in
Hinduism.