A faith with no single founder
Hinduism has no founder, no single holy book and no central authority. It grew over thousands of years in the Indian subcontinent, and many Hindus prefer the name Sanatana Dharma, the eternal way. The word Hindu itself came from outsiders — it derives from the name of the Indus river. Around 1.2 billion people are Hindu today, most of them in India and Nepal.
The oldest scriptures are the VEDAS, hymns composed in Sanskrit and passed down by memory for many centuries before being written down; the Rig Veda is among the oldest religious texts still in use anywhere. Many Hindus believe in BRAHMAN, one ultimate reality, understood through many gods and goddesses who are seen as its different forms. Our Hindu mythology page tells some of their stories.
Worship often happens at home
PUJA, worship, is as likely to take place at a small shrine in a family home as in a MANDIR, or TEMPLE. The shrine holds a MURTI, an image of a deity, which worshippers treat as an honoured guest: offering flowers, food, water and incense, and in some homes waking, bathing and dressing the image each day.
AARTI is a ritual in which a lamp is circled in front of the murti while a hymn is sung, and worshippers pass their hands over the flame and then over their eyes and head. A MANTRA is a sacred sound or phrase repeated in prayer; the best known, Om, is chanted at the start and end of many prayers and is believed to hold the sound of the whole universe. The TILAK is a mark on the forehead that can show devotion and, in some traditions, which god a person especially worships. NAMASTE, spoken with palms pressed together, means I bow to you.
Many paths to the same goal
Hindus believe in KARMA and REBIRTH: the soul is reborn many times, and actions in one life shape the next. The final goal is MOKSHA, release from that cycle. Living by DHARMA — duty, which depends on a person's stage of life and responsibilities — is part of the way there.
There is more than one path. BHAKTI is the path of loving devotion to a god, through prayer, song and worship. Others follow knowledge, or selfless action. YOGA began as a spiritual discipline for stilling the mind, long before it became an exercise class. A GURU is a spiritual teacher, and an ASHRAM a community where students live and learn with one.
The largest gathering on Earth
The GANGES is the holiest river in Hinduism, and bathing in it is believed to wash away sins. Every twelve years the Kumbh Mela brings pilgrims to the meeting of rivers at Prayagraj; the 2025 festival drew hundreds of millions of visitors over six weeks, making it the largest human gathering ever recorded, and satellite images captured the camps spread along the riverbanks.
Festivals fill the Hindu year. DIWALI, when homes are lit with the clay lamp called a DIYA, and HOLI, the festival of colours, are the best known outside India — our Diwali page covers the festival of lights itself.