People name it Hindu religion, but in a true sense it is not a religion, it is a way of life. Hinduism is the only religion which is not a missionary religion like Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Jainism, Confucionism etc. It is Vedic, it is Sanaatan, means it has been continuing since the ages of Vedas and its origin is since this world came into existence, thus nobody knows when it came into existence. Hindu is by birth. Nobody can accept it, and nobody can reject it.

There are many Hindi words used in these descriptions. They are all transliterated in the following way. this way is used only to pronounce these words correctly :

Hindi           English used here       Sound as                   

a                    a                          ab, amar, (no a in the end)
aa                  aa                        aam, aap, aas paas,
i                      i                         imlee, is, itnaa, phir
ee                   ee                       eekh, peeth, jeet, seetee
u                     u                        ulloo, uskaa, Sulataanaa
e                     e                         ek, 
ai                   ai                         ainaka, aisaa,
o                     o                         omkaar, okhalee, khokhalaa
oo                  oo                         oopar, oosar, oonchaa
au                  au                         aurat, aur,
an                   n                          angoor, praant,
ah                   ah                        namah

All consonants include "a" to make them full, but normally not in the end, so Raavan is different from Raavanaa. Wherever half consonant is used, it is used without "a", such as n in Kuntee.

Hindu Religion is so wide that it is very difficult to know everything about it. It has many religious books:

There are many Hindu religious sites on Internet. some of them are here.

In the same way there are many very common festivals celebrated in India all round the year. It is said about them that there are 370 festivals in India - means there are even more festivals than the number of days in a year. Some of the main festivals' are described here for general information.

There is a short Glossary too to understand some Hindi technical terms.