Hinduism often called as the religion of divine origin is one of the oldest living religions of the world. Beginning of the Hindu religion starts with the Vedic period. Hinduism is based on the eternal truth of life. No other religious tradition is so eclectic, so diversified in its theoretical premises, as well as its practical expressions as Hinduism. It is the only major religion which has not been traced to a specific founder and the only one which does not have a "holy book" as the one and the only scriptural authority. Shrutis' are the very soul of Hindusim. They mean that which had been heard or revealed. These Shrutis are known as Vedas which have all spiritual knowledge of the eternal truth. There are four Vedas.

Rig Veda : It is the oldest among the Vedas and contains 1028 hymns in the form of prayers to Gods. It is not possible to fix an accurate date of the composition, imagined to be much earlier than 2000 BC.

Samveda : It deals with music.

Yajurveda : It deals with sacrifices, rituals and formulae.

Atharveda : It deals with medicine.

The Upanishads : Upamshads torm the part of the Vedas and are the real foundations of Hinduism. All orthodox schools of Hinduism look upon Upnishads as base, There are about 300 known Upanishads.

The Brahmans : These throw light on socio-political life of The Aryans and form the basic of their religion.

The Aranyakas : These are the concluding portion of the Brahmanas and are essentially treatises on mysticism and philosophy.

Manusmarti : Manu was the great law giver in the Aryan period and his book Manusmriti deals with the laws of inheritance, duties of King and his subjects and principles of living in a society.

The Purans : They give religious and mythological details of the Aryan civilization' and contain discourses on legends, rituals, traditions and moral codes.

The Epics : The great epics of Hindus are the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the Yogavasishta and Harivansha. They are friendly compositions and teach the greatest of truth in easier terms. Ramayana written by Sage Valmiki is considered as Adi Kavya of Sanskrit literature. Ramayana is the epic-poem based on the story of Lord Rama (one of the incarnations of God Vishnu). The main theme describes elaborately the character of Rama and is believed to be written in 1500 B.C. The Ramayana represents the highest glory of the Indian culture. It is a story of a great human being who suffered for his moral conducts but sets an ideal for the humanity. Mahabharata is an encyclopedia of Indian culture written by Sage Ved Vyasa before 400 AD. It is about war between two rival families Kauravas and Pandavas, both descendants of King Bharata. It is based on real events and is the oldest history of ancient India.

Religious Concepts of Hinduism :

Dharma : Dharma is not religion exactly as the term denotes. The nearest equivalent English word to explain Dharma is Righteousness. Truth being eternal is Dharma and all that which makes human life better, proper and peaceful. Hinduism is a faith that has very few DOs and Don't, yet it permits the greatest freedom of worship. It maintains that each person must be guided by his or her own individual spiritual search and experience and does not accept dictatorship in religious guidance.Hinduism believes that 'Brahma' is the absolute universal cosmic soul beyond time and space being neither male nor female.

Trinity : Hinduism believes that there are three main functions of the cosmic soul manifested in three divinities :

Cration : Brahma
Preservation : Vishnu
Destruction : Shiva

These three divinities are jointly known as Trinity.