Hinduism questions

The Zoroastrians used the Towers of Silence as open burial pits, placing their deceased relatives in rows so their bodies would be feasted upon by birds of prey, usually vultures. The doctrinal rationale for exposure is to avoid contact with Earth or Fire, both of which are considered sacred in the Zoroastrian religion. Contaminating the elements (Earth, Air, Fire and Water) with decaying matter such as a corpse is considered sacrilege. Orthodox Zoroastrians continued to maintain a tower until the 1970s when ritual exposure was prohibited by law.

Ahimsa means 'not to injure' and 'compassion' and refers to a key virtue in Indian religions. The word is derived from the Sanskrit root hiṃs – to strike; hiṃsā is injury or harm, a-hiṃsā is the opposite of this, i.e. cause no injury, do no harm. Ahimsa is also referred to as nonviolence, and it applies to all living beings—including all animals—in ancient Indian religions.

Bhagavad Gita is a practical spiritual book. It is a constituent of the Sanatana Dharma tradition. Gita discusses and synthesizes the three dominant trends in Hinduism: enlightenment-based renunciation, dharma-based householder life, and devotion-based theism. According to Deutsch and Dalvi, the Bhagavad Gita attempts "to forge a harmony" between these three paths.

Prambanan is dedicated to the Trimurti, the expression of God as the Creator (Brahma), the Preserver (Vishnu) and the Transformer (Shiva). It is the largest Hindu temple site in Indonesia, which attracts many visitors from around the world. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1991.

The Devanagari script is used for over 120 languages, making it one of the most used and adopted writing systems in the world. Among the languages using it are: Hindi, Marathi, Nepali, Pali and Sanskrit.

Hindus believe that bathing in the Ganges remits sins and that dying in Varanasi ensures release of a person's soul from the cycle of its transmigrations. Those who are lucky enough to die in Varanasi, are cremated on the banks of the Ganges, and are granted instant salvation. Thus, many Hindus arrive here for dying.

Hindus consider the waters of the Ganges to be both pure and purifying. What the Ganges removes, however, is not necessarily physical dirt, but symbolic dirt; it wipes away the sins of the bather, not just of the present, but of a lifetime.

The CIA's World Factbook gives the distribution of religions as Christian 33.39%, Muslim 22.74%, Hindu 13.8%, Buddhist 6.77%, Sikh 0.35%, Jewish 0.22%, Baha'i 0.11%, other religions 10.95%, non-religious 9.66%, atheists 2.01%. (2010 est.)