10 most difficult re­li­gions riddles

There may be only one active pope. Not so. There is a Coptic pope.

In ancient Egyptian mythology, the fields of Aaru are the heavenly paradise where Osiris rules once he had displaced Anubis in the Ogdoad.The ancient Egyptians believed that the soul resides in the heart, and so, upon death, the Weighing of the Heart occurred. Those souls which balance the scales are allowed to start a long and perilous journey to the Field of Reeds, where they will exist in pleasure for all eternity. Hearts heavy with evil tip and fall into the crocodilian jaws of the demon Ammit. After this "second death", the soul is doomed to restlessness in Duat.

The Mystery Play of Elche is a liturgical drama dating from the Middle Ages, which is enacted and celebrated in the Basilica de Santa María in the city of Elche on 14 and 15 August of each year. In 2001, UNESCO declared it one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

Indian Buddhism peaked in the 3rd century BC, during the reign of Asoka the Great, who patronised Buddhism following his conversion. He sent missionaries abroad, allowing Buddhism to spread across Asia. However, Indian Buddhism declined constantly following the loss of royal patronage, and today only 0.8% of the Indian population are Buddhists.

Nicholas Breakspeare, better known as Adrian IV (b. Approx. 1100 in the Abbots Langley) was the pope in the period from December 4, 1154 to September 1, 1159, the only Englishman on the Chair of Peter. He was the son of a monk Robert of St. Albans. Nicholas began his schooling at St Albans, but soon moved to France, where he joined the Congregation of Canons Regular of St. Rufus.

Ibadis make up a majority (roughly 75%) of the population in Oman, which makes it the only country in the Muslim world with an Ibadi-majority population. Ibadis are often referred to as tolerant Puritans or as political quietists because of their preference to solve differences through dignity and reason rather than with confrontation, as well as their tolerance for practising Christians and Jews sharing their communities.

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 term Cistercian derives from Cistercium, the Latin name for the village of Cîteaux, near Dijon in France. It was in this village that a group of Benedictine monks from the monastery of Molesme founded Cîteaux Abbey in 1098. The best known of them were Robert of Molesme, Alberic of Cîteaux and the English monk Stephen Harding, who were the first three abbots.

It is the symbol of Hinduism. It is also an iconic representation of 'Om' also written as 'Aum', the most sacred syllable, symbol, or mantra in Hinduism, that signifies the essence of the ultimate reality, consciousness or Atman. The Om sound is the primordial sound, and is called the Shabda-Brahman (Brahman as sound). It is a syllable that is chanted either independently or before a mantra.

In the Islamic Quran, an Āyah is a "verse," one of the statements of varying length that make up the chapters (surah) of the Quran and are marked by a number. The word means "evidence," "sign" or "miracle," and in Islam may refer to things other than Quranic verses, such as religious obligations (ayat taklifiyyah) or cosmic phenomena (ayat takwiniyyah).