I read the article on 'What is Hinduism' by Ed Viswanathan few days back and it was a really a good read. The major topics covered in this article are:
1. What is Hinduism?
2. Who is the founder of Hinduism?
3. Who is a Hindu?
4. What Attracts One to Hinduism?
5. When did Hinduism Take Birth?
6. What was the original name of Hinduism?
7. What is the language in which the Hindu scriptures were written?
8. How was Hinduism Started?
9. What are the Sacred Books of Hinduism?
10. Rig Veda – Knowledge of Hymns – 10589 verses
11. Yajur Veda – Knowledge of Liturgy – 3988 verses
12. Sama Veda – Knowledge of Music – 1549 verses
13. Atharva Veda – Knowledge given by Sage Athrvana – 6000 Verses
14. Is Bhagavad Gita the Hindu Holy Bible?
15. Father of Atom Bomb and Bhagavad Gita
16. If there is only One God, Why Hindus worship many God forms?
17. Why Hindus Workship Idols?
etc,
Extracts from Ed Viswanathan's article:
Hinduism and Judaism are mothers of all modern religions in the world. Buddhism, Sikhism and to some extent Jainism and Zoroastrianism came from Hinduism. Ofcourse, Jainism existed during Rig Vedic Period. Statues of Rishabha, the first Thirthankara and founder of Jainism was found in the Mohenjadaro, Harappa excavations. Islam and Christianity came from Judaism. Judaism, Islam and Christianity have Abraham as the common father figure. All three have many common prophets. There is even mention about Jesus Christ many times in the Holy koran.
The Hindu Rig Veda is the foremost book of Hindus. It is the oldest book in the world. Nobody knows when Rig Veda was written. According to Bal Gangadhar Tilak it was written in 5000 BC. German philosopher Max Muller dates 1500 BC.
According to some it took centuries to write this book from 1500 B.C. to 500
B.C. Rig Veda is older than Gilgamesh (2500 B.C) and the Old Testament.