Religion is a collection of belief system ,cultural systems, and world views that relate humanity to spirituality and sometimes to moral values.

Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to explain the origin of life or the universe.

They tend to derive morality, ethics, religious laws or a preferred lifestyle from their ideas about the cosmos and human nature.

According to some estimates, there are roughly 4,200 religions in the world.

1) Atheism Atheists are people who believe that god or gods are man-made constructs.2) Baha'i One of the youngest of the world's major religions.3) Buddhism A way of living based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama.4) Christianity The world's biggest faith, based on the teaching of Jesus Christ.5) Hinduism A group of faiths rooted in the religious ideas of India.6) Islam Revealed in its final form by the Prophet Muhammad.

10) Spiritualism Spiritualists believe in communication with the spirits of people who have died.11) Taoism An ancient tradition of philosophy and belief rooted in Chinese worldview.12) Unitarianism An open-minded and individualistic approach to religion.13) Zoroastrianism One of the oldest monotheistic faiths, founded by the Prophet Zoroaster.

7) Jainism An ancient philosophy and ethical teaching that originated in India.8) Judaism Based around the Jewish people's covenant relationship with God.9) Sikhism The religion founded by Guru Nanak in India in the 15th Century CE.

Five largest religions Adherents in 2000 % of world

populationDemographics

Christianity 2.0 billion 33% Christianity by country

Islam 1.2 billion 19.6% Islam by country

Hinduism 811 million 13.4% Hinduism by country

Chinese folk religion 385 million 6.4% Chinese folk religion

Buddhism 360 million 5.9% Buddhism by country

A practical definition of Hinduism: Performing the duty (dharma) of one's stage in life and social status (caste).

The essence of the Hindu vision of reality lies in the tension between dharma and moksha.

Both these perspectives, the world-supporting and the world-denying are necessary to fulfill human destiny.

Other important terms :karma = moral law of cause and effect (deeds of past lives determine present) samsara = rebirth according to the nature of a person's karma; what we are now is the sum of all we have done in the past.

People in India are very religious and how their religion affects hem depends on their Guru or the particular school that they follow. It affects what they eat (vegetarian, non-vegetarian), what they drink (alcohol, non-drinker), to whom they pray (a particular deity/god is the norm).

They may also perform and follow certain rituals such as: when they can wash their hair or when they are allowed to do their washing.

They will probably celebrate certain festivals throughout the year depending on where they live and what sect they come from.

In addition, on certain holidays/religious days they may make a pilgrimage to a holy place.

In addition, certain individuals may wish to fast on a particular day of the week or for a particular reason (for example, a mother may fast during her daughter studies, to encourage her to do well in something particular).

Hinduism is generally regarded as the world's oldest organized religion.

It consists of "thousands of different religious groups.

Because of the wide variety of Hindu traditions, freedom of belief and practice are notable features of Hinduism.

Hinduism has grown to become the world's third largest religion, after Christianity and Islam.

It claims about 950 million followers -- about 14% of the world's population.