Hinduism in Nepal

Hinduism's routes go back over 2000 years to the time when the Aryan invaders met India's Indus Valley civilization. Belief in natural forces, fertility and mother goddesses joined the caste system and the sacred book of the Vedas to form the foundation of Hindu beliefs, as much a social system as a religion. It is based around a trinity of three Gods, Brahma (the Creator), Vishnu (the Preserver) and Shiva (the Destroyer).  Although Hindus in Nepal may pay equal respect to all three gods as part of their religion, some may confess to follow either Vishnu or Shiva. There are four main castes in Nepal which are practiced as part of the Hindu religion, the Brahmans (priest caste), the Kshatriya (warriors), the Vaisyas (merchants) and finally the Sudras (menial workers).

The ultimate goal for Hindus is to break the cycle of endless rebirths. Though working towards that worship can improve one’s condition in this life and in subsequent rebirth. The ultimate source of creation is the supreme and formless Brahman who manifests in infinite forms. The three main aspects, depicting three main forces of the universe, are Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver and Shiva the transformer and destroyer. Each of these has innumerable manifestations; there are as many gods as there are facets of human nature, which is, in fact, what they represent.

Hinduism in Nepal
Hinduism is the major religion of Nepal. In the 1991 census, approximately 89.5 percent of the Nepalese people identified themselves as Hindus. Buddhists and Muslims comprised 5.3 and 2.7 percent, respectively. The remainder followed other religions, including Christianity. The national calendar of Nepal, Bikram Sambat (B.S.), is a solar Hindu calendar essentially the same to that widespread in North India as a religious calendar, and is based on Vedic principles of time-keeping. The geographical distribution of religious groups revealed a majority of Hindus, accounting for at least 87 percent of the population in every region. Among the Tibeto-Nepalese, those most influenced by Hinduism were the Magar, Sunwar, and Rai peoples.

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Hindu beliefs and practices

Categorizing the religion of Hinduism is somewhat confusing:

Hinduism has commonly been viewed in the west as a polytheistic religion - one which worships multiple deities: gods and goddesses. Some have viewed it as a monotheistic religion, because it recognizes only one supreme God: the panentheistic principle of Brahman, that all reality is a unity. The entire universe is seen as one divine entity who is simultaneously at one with the universe and who transcends it as well.

Some view Hinduism as Trinitarian because Brahman is simultaneously visualized as a triad:
 

Brahma the Creator who is continuing to create new realities Vishnu, (Krishna) the Preserver, who preserves these new creations. Whenever dharma (eternal order, righteousness, religion, law and duty) is threatened, Vishnu travels from heaven to earth in one of ten incarnations. Shiva, the Destroyer, is at times coMapssionate, erotic and destructive. Shiva

Strictly speaking, Hinduism is a henotheistic religion - a religion which recognizes a single deity, but which recognizes other gods and goddesses as facets or manifestations or aspects of that supreme God.

Most urban Hindus follow one of two major divisions within Hinduism:

Many rural Hindus worship their own village goddess or an earth goddess. She is believed to rule over fertility and disease - and thus over life and death. The priesthood is less important in rural Hinduism: non-Brahmins and non-priests often carry out ritual and prayer there. Hindus believe in the repetitious Transmigration of the Soul. This is the transfer of one's soul after death into another body. This produces a continuing cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth through their many lifetimes.

It is called samsara. Karma is the accumulated sum of ones good and bad deeds. Karma determines how you will live your next life. Through pure acts, thoughts and devotion, one can be reborn at a higher level. Eventually, one can escape samsara and achieve enlightenment.

Bad deeds can cause a person to be reborn as a lower level, or even as an animal. The unequal distribution of wealth, prestige, suffering are thus seen as natural consequences for one's previous acts, both in this life and in previous lives.

Hindus organize their lives around certain activities or "purusharthas." These are called the "four aims of Hinduism," or "the doctrine of the fourfold end of life."