Hinduism is the world's third largest religious system
In its loosest form, a Hindu is one born in India and identifies with its predominant culture. It has varying streams of belief ranging from the philosophical (God is the self) to the animistic.

From Hinduism emerged movements like Buddhism, New Age, Transcendental Meditation, Yoga and Kama Sutra. Hinduism encompasses a pantheon of 33 million gods. Often, every created object is assigned a god. A god of water, earth, air, fire, sex, alcohol, money, tools of work (computers, hammers...) - you name the object, Hinduism has a god for it.

This plethora of gods comes from the belief that man in his natural mind cannot comprehend God and needs an object to represent Him. But the earliest Hindu scriptures, the Vedas, specifically mention that idol worship is an abomination.

The average adherent of Hinduism believes that he is a Hindu because of his culture of birth. Hinduism is his identity. Outside it, he has none. Today, many Hindus are finding renewed spiritual interest in the religion of their birth. This is because of they find solace in the Hindu forms of mediation and worship in a rapidly modernizing and stressful world.

Many Hindu god-men who discourse Hindu scriptures have found large followings. The rise of Hindu consciousness is today also expressed in the support to political parties who actively enforce Hindu religious activity in the public sphere.