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• the Hindu serpent goddess Manasa, the "destroyer of poison", is worshiped mostly in the rainy season when the snakes are most active?
• the Hindu goddess Varahi (statue pictured) is worshipped only in the night according to secretive Vamamarga Tantric practices?
• the Hindu Morgaon Ganesha temple (pictured) – the most important Ashtavinayak shrine – has four minarets around its boundary wall, suggesting Islamic architecture influence?
• the Hindu goddess Chhaya was born from the shadow of goddess Sanjna and replaced Sanjna in her house, after the latter abandoned her husband?
• the Hindu widow goddess Dhumavati is offered liquor, meat, cigarettes and bhang, an intoxicating hashish drink?
• the Hindu mythical beast Sharabha (pictured, god Shiva as Sharabha), described as mightier than the lion and elephant, is included in the list of edible animals in the Mahabharata?
• the 1987 hospital massacre in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, took place on Diwali, a major Hindu holiday?
• seven generations of Morya Gosavi (pictured) – a prominent saint of the Ganapatya Hindu sect – were worshipped as incarnations of the god Ganesha, and his tomb still attracts many Ganesha devotees?
• many sex positions derive their Sanskrit names from that of the Hindu goddess of sexual pleasure – Rati (pictured with her husband, the lovegod Kama)?
• devotees believe that worshipping the Hindu god Ganesha (pictured) at the Siddhivinayak Mahaganapati Temple will result in a successful marriage?
• on Sarvapitri amavasya (today), Hindus offer food to the ancestors, who are believed to accept the offering through a crow?
• on the Hindu festival Ratha Saptami, the icons of the Sun-god (pictured) are carried in ceremonial processions in Mysore and Melkote?
• originally described as the Lord of thieves, Kubera (pictured) is now worshipped as the Hindu god of wealth and the regent of the North?
• the Achelous-class landing craft repair ship USS Krishna (pictured) and her sister ship USS Indra are the only U.S. Naval vessels to have borne the name of Hindu deities?
• the world's tallest statue of Hindu God Lord Shiva (pictured) is located in Murudeshwara, a coastal town in Karnataka, India?
• the leader of the Tran Cao rebellion, a peasant revolt against the Le Dynasty in Vietnam in 1516, claimed to be a reincarnation of the Hindu deity Indra?
• the largest Hindu temple in South East England is being built in Crawley, where 3.4% of residents are Hindu compared to 1.1% in England as a whole?
• the prominent Hindu Ganesha cave temple at Lenyadri is located in the vicinity of about 30 Buddhist caves?
• the self-decapitated Hindu goddess Chhinnamasta (pictured) standing on a copulating couple signifies that life, death and sex are interdependent?
• today, most Butts are Muslims, although some practice Hinduism or Christianity?
• the town of Rawalsar in Himachal Pradesh, India is sacred to three major religions -- Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism?
• the demon Kabandha (pictured), from the Hindu epic Ramayana, is described to be as big as a mountain, headless, and with arms eight miles long?
• the Tulsi Vivah (performed today) – the ritual wedding of the Tulsi plant and god Vishnu – marks the beginning of the current Hindu wedding season?
• the Ganesha Purana is a religious text in Hinduism dedicated to the elephant-headed deity Ganesha and was produced by the Hindu sect Ganapatya?
• the Chattri (pictured) in Brighton, England, stands on the site of the ghat where Hindu and Sikh soldiers of the First World War were cremated after dying while being treated at the Royal Pavilion?
• the Hanuman Temple, Connaught Place, in New Delhi, is unusual in having the Islamic symbol of a crescent moon fixed on its spire instead of a Hindu symbol like Aum or the sun?
• the Harihareshwara temple in Karnataka, India, was consecrated in 1224 CE, in dedication to Harihara (pictured), a fusion of the Hindu gods Shiva and Vishnu?
• the sandakada pahana design originally had carvings of a procession of elephants, lions, horses and bulls, but bulls were later removed due to influences of Hinduism?
• an eternal flame burns at Triyuginarayan Temple, believed to be the venue of the marriage of Hindu deities Shiva and Parvati?
• according to the Hindu epic Mahabharata, the apsara Tilottama (pictured) was so beautiful that the god-king Indra developed a thousand eyes on his body to see her?
• Gour Govinda Ray, Brahmo Samaj missionary and scholar specialising in Hinduism, attempted to compare Krishna with Christ?
• Chamunda (pictured), a fearsome aspect of the Hindu Divine Mother, was worshipped by ritual human and animal sacrifices along with offerings of wine?
• Kanhopatra is venerated as a saint in the Varkari sect of Hinduism, despite spending most of her life as a courtesan?
• Lakshmisha's 16th century Kannada writing, the Jaimini Bharata, focuses on the horse sacrifice chapter of the Hindu epic Mahābhārata?
• Observatory Hill, Darjeeling, the site of Darjeeling's oldest Buddhist monastery is now home to a Hindu temple?
• Mahendranath Gupta (pictured) was closely associated with two notable figures in Hinduism—as a disciple of Sri Ramakrishna and as a teacher to Paramahansa Yogananda?
• Chamba is known for its own school of Pahari paintings (pictured), which deal with themes of Hindu deities and nature?
• Ashta Lakshmi are a group of Hindu goddesses who preside over eight sources of wealth?
• Hinduism allows voluntary fasting to death, known as Prayopavesa, for a person who has no desire or ambition left and no responsibilities remaining in life?
• Hindu god Vishnu was cursed to take countless avatars because he committed the sin of woman-slaughter?
• shrines dedicated to the Hindu sun god Surya usually face east, but the one at the Kasivisvesvara Temple in Lakkundi, Karnataka faces west?
• Tamil Hindu parents dedicate their one-month-old children to the goddess Periyachi (pictured), who is depicted ripping a woman's womb?
• Acintya is the Supreme God according to Balinese Hinduism?
• Paduka (pictured), a footwear, is generally worn by mendicants and saints of Hindu and Jain religions, with significance in Hindu mythology linked to the epic Ramayana?
• Palwankar Vithal became the first Dalit cricketer to captain the Hindus team in the Bombay Quadrangular cricket competition, a milestone in the Hindu society's struggle against caste discrimination?
• according to Hindu cosmology, women seduce and increase the sexual energy of men who enter the first realm of the underworld by intoxicating them?
• a study concluded that the ideal temple design described in the Hindu text Vishnudharmottara Purana is based on Dashavatara Temple, Deogarh (sculpture pictured)?
• according to Hindu mythology, the "first king" Prithu chased the Earth in the form of a cow (pictured), who eventually agreed to yield her milk as all the world's grain and vegetation?
• according to Hindu mythology, Ila was cursed to change his/her gender every month?
• according to LGBT interpretations, the Hindu fire god Agni's role in accepting sacrifices is paralleled by his accepting semen from other gods like Shiva and Soma?
• according to Hindu mythology, the devotee Pundalik kept the god Krishna waiting because he was busy serving his parents?
• a good wife is prescribed to propitiate Jyestha (pictured) – the Hindu goddess of misfortune – to keep the goddess away from her home?
• Vidyadharas, semi-gods of Hindu mythology, milked Mother Earth, who had assumed the form of a cow, to collect mystic powers and the art of flying as her milk?
• Sapta Puri represents the seven holy Hindu cities of Ayodhya, Dwarka, Haridwar, Ujjain, Kanchipuram, Mathura and the holiest, Varanasi?
• Pamheiba made Hinduism the official religion of Manipur in 1717 C.E.?
• Sarama is a bitch – in Hindu mythology – who snatches human foetuses from the womb?
• Subramanian Swamy worked towards normalizing Sino-Indian relations and persuaded Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping to open the Kailash Mansarovar in Tibet to Hindu pilgrims from India?
• Thirumangai Alvar, considered one of the most learned Alvar saint-poets in Hinduism, was a robber before becoming a saint?
• Hindu sadhus live in the cremation grounds of Tarapith as they believe that goddess Tara – who is attracted to bones – dwells there?

More interesting facts on Hinduism

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