Religions of the World

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1. Buddhism
Founder	Gautam Siddhartha Buddha (563-483 BC) born in Nepal (Lumbini)
Founded in	525 BC
Followed in	India, China, Tibet, Korea, Mongolia, Nepal, Bhutan, Thailand, Japan, Laos, Myanmar (Burma), Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Taiwan, Indonesia, Bhutan and Vietnam
Sacred Text	The Tripitaka (Collection of Buddha?s teaching) also called Sutras
Sacred Places	Lumbini (Nepal) where he received enlightenment and Kusinagar (UP) where he attained ?Nirvana?.
Place of Worship	Vihar (temple) and Monastery (where monks reside)
Sects	Mahayana and Hinayana
2. Confucianism
Founder	King Fu Tsu, Better known as Confucius (551-479 BC) born in the state of LU in china.
Founded in	500 BC
Followed in	China, Taiwan, South Korea, Nauru and Vietnam
Sacred Text	The Analects
Sacred Places	No church or temple
3. Christianity
Founder	Jesus Christ (5 BC to AD 30) born in Judea, also called Jesus of Nazareth
Founded in	2000 years ago
Followed in	Spread all over the world
Sacred Text	Holy Bible consisting of Old Testament (before Christ) and the New Testament (during and after Christ)
Sacred Places	Jerusalem where Christ lived and preached
Place of Worship	Church
Important Sects	Catholics and Protestants
4. Hinduism
Founder	Ancient Sages
Founded in	Around 1500 BC
Followed in	Concentrated in India and Nepal and also found in Bhutan, Fiji, Guyana, Indonesia, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Surinam, Trinidad and Tobago
Sacred Text	The Vedas, the Upanishads, the Bhagavad-Gita and the epics of the Mahabharata and the Ramayana
Place of Worship	Temple
5. Islam
Founder	Prophet Mohammed (AD 570-632) born in Mecca (Saudi Arabia)
Founded in	AD 622
Followed in	From west coast of Africa to the Philippines which includes Tanzania, Southern part of Russia and China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Indonesia. Also parts of North Africa.
Sacred Text	Quran (words of God), Hadis (Collection of Prophet?s saying).
Sacred Places	Makkah (mecca) in Saudi Arabia
Place of Worship	Masjid (mosque)
Sects	Sunnis and Shias
6. Judaism (Religion of the Hebrews)
Founder	Moses, born in Egypt
Founded in	1300 BC
Followed in	Worldwide with concentration in Israel and United States
Sacred Text	Talmads, found particularly in the five books of the Bible; commentary on Torah known as Talmud and Midrash
Sacred Places	Jerusalem
Place of Worship	Synagogue
7. Shintoism
Founder	Began with Japanese culture and developed out of tradition and ancestor worship
Followed in	Japan
Sacred Text	No specific text
Sacred Places	Central Shrine of Ise (central Japan) and the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo
8. Sikhism
Founder	Guru Nanak (1469-1539)
Founded in	AD 1500
Followed in	India
Sacred Text	Shri Guru Granth Sahib
Sacred Places	The Golden Temple of Amritsar
Place of Worship	Gurudwara
9. Taoism
Founder	Lao-tse, a Chinese Philosopher
Founded in	6th century BC
Followed in	China, Taiwan, Nauru, Brunei, Singapore and Vietnam
Sacred Text	Tao-te-Ching
10. Zoroastrianism (Parsi Religion)
Founder	Zoroaster, born in Medea (modern Iran) in about 660 BC
Founded in	Around 500 BC
Followed in	Iran and north-west India. The Zoroastrians who fled to India during the eighth century are the ancestors of the present Parsi Community in India
Sacred Text	Zend Avasta
Place of Worship	Fire temple