Sanathana Dharma which means in sanskrit" the ancient path of noble and righteous living " is the correct name for hinduism ."Hinduism " itself is a term that evolved from the word Sindhu meaning the river indus . It was first used by people living in the middle east etc to refer to all people living to the east of the indus , ie in India .India is home to one of the world earliest civilizations .The land south of the hindukush and the himalaya mountains , upto the indian ocean , ie ,the indian subcontinent , consists of traditional India . The Sanathana Dharma is the worlds oldest religion having its roots 5000 years ago .It is followed by nearly one billion people out of the world's 6.5 billion people . 80% or 800 million live in india . India is also the spiritual home of the offshoot or closely related religions of buddhism , Jainism , Sikhism , etc .Together , they constitute over 1.5 billion people , over a quarter of the world's population .Hinduism has no formal founder , church or organisation . It evolved and continues to evolve change and adapt out of a synthesis of of various cultures , beliefs customs and ways of living over centuries ...Traditional Hinduism does not attempt to convert others . The hindu view is that all religions are true . Hinduism believes that the faith one is born in is good for you .
