HinduismHinduism is the predominant religion of the Indian subcontinent. Hinduism is often referred to as ', a Sanskrit phrase meaning "the eternal law", by its adherents. Generic "types" of Hinduism that attempt to accommodate a variety of complex views span folk and Vedic Hinduism to bhakti tradition, as...
is a term for a wide variety of related
religious traditionsHinduism comprises numerous sects or denominations. The denominations are roughly comparable to different religions. The main divisions in current Hinduism are Shaivism, Shaktism, Vaishnavism, and Smartism...
native to
IndiaThe Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent and other terms, is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate south of the Himalayas, forming a peninsula which extends southward into the Indian Ocean...
. Historically, it encompasses the development of
Religion in IndiaIndian religions are the related religious traditions that originated in the Indian subcontinent, namely Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Ayyavazhi, inclusive of their sub-schools and various related traditions. They form a subgroup of the larger class of "Eastern religions"...
since the
Iron AgeThe Iron Age in the Indian subcontinent succeeds the Late Harappan culture, also known as the last phase of the Indus Valley Tradition....
traditions, which in turn hark back to
prehistoric religionPrehistoric religion is a general term for the religious beliefs and practices of prehistoric peoples.-Burial:Intentional burial, particularly with grave goods may be one of the earliest detectable forms of religious practice since, as Philip Lieberman suggests, it may signify a "concern for the...
s such as that of the Bronze Age
Indus Valley CivilizationThe Indus Valley Civilization was a Bronze Age civilization which centred mostly in the western part of the Indian Subcontinent and flourished around the Indus river basin....
followed by the
Vedic religionThe religion of the Vedic period is the historical predecessor of Hinduism. Its liturgy is reflected in the Mantra portion of the four Vedas, which are compiled in Sanskrit. The religious practices centered on a clergy administering rites that often involved sacrifices...
.
Hindu philosophyHindu philosophy is divided into six Sanskrit schools of thought, or darshanas , which accept the Vedas as supreme revealed scriptures, and three schools, which do not accept the Vedas as supreme...
had six branches, evolving from about the 2nd century BCE to the 6th century CE, viz.
SamkhyaSankhya, also Samkhya, is one of the six schools of classical Indian philosophy. Sage Kapila is traditionally considered to be the founder of the Sankhya school, although no historical verification is possible...
,
YogaRāja Yoga is concerned principally with the cultivation of the mind using meditation to further one's acquaintance with reality and finally achieve liberation....
,
Nyaya' is the name given to one of the six orthodox or astika schools of Hindu philosophy—specifically the school of logic...
,
VaisheshikaVaisheshika, or ', is one of the six Hindu schools of philosophy of India. Historically, it has been closely associated with the Hindu school of logic, Nyaya....
,
Mimamsa', a Sanskrit word meaning "investigation" , is the name of an astika school of Hindu philosophy whose primary enquiry is into the nature of dharma based on close hermeneutics of the Vedas. Its core tenets are ritualism , anti-asceticism and anti-mysticism...
, and
VedantaVedanta was originally a word used as a synonym for that part of the Veda known also as the Upanishads. The name is a sandhied form of Veda-anta = "Veda-end" = "the appendix to the Vedas"...
. Monotheistic religions like
ShaivismShaivism names the oldest of the four sects of Hinduism. Followers of Shaivism, called "Shaivas," and also "Saivas" or "Saivites," revere Shiva as the Supreme Being. Shaivas believe that Shiva is All and in all, the creator, preserver, destroyer, revealer and concealer of all that is. Shaivism is...
and
VaishnavismVaishnavism is a tradition of Hinduism, distinguished from other schools by its worship of Vishnu or his associated avatars, principally as Rama and Krishna, as the original and supreme God. This worship in different perspectives or historical traditions addresses God under the names of Narayana,...
developed during this same period through the
Bhakti movementThe Bhakti movement is a Hindu religious movement in which the main spiritual practice was loving devotice among the Vaishnava saints. Not only is she the only female Vaishnava saint but also her hymns are among the best expressions of bridal mysticism in the Hindu religion...
.
Classical Pauranic Hinduism is established in the Middle Ages, as was
Adi ShankaraAdi Shankara ; , also known as ' and ', was an Indian philosopher who consolidated the doctrine of Advaita Vedanta, a sub-school of Vedanta. His teachings are based on the unity of the soul and Brahman, in which Brahman is viewed as without attributes...
's
Advaita VedantaAdvaita Vedanta is a sub-school of the Vedānta school of Hindu philosophy. Other major sub-schools of Vedānta are Dvaita and . Advaita is a monistic system of thought...
which reconciled the Vaishna and Shaiva sects, and gave rise to
SmartismSmartism is a denomination of the Hindu religion. The term Smarta refers to adherents who follow the Vedas and Shastras. They mainly follow the Advaita Vedanta philosophy of Adi Shankara...
, while initiating the decline of the non-Vedantic schools of philosophy.
Hinduism under the
Islamic RulersDuring the late Middle Ages, several Islamic empires were established in South Asia.-Delhi Sultanate:During the last quarter of the twelfth century, Muhammad of Ghor invaded the Indo-Gangetic plain, conquering in succession Ghazni, Multan, Sindh, Lahore, and Delhi. Qutb-ud-din Aybak, one of his...
saw the increasing prominence of the
Bhakti movementThe Bhakti movement is a Hindu religious movement in which the main spiritual practice was loving devotice among the Vaishnava saints. Not only is she the only female Vaishnava saint but also her hymns are among the best expressions of bridal mysticism in the Hindu religion...
, which remains influential today. The
colonial periodColonial India refers to areas of the Indian Subcontinent under the rule of European colonial powers. The colonial era in India began in 1502, when the Portuguese established the first European trading centre at Kollam, Kerala. In 1510 the Portuguese sailor, Vasco da Gama, established an important...
saw the emergence of various Hindu reform movements partly inspired by western culture, such as spiritism (
TheosophyTheosophy is a doctrine of religious philosophy and metaphysics. Theosophy holds that all religions are attempts by the "Spiritual Hierarchy" to help humanity in evolving to greater perfection, and that each religion therefore has a portion of the truth...
). The
Partition of IndiaThe Partition of India was the partition of British India that led to the creation, on August 14, 1947 and August 15, 1947, respectively, of the sovereign states of the Dominion of Pakistan and the Union of India...
in 1947 was along religious lines, with the Republic of India emerging with a Hindu majority.
During the 20th century, due to the Indian diaspora, Hindu minorities have formed in all continents, with the largest communities in absolute numbers in the
United StatesThe advent of Hinduism in the United States has long been a subject for debate. It is believed that adherents to Hinduism arrived with early immigrants who may have been on the continent since the founding of the United States. The number of adherents, however, did not increase to a significant...
and the
United KingdomHinduism was the religion of 558,342 people in the United Kingdom according to the 2001 UK census but an estimate in a British newspaper in 2007 has put the figure as high as 1.5 Million....
. In the Republic of India,
Hindu nationalismHindu nationalism has been collectively referred to the expressions of social and political thought, based on the native spiritual and cultural traditions of India...
has emerged as a strong political force since the 1980s, the
HindutvaHindutva is the term used to describe movements advocating Hindu nationalism....
Bharatiya Janata PartyThe Bharatiya Janata Party , translation: Indian People's Party) is a major political party in India, founded in 1980. The party is a strong force in Hindu nationalism and advocates conservative social policies, self-reliance, free market economics, foreign policy driven by a nationalist agenda,...
forming the
Government of IndiaThe Government of India, also known as the Union Government or the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of a union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...
from 1999 to 2004, and its first state government in southern India in 2006.
Prehistory
Evidence of
prehistoric religionPrehistoric religion is a general term for the religious beliefs and practices of prehistoric peoples.-Burial:Intentional burial, particularly with grave goods may be one of the earliest detectable forms of religious practice since, as Philip Lieberman suggests, it may signify a "concern for the...
in India is found in the Bronze Age
Indus Valley CivilizationThe Indus Valley Civilization was a Bronze Age civilization which centred mostly in the western part of the Indian Subcontinent and flourished around the Indus river basin....
, showing the certain elements of Hinduism such as baths (assumed to serve a ritual purpose) and
phallic symbolsPhallus can refer to a penis, or to an object shaped like a penis. The word comes from Late Latin "phallus", from Ancient Greek "φαλλός" phallos, penis.-In art:...
, compared to the Shiva lingam
name=History>. There were also found
SwastikaThe swastika is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles, in either right-facing form or its mirrored left-facing form. Archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates from the Neolithic period and was first found in the Indus Valley Civilization of the Indian...
signs.
Many male and female figurines, the female figurines popularly dubbed "Mother Goddesses" have been found in the Indus Valley, although some have expressed doubt as to the divine character of these female figures.
A seal discovered during excavation of the Mohenjo-daro archaeological site in the
Indus ValleyThe Indus Valley Civilization was a Bronze Age civilization which centred mostly in the western part of the Indian Subcontinent and flourished around the Indus river basin....
has drawn attention as a possible representation of a "yogi" or "proto-Shiva" figure. This "
PashupatiPashupati , "Lord of cattle", is an epithet of the Hindu deity Shiva. In Vedic times it was used as an epithet of Rudra. The Rigveda has the related pashupa "protector of cattle" as a name of Pushan...
" (Lord of Animals, Sanskrit
) seal shows a seated figure, possibly ithyphallic, surrounded by animals. Some observers describe the figure as sitting in a traditional cross-legged yoga pose with its hands resting on its knees. The discoverer of the seal, Sir John Marshall, and others have claimed that this figure is a prototype of Shiva, and have described the figure as having three faces, seated in a "yoga posture" with the knees out and feet joined.
Vedic period
Vedism was the sacrificial religion of the early
Indo-EuropeanIndo-European may refer to:* Indo-European languages** Aryan, a 19th century term for Indo-European speakers.* Proto-Indo-European language, the reconstructed common ancestor of all Indo-European languages....
-speaking peoples, who
entered IndiaModels of the Indo-Aryan migration discuss scenarios of prehistoric migrations of the early Indo-Aryans to their historically attested areas of settlement in the northwest of the Indian subcontinent and from there further across all of North India...
from about 1500 BC from the
Iranian plateauThe Iranian plateau, also known as the Persian plateau is a geological formation in Southwest Asia and Southern Asia. It is the part of the Eurasian Plate wedged between the Arabian and Indian plates, situated between the Zagros mountains to the west, the Caspian Sea and the Kopet Dag to the north,...
, via the Hindukush, and mixed up with the local populations.
The earliest literature of Hinduism is made up of the four
VedasThe Vedas are a large body of texts originating in Ancient India. The texts are composed in Vedic Sanskrit and form the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature, and the oldest sacred texts of Hinduism....
: the Rig-Veda, Sama-Veda, Yajur-Veda and the Atharva-Veda. Of these, the Rig-Veda is the oldest surviving work. These texts were composed between ca. 1500 and 800 BC, and were transmitted by
oral traditionOral tradition, oral culture and oral lore are messages or testimony transmitted orally from one generation to another. The messages or testimony are verbally transmitted in speech or song and may take the form, for example, of folktales, sayings, ballads, songs, or chants...
alone until the advent of the
PallavaThe Pallava dynasty ruled northern Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh with their capital at Kanchipuram. The origin of Pallavas is a subject of speculation. They were perhaps the descendents of the Saka-Pahlava-Kambhoja warriors from Northwest India. They have settled in the Guntur region of Andhra...
and
GuptaGupta may refer to:*Gupta , a surname of Indian origin mostly adopted by Agrawals-In ancient India:*Gupta Empire*Gupta script, the script used for writing Sanskrit during the Gupta Empire in India*Maharaja Sri-Gupta...
period and by a combination of written and oral tradition since then.
Rigvedic religion
The earliest text of the
VedasThe Vedas are a large body of texts originating in Ancient India. The texts are composed in Vedic Sanskrit and form the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature, and the oldest sacred texts of Hinduism....
is the
RigvedaThe Rigveda is an ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns. It is counted among the four canonical sacred texts of Hinduism known as the Vedas...
, a collection of poetic hymns used in the sacrificial rites of
Vedic priesthoodPriests of the Vedic religion were officiants of the yajna service. As persons trained for the ritual and proficient in its practice, they were called '...
. Many Rigvedic hymns concern the
fire ritualWorship or deification of fire is known from various religions. Fire has been an important part of human culture since the Lower Paleolithic...
(
AgnihotraAgnihotra is a Vedic yajña performed in orthodox Hindu communities. It is mentioned in the Atharvaveda and described in detail in the Yajurveda Samhita and the Shatapatha Brahmana . The Vedic form of the ritual is still performed by a small number of Vaidiki Brahmins in South Asia...
) and especially the offering of
SomaSoma , or Haoma , from Proto-Indo-Iranian *sauma-, was a ritual drink of importance among the early Indo-Iranians, and the later Vedic and greater Persian cultures. It is frequently mentioned in the Rigveda, whose Soma Mandala contains many hymns praising its energizing qualities...
to the gods (Somayajna). Soma is both an intoxicant and a god itself, as is the sacrificial fire,
AgniAgni is a Hindu and Vedic deity. The word agni is Sanskrit for "fire" , cognate with Latin ignis , Russian огонь , Polish "ogień," Lithuanian - ugnis - all with the meaning 'fire' -, with the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European root being h₁égni-. Agni has three forms: fire, lightning and the sun...
. The royal
horse sacrificeMany Indo-European branches show evidence for horse sacrifice, and comparative mythology suggests that they derive from a Proto-Indo-European ritual.-Context:In most instances, the horses are sacrificed in a funerary context, and interred with the deceased...
(
AshvamedhaThe Ashvamedha was one of the most important royal rituals of Vedic religion, described in detail in the Yajurveda...
) is a central rite in the
YajurvedaThe Yajurveda is the third of the four canonical texts of Hinduism, the Vedas...
.
The
gods in the Rig-VedaThere are 1028 hymns in the Rigveda, most of them dedicated to specific deities.Indra, a heroic god, slayer of Vrtra and destroyer of the Vala, liberator of the cows and the rivers; Agni the sacrificial fire and messenger of the gods; and Soma the ritual drink dedicated to Indra are the most...
are mostly personified concepts, who fall into two categories: the
devaDeva is the Sanskrit word for "god, deity". It can be variously interpreted as a God, angel, spirit, celestial being, deity or any supernatural being of high excellence, and is thus comparable to the Hebrew Elohim...
s - who were gods of nature - such as the weather deity
Indra' is the King of the gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology, and also he is the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall....
(who is also the King of the gods),
AgniAgni is a Hindu and Vedic deity. The word agni is Sanskrit for "fire" , cognate with Latin ignis , Russian огонь , Polish "ogień," Lithuanian - ugnis - all with the meaning 'fire' -, with the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European root being h₁égni-. Agni has three forms: fire, lightning and the sun...
("fire"),
UshaUsha was a city in the Western part of Galilee. It is noteworthy because in the 2nd Century , the Sanhedrin, or rabbinic court, was moved from Yavne in Judea to Usha, and then from Usha back to Yavne, and a second time from Yavne to Usha....
("dawn"),
SuryaIn Hinduism, Sūrya is the chief solar deity, one of the Adityas, son of Kasyapa and one of his wives, Aditi; of Indra; or of Dyaus Pitar . The term Surya also refers to the Sun, in general. Surya has hair and arms of gold...
("sun") and Apas ("waters") on the one hand, and on the other hand the
asura-In Hinduism:In Hinduism, the Asura are a group of power-seeking deities, sometimes referred to as demons or sinful. They were opposed to the Devas. Both groups are children of Kasyapa. The views of Asuras in Hinduism vary due to the many deities who were Asuras then later became known as Devas...
s - gods of moral concepts - such as
MitraThis article is about the Vedic deity Mitra. For other divinities with related names, see the general article Mitra.Mitra is an important divinity of Indic culture, and the patron divinity of honesty, friendship, contracts and meetings...
("contract"),
AryamanAryaman is one of the early Vedic deities . His name signifies "bosom friend," but is literally "noble one". He is an Aditya, a solar deity. He is supposed to be the chief of the manes and the Milky Way is supposed to be his path.Aryaman is another name for Surya or the Sun God...
(guardian of guest, friendship and marriage),
BhagaSanskrit is a term for "lord, patron", but also for "wealth, prosperity". The cognate term in Avestan and Old Persian is , of uncertain meaning but used in a sense in which "lord, patron" might also apply. A Slavic cognate is "god"...
("share") or
VarunaIn Vedic religion, Varuna or Waruna is a god of the sky, of waters and of the celestial ocean, as well as a god of law and of the underworld. He is one of the most prominent Devas in the Rigveda, and lord of the heavens and the earth...
, the supreme Asura (or Aditya). While Rigvedic
deva is variously applied to most gods, including many of the Asuras, the Devas are characterized as Younger Gods while Asuras are the Older Gods (pūrve devāḥ). In later Vedic texts, the Asuras become demons.
The Rigveda has 10 Mandalas ('books'). There is significant variation in the language and style between the family books (RV books 2-7), book 8, the "Soma Mandala" (RV 9), and the more recent books 1 and 10. The older books share many aspects of common Indo-Iranian religion, and is an important source for the reconstruction of earlier common Indo-European traditions. Especially RV 8 has striking similarity to the
AvestaThe Avesta is the primary collection of sacred texts of Zoroastrianism, composed in the Avestan language.-Etymology:The etymology of the term Avesta itself is uncertain, but a derivation from Middle Persian meaning "praise", is a frequently noted possibility.-Age of the texts:The texts of the...
, containing allusions to
AfghanThe Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is a landlocked country in south central Asia. It is variously described as being located within Central Asia, South Asia, or the Middle East...
Flora and Fauna, e.g. to camels (
= Avestan
uštra). Many of the central religious terms in Vedic Sanskrit have cognates in the religious vocabulary of other Indo-European languages (
deva: Latin
deus;
hotar: Germanic
godThe English word God continues the Old English , which derives from the Proto-Germanic *.-Proto-Germanic meaning:...
;
asura: Germanic
ansuz;
yajnaIn Hinduism, Yajña is a ritual of sacrifice derived from the practice of Vedic times. It is performed to please the gods or to attain certain wishes...
: Greek
hagios;
brahmanIn the Hindu religion, Brahman is the unchanging, infinite, immanent, and transcendent reality which is the Divine Ground of all matter, energy, time, space, being, and everything beyond in this Universe. The nature of Brahman is described as transpersonal, personal and impersonal by different...
: Norse
BragiBragi is a skaldic god in Norse mythology.-Etymology:Bragi is generally associated with bragr, the Norse word for poetry. The name of the god may have been derived from bragr, or the term bragr may have been formed to describe 'what Bragi does'. A connection between the name Bragi and English...
or perhaps Latin
flamenA flamen was a name given to a priest assigned to a state-supported god or goddess in Roman religion. There were fifteen flamines in the Roman Republic. The most important three were the flamines maiores , who served the three chief Roman gods of the Archaic Triad...
etc.). Especially notable is the fact, that in the
AvestaThe Avesta is the primary collection of sacred texts of Zoroastrianism, composed in the Avestan language.-Etymology:The etymology of the term Avesta itself is uncertain, but a derivation from Middle Persian meaning "praise", is a frequently noted possibility.-Age of the texts:The texts of the...
Asura (Ahura) is known as good and Deva (Daeva) as evil entity, quite the opposite of the RigVeda.
Brahmanism
In
Iron Age IndiaThe Iron Age in the Indian subcontinent succeeds the Late Harappan culture, also known as the last phase of the Indus Valley Tradition....
, during a period roughly spanning the 10th to 6th centuries BC, the
MahajanapadasMahajanapadas , literally "Great realms," were Ancient Indian kingdoms or countries...
arise from the earlier petty kingdoms of the various
Rigvedic tribesThe Indo-Aryan tribes mentioned in the Rigveda are described as semi-nomadic pastoralists, subdivided into temporary settlements and headed by a tribal chief assisted by a priestly caste...
, and the failing remnants of the Late Harappan culture. In this period the
mantra portions of the Vedas are largely completed, and a flowering industry of
Vedic priesthoodPriests of the Vedic religion were officiants of the yajna service. As persons trained for the ritual and proficient in its practice, they were called '...
organized in numerous schools (
shakhaA shakha , is a Hindu theological school that specializes in learning certain Vedic texts, or else the traditional texts followed by such a school. An individual follower of a particular school or recension is called a ...
) develops exegetical literature, viz. the Brahmanas. These schools also edited the Vedic
mantra portions into fixed recensions, that were to be preserved purely by oral tradition over the following two millennia.
This period of dominance of priestly Brahmanic Hinduism declines with the appearance of
mysticalMysticism is the pursuit of communion with, identity with, or conscious awareness of an ultimate reality, divinity, spiritual truth, or God through direct experience, intuition, instinct or insight. Mysticism usually centers on a practice or practices intended to nurture those experiences or...
traditions (the oldest
UpanishadThe Upanishads are Hindu scriptures that constitute the core teachings of Vedanta. They do not belong to any particular period of Sanskrit literature: the oldest, such as the Brhadaranyaka and Chandogya Upanishads, date to the late Brahmana period , while the latest were composed in...
s, BAU, ChU and
JUBThe Jaiminiya Upanishad Brahmana is a Vedic text associated with the Jaiminiya shakha of the Samaveda. It may be considered a very early Upanishad, together with the Bṛhadāraṇyaka and Chāndogya Upanishads dating to the Brahmana period of Vedic Sanskrit, likely predating the 6th century BC.It is...
besides the
Shatapatha BrahmanaThe Shatapatha Brahmana is one of the prose texts describing the Vedic ritual, associated with the Shukla Yajurveda...
) attacking the rigid ritualism available only to the elite, in favour of spiritual insight through
asceticismAsceticism describes a life-style characterized by abstinence from various sorts of worldly pleasures often with the aim of pursuing religious and spiritual goals...
and
meditationMeditation is used here as a broad term for practices done by a sole practitioner without much, if any, external aide, often for the purpose of self-transformation...
. The rise of
BuddhismBuddhism, as traditionally conceived, is a path of salvation attained through insight into the ultimate nature of reality. It encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha...
at this time, according to tradition originating with
Gautama BuddhaSiddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher in the north eastern region of the Indian subcontinent who founded Buddhism. He is regarded by Buddhists as the Supreme Buddha of our age. The time of his birth and death are uncertain: most early 20th-century historians dated his lifetime as c...
, a 6th century BC Hindu prince, renouncing his status for
enlightenmentEnlightenment in Western secular tradition refers mainly to the European intellectual movement known as the Age of Enlightenment, also called the Age of Reason referring to philosophical developments related to scientific rationality in the 17th and 18th centuries.Enlightenment is wisdom or...
, is exemplary of this tendency. Politically, the Mahajanapadas declined, in the west falling to the invasion of Darius the Great, and from the east absorbed into the Magadha Empire which as the
Maurya EmpireThe Maurya Empire was a geographically extensive and powerful empire in ancient India, ruled by the Mauryan dynasty from 321 to 185 B.C.E....
would encompass almost the whole subcontinent by the time of
AshokaAshoka , popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was an Indian emperor of the Maurya Dynasty who ruled almost all of the Indian subcontinent from 269 BC to 232 BC. One of India's greatest emperors, Ashoka reigned over most of present-day India after a number of military conquests...
.
Vedism today
Vedism as the religious tradition of Hinduism of a priestly elite was marginalized by other traditions such as
JainismJainism is an ancient dharmic religion from India that prescribes a path of non-violence for all forms of living beings in this world. Its philosophy and practice relies mainly on self-effort in progressing the soul on the spiritual ladder to divine consciousness...
and
BuddhismBuddhism, as traditionally conceived, is a path of salvation attained through insight into the ultimate nature of reality. It encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha...
in the later Iron Age, but in the Middle Ages would rise to renewed prestige with the
Mimamsa', a Sanskrit word meaning "investigation" , is the name of an astika school of Hindu philosophy whose primary enquiry is into the nature of dharma based on close hermeneutics of the Vedas. Its core tenets are ritualism , anti-asceticism and anti-mysticism...
school, which as well as all other
astika traditions of Hinduism, considered them authorless (
apaurusheyatvaIn Hinduism, Apaurusheyatva , Sanskrit, "being unauthored", is used to describe the Vedas, the main scripture in Hinduism. This implies that the Vedas are not authored by any agency, be it human or divine...
) and eternal. A last surviving elements of
Vedic HinduismVedic Hindism may refer to:*Hinduism*Shrauta, surviving conservative traditions within Hinduism*historical Vedic religion...
or Vedism is
Śrauta' traditions are conservative ritualistic traditions of historical Vedic religion in Hinduism, based on the body of Śruti literature. They persist in a few places in India today although constituting a clear minority within Hinduism...
tradition, following many major elements of Vedic religion and is prominent in Southern India, with communities in
Tamil NaduTamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai . Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by Puducherry , Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh...
,
KeralaKerala , is a state located in southwestern India. The state was created in 1956 on linguistc basis, bringing together those places where Malayalam formed the principal language...
,
KarnatakaKarnataka is a state in the southern part of India. It was created on November 1, 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act...
,
Andhra PradeshAndhra Pradesh , abbreviated A.P., is a state situated on the south-eastern coast of India. It is India's fourth largest state by area and fifth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Hyderabad...
, but also in some pockets of
Uttar PradeshUttar Pradesh , [often referred to as U.P.] is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 190 million people,...
,
MaharashtraMaharashtra is a state located on the western coast of India. Maharashtra is a part of Western India. It is India's third largest state by area and second largest by population....
and other states; the best known of these groups are the Nambudiri of Kerala, whose traditions were notably documented by
Frits StaalJohan Frederik Staal is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy and South & Southeast Asian Studies at the University of California, Berkeley....
.
Ancient India
Hinduism in the narrow sense (to the exclusion of Vedism and Iron Age Brahmanism) is the new religious mainstream arising with the
decline of Buddhism in IndiaThe decline of Buddhism in India, the land of its birth, occurred for a variety of reasons, and happened even as it continued to flourish beyond the frontiers of India. Buddhism was established in the area of ancient Magadha and Kosala by Gautama Buddha in the 6th century BCE, in what is now modern...
and from about the 4th century AD.
Mauryan and Sangam period
The Mauryan period saw an early flowering of classical Sanskrit
SutraSūtra , literally means a thread or line that holds things together, and more metaphorically refers to an aphorism , or a collection of such aphorisms in the form of a manual...
and
Shastra' is a Sanskrit term used to denote rules in a general sense. The word is generally used as a suffix in the context of technical or specialized knowledge in a defined area of practice; e.g, Bhautika Shastra , Rasayana Shastra , Jeeva Shastra , Vaastu Shastra , Shilpa Shastra and Artha...
literature and the scholarly exposition of the "circum-Vedic" fields of the
VedangaThe Vedanga are six auxiliary disciplines for the understanding and tradition of the Vedas.#Shiksha : phonetics and phonology #Chandas : meter#Vyakarana : grammar#Nirukta : etymology...
. However, during this time Buddhism was patronized by
AshokaAshoka , popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was an Indian emperor of the Maurya Dynasty who ruled almost all of the Indian subcontinent from 269 BC to 232 BC. One of India's greatest emperors, Ashoka reigned over most of present-day India after a number of military conquests...
, who ruled large parts of India, and Buddhism was also the mainstream religion until the Gupta empire period.
The Sangam literature (300 BC - 300 AD) is a mostly secular body of classical literature in the
Tamil languageTamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in India, Sri Lanka and Singapore. Tamil is also spoken by significant minorities in Malaysia, Mauritius and Réunion as well as emigrant communities around the world...
. Nonetheless there are some works, significantly Pattupathu and Paripaatal, wherein the personal devotion to god was written in form of devotional poems.
VishnuVishnu , , is the Supreme God in Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God...
,
ShivaShiva , also known as Rudra is a major Hindu god and one aspect of Trimurti. In the Shaiva tradition of Hinduism, Shiva is seen as the Supreme God...
and
MuruganMurugan or Mayuri Kandasamy called Subrahmanya is a popular Hindu deity among Tamil Hindus, and is worshipped primarily in areas with Tamil influence, especially South India, Singapore , Sri Lanka , Malaysia and Mauritius...
were mentioned gods. These works are therefore the earliest evidences of monotheistic
BhaktiBhakti in practice signifies an active involvement by the devotee in divine worship. The term is often translated as "devotion", though increasingly "participation" is being used as a more accurate rendering, since it conveys a fully engaged relationship with God...
traditions, preceding the large
bhakti movementThe Bhakti movement is a Hindu religious movement in which the main spiritual practice was loving devotice among the Vaishnava saints. Not only is she the only female Vaishnava saint but also her hymns are among the best expressions of bridal mysticism in the Hindu religion...
, which will given great attention in later times.
Gupta and Pallava period
The
PallavaThe Pallava dynasty ruled northern Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh with their capital at Kanchipuram. The origin of Pallavas is a subject of speculation. They were perhaps the descendents of the Saka-Pahlava-Kambhoja warriors from Northwest India. They have settled in the Guntur region of Andhra...
s (4th to 9th centuries) were alongside the
GuptaGupta may refer to:*Gupta , a surname of Indian origin mostly adopted by Agrawals-In ancient India:*Gupta Empire*Gupta script, the script used for writing Sanskrit during the Gupta Empire in India*Maharaja Sri-Gupta...
s patronizers of Sanskrit. The pallava reign saw the first Sankrit inscriptions in a script called
GranthaGrantha script is an ancient script that was prevalent in South India. It is generally supposed to have evolved from Brahmi, another ancient Indic script. It has influenced the Malayalam, Tulu, Thai, and Sinhala scripts...
. Early Pallavas had different connections to South-East Asian countries. The Pallavas used Dravidian architecture to build some very important Hindu temples and academies in Mamallapuram,
KanchipuramKanchipuram, Kanchi, or Kancheepuram is a city and a municipality in Kanchipuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is a temple town and the headquarters of Kanchipuram district. In ancient times it was called Kachi and Kachiampathi....
and other places, which saw famous poets like
KalidasaKālidāsa was a renowned Classical Sanskrit writer, widely regarded as the greatest poet and dramatist in the Sanskrit language. His floruit cannot be dated with precision, but most likely falls within the Gupta period, probably in the 4th or 5th century or 6th century.His place in Sanskrit...
.
The Gupta period (4th to 6th centuries) saw a flowering of scholarship, the emergence of the classical schools of
Hindu philosophyHindu philosophy is divided into six Sanskrit schools of thought, or darshanas , which accept the Vedas as supreme revealed scriptures, and three schools, which do not accept the Vedas as supreme...
, and of classical
Sanskrit literatureLiterature in Sanskrit begins with the Vedas, and continues with the Sanskrit Epics of Iron Age India; the golden age of Classical Sanskrit literature dates to late Antiquity . Literary production saw a late bloom in the 11th century before declining after 1100 AD...
in general on topics ranging from medicine, veterinary science, mathematics, to astrology and astronomy and astrophysics. The famous
AryabhataAryabhata was the first in the line of great mathematician-astronomers from the classical age of Indian mathematics and Indian astronomy...
and
VarahamihiraDaivajna Varāhamihira , also called Varaha, or Mihira was an Indian astronomer, mathematician, and astrologer who lived in Ujjain. He is considered to be one of the nine jewels of the court of legendary king Vikramaditya...
belong to this age. The Gupta established a strong central government which also allowed a degree of local control. Gupta society was ordered in accordance with Hindu beliefs. This included a strict caste system, or class system. The peace and prosperity created under Gupta leadership enabled the pursuit of scientific and artistic endeavors.
The practice of dedicating temples to different deities came into vogue followed by fine artistic
temple architectureA small Hindu temple consists of an inner sanctum, the garbha griha or womb-chamber, in which the image is housed, often circumambulation, a congregation hall, and possibly an antechamber and porch. The sanctum is crowned by a tower-like shikara...
and sculpture (see
Vastu ShastraVastu Shastra is a traditional Hindu system of design based on directional alignments. It is primarily applied in Hindu architecture, especially for Hindu temples, although it covers other applications, including poetry, dance, sculpture, etc...
).
Expansion in South-East Asia
From about the
1st centuryThe 1st century was the century that lasted from 1 to 100 according the Julian calendar. It is considered part of the Classical era, epoch, or historical period...
, India started to strongly influence
Southeast AsiaManila
Bangkok
Ho Chi Minh City
Kuala Lumpur
Singapore
Yangon
Bandung
Hanoi
Surabaya
Taichung
Kaohsiung
Medan|-|}...
n countries. Trade routes linked India with southern Burma, central and southern Siam, lower
CambodiaThe Kingdom of Cambodia , formerly known as Kampuchea , is a country in South East Asia with a population of over 14 million people. The kingdom's capital and largest city is Phnom Penh...
and southern
VietnamVietnam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam , is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea to the east...
and numerous urbanized coastal settlements were established there.
For more than a thousand years, Indian Hindu/Buddhist influence was therefore the major factor that brought a certain level of cultural unity to the various countries of the region. The
Pali
and
SanskritSanskrit is a historical Indo-Aryan language, one of the liturgical languages of Hinduism and Buddhism, and one of the 22 official languages of India. It is also declared as a classical language by the government of India....
languages and the Indian script, together with
TheravadaTheravada Theravada Theravada (Pāli: थेरवाद theravāda (cf Sanskrit: स्थविरवाद sthaviravāda); literally, "the Teaching of the Elders" or "the Ancient Teaching", is the oldest surviving Buddhist school. It was founded in India...
and
MahayanaMahayana is one of the two main existing branches of Buddhism and a term for classification of Buddhist philosophies and practice. It was founded in India...
BuddhismBuddhism, as traditionally conceived, is a path of salvation attained through insight into the ultimate nature of reality. It encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha...
, Brahmanism and
HinduismHinduism is the predominant religion of the Indian subcontinent. Hinduism is often referred to as ', a Sanskrit phrase meaning "the eternal law", by its adherents. Generic "types" of Hinduism that attempt to accommodate a variety of complex views span folk and Vedic Hinduism to bhakti tradition, as...
, were transmitted from direct contact as well as through sacred texts and Indian literature, such as the
RamayanaThe Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is attributed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon . The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India, the other being Mahabharata...
and the
MahabharataThe Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India, the other being the . The epic is part of the Hindu itihāsa , and forms an important part of Hindu mythology....
epics.
From the
5thThe 5th century is the period from 401 to 500 in accordance with the Julian calendar in Anno Domini/Common Era.-Overview:This century is noted for being a time of repeated disaster and instability both internally and externally for the Western Roman Empire, which finally unravelled, and came to an...
to the
13th centuryAs a means of recording the passage of time, the 13th century was that century which lasted from 1201 through 1300 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian/Common Era...
, South-East Asia had very powerful Indian colonial empires and became extremely active in Buddhist architectural and artistic creation. The Sri Vijaya Empire to the south and the
Khmer EmpireThe Khmer Empire was the third largest empire of South East Asia , based in what is now Cambodia. The empire, which seceded from the kingdom of Chenla, at times ruled over and/or vassalised parts of modern-day Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, and Malaysia...
to the north competed for influence.
LangkasukaLangkasuka was an ancient Hindu Malay kingdom located in the Malay Peninsula...
(-
langkha SanskritSanskrit is a historical Indo-Aryan language, one of the liturgical languages of Hinduism and Buddhism, and one of the 22 official languages of India. It is also declared as a classical language by the government of India....
for "resplendent land" -
sukkha of "bliss") was a ancient Hindu kingdom located in the
Malay PeninsulaThe Malay Peninsula or Thai-Malay Peninsula is a major peninsula located in Southeast Asia, with its narrowest point at the Isthmus of Kra. The land mass runs approximately north-south and, at its teminus, is the most southern point of the Asian mainland...
. The kingdom, along with Old Kedah settlement, are probably the earliest territorial footholds founded on the Malay Peninsula. According to tradition, the founding of the kingdom happened in the
2nd centuryThe 2nd century is the period from 101 to 200 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian/Common Era. It is considered part of the Classical era, epoch, or historical period...
;
MalayMalays are an ethnic group of Austronesian peoples predominantly inhabiting the Malay Peninsula including the southernmost parts of Thailand, the east coast of Sumatra, the coast of Borneo, and the smaller islands which lie between these locations...
legends claim that Langkasuka was founded at
KedahKedah is a state of Malaysia, located in the northwestern part of Peninsular Malaysia. The state covers a total area of over 9,000 km², and it consists of the mainland and Langkawi. The mainland has relatively flat terrain, which is used to grow rice...
, and later moved to
PattaniPattani is one of the southern provinces of Thailand. Neighboring provinces are Narathiwat, Yala and Songkhla.-Geography:...
.
From the 5th-
15th centuriesAs a means of recording the passage of time, the 15th century was the century which lasted from 1401 to 1500.Spanish and Portuguese explorations led to discovery of the Americas and the sea passage along Cape of Good Hope to India for the European civilization...
Sri Vijayan empire, a maritime empire centered on the island of
SumatraSumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world .-Etymology:Sumatra was known in ancient times by the Sanskrit...
in
IndonesiaThe Republic of Indonesia is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia comprises 17,508 islands. With an estimated population of around 237 million people, it is the world's fourth most populous country, with the world's largest population of Muslims.Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, had adopted Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism under a line of rulers named the Sailendras. The Empire of Sri Vijaya declined due to conflicts with the Chola rulers of India. The
Majapahit EmpireMajapahit was an archipelagic empire based on the island of Java from 1293 to around 1500. Majapahit reached its peak of glory during the era of Hayam Wuruk, whose reign from 1350 to 1389 marked by the conquest of kingdoms in Maritime Southeast Asia .Majapahit empire was the last of the major...
succeeded the
SinghasariSinghasari was a kingdom located in east Java between 1222 and 1292.-Foundation:Singhasari was founded by Ken Arok , whose story is a popular children's tale in Central and East Java....
empire. It was one of the last and greatest Hindu empires in Maritime Southeast Asia.
FunanFunan was an ancient pre-Angkor Indianized kingdom located around the Mekong Delta. The ethno-linguistic nature of the people; whether they were mostly Mon-Khmer or Austronesian, is the subject of much discussion among specialists....
was a pre-
AngkorAngkor is a region of Cambodia that served as the seat of the Khmer empire, which flourished from approximately the ninth century to the thirteenth century...
CambodiaThe Kingdom of Cambodia , formerly known as Kampuchea , is a country in South East Asia with a population of over 14 million people. The kingdom's capital and largest city is Phnom Penh...
n kingdom, located around the
MekongThe Mekong River is one of the world’s major rivers. It is the world's 10th-longest river and the 7th-longest in Asia. . Its estimated length is , and it drains an area of ....
delta, probably established by Mon-Khmer settlers speaking an Austro-Asiatic language. According to reports by two Chinese envoys, K'ang T'ai and Chu Ying, the state was established by an Indian
BrahminBrahmins have historically been the class of educators, scholars and preachers in Hinduism. They are considered as belonging to the "forward castes" of the four varnas of Hinduism....
named
KaundinyaKaundinya also known as Ajnata Kaundinya was a Buddhist bhikkhu in the sangha of Gautama Buddha and the first to become an arahant...
, who in the
first centuryThe 1st century was the century that lasted from 1 to 100 according the Julian calendar. It is considered part of the Classical era, epoch, or historical period...
C.E. was given instruction in a dream to take a magic bow from a temple and defeat a Khmer queen, Soma. Soma, the daughter of the king of the Nagas, married Kaundinya and their lineage became the royal dynasty of Funan. The myth had the advantage of providing the legitimacy of both an Indian Brahmin and the divinity of the cobras, who at that time were held in religious regard by the inhabitants of the region.
The kingdom of
ChampaThe kingdom of Champa was an Indianized kingdom of Malayo-Polynesian origins and controlled what is now southern and central Vietnam from approximately the 7th century through to 1832...
(or
Lin-yi in
ChineseChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
records)
controlled what is now south and central
VietnamVietnam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam , is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea to the east...
from approximately
192-Roman Empire:* Commodus is assassinated by a wrestler named Narcissus, at the behest of Commodus' concubine, Chamberlain and Praetorian prefect. The Antonines dynasty ends.* Civil war again strikes Rome .-Asia:...
through 1697. The dominant religion of the
Cham peopleThe Cham people are an ethnic group in Southeast Asia. They are concentrated between the Kampong Cham Province in Cambodia and central Vietnam's Phan Rang-Thap Cham, Phan Thiet, Ho Chi Minh City and An Giang areas. Approximately 4,000 Chams also live in Thailand; many of whom have moved south to...
was
HinduismHinduism is the predominant religion of the Indian subcontinent. Hinduism is often referred to as ', a Sanskrit phrase meaning "the eternal law", by its adherents. Generic "types" of Hinduism that attempt to accommodate a variety of complex views span folk and Vedic Hinduism to bhakti tradition, as...
and the culture was heavily influenced by
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
.
Later, from the
9thThe 9th century is the period from 801 to 900 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian/Common Era.- Britain :Britain experienced a great influx of Viking peoples in the ninth century as the Viking Age continued from the previous century. The kingdoms of the Heptarchy were gradually...
to the
13th centuryAs a means of recording the passage of time, the 13th century was that century which lasted from 1201 through 1300 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian/Common Era...
, the Mahayana Buddhist and Hindu
Khmer EmpireThe Khmer Empire was the third largest empire of South East Asia , based in what is now Cambodia. The empire, which seceded from the kingdom of Chenla, at times ruled over and/or vassalised parts of modern-day Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, and Malaysia...
dominated much of the South-East Asian peninsula. Under the Khmer, more than 900 temples were built in Cambodia and in neighboring Thailand.
AngkorAngkor is a region of Cambodia that served as the seat of the Khmer empire, which flourished from approximately the ninth century to the thirteenth century...
was at the center of this development, with a temple complex and urban organization able to support around one million urban dwellers. The largest temple complex of the world , Angkor Wat , stands here; built by the king Vishnuvardhan , a king of the dynasty that believed themselves to be incarnations of Vishnu.
Middle Ages
By the 8th century, the "Hindu golden age" of the past millennium was over.
The formerly rich philosophic literature tended to be reduced to scholastic quarreling and infighting between innumerable sects, notably between emerging traditions of
VaishnavismVaishnavism is a tradition of Hinduism, distinguished from other schools by its worship of Vishnu or his associated avatars, principally as Rama and Krishna, as the original and supreme God. This worship in different perspectives or historical traditions addresses God under the names of Narayana,...
and
ShaivismShaivism names the oldest of the four sects of Hinduism. Followers of Shaivism, called "Shaivas," and also "Saivas" or "Saivites," revere Shiva as the Supreme Being. Shaivas believe that Shiva is All and in all, the creator, preserver, destroyer, revealer and concealer of all that is. Shaivism is...
.
Adi ShankaraAdi Shankara ; , also known as ' and ', was an Indian philosopher who consolidated the doctrine of Advaita Vedanta, a sub-school of Vedanta. His teachings are based on the unity of the soul and Brahman, in which Brahman is viewed as without attributes...
in the 8th century managed to reconcile the antagonistic sects and to establish Hinduism as a single, if diverse, religious tradition. The compilation of the
PuranasThe Puranas are a group of important Hindu religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the Universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of the kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography...
provided a mythical backdrop for this tradition, and served as a means of
acculturationAcculturation is the exchange of cultural features that results when groups of individuals having different cultures come into continuous first hand contact; the original cultural patterns of either or both groups may be altered, but the groups remain distinct...
of the various pre-literate tribal societies to the new religious mainstream. Various reforms of the later Middle Ages, notably the
Bhakti movementThe Bhakti movement is a Hindu religious movement in which the main spiritual practice was loving devotice among the Vaishnava saints. Not only is she the only female Vaishnava saint but also her hymns are among the best expressions of bridal mysticism in the Hindu religion...
, besides new
YogicYoga refers to traditional physical and mental disciplines originating in India. The word is associated with meditative practices in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. In Hinduism, it also refers to one of the six orthodox schools of Hindu philosophy, and to the goal toward which that school directs...
schools (
Jnana yogaJnâna yoga or "path of knowledge" is one of the types of yoga mentioned in Hindu philosophies. Jnâna in Sanskrit means "knowledge"....
,
Karma yogaKarma yoga , or the "discipline of action" is based on the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita, a sacred Sanskrit scripture of Hinduism. One of the four pillars of yoga, Karma yoga focuses on the adherence to duty while remaining detached from the reward...
,
Hatha yogaHatha Yoga , also called Hatha Vidya , is a system of Yoga introduced by Yogi Swatmarama, a sage of 15th century India, and compiler of the Hatha Yoga Pradipika. In this treatise Swatmarama introduces Hatha Yoga as preparatory stage of physical purification that the body practices for higher...
,
Bhakti yoga) gave Hinduism its classical form as described by the 18th to 19th century pioneers of
IndologyIndology is the academic study of the languages, texts, history and cultures of the Indian subcontinent , and as such a subset of Asian studies....
.
Bhakti movement
The Bhakti movement was a
HinduHinduism is the predominant religion of the Indian subcontinent. Hinduism is often referred to as ', a Sanskrit phrase meaning "the eternal law", by its adherents. Generic "types" of Hinduism that attempt to accommodate a variety of complex views span folk and Vedic Hinduism to bhakti tradition, as...
religious movement in which the main spiritual practice was the
fostering of loving devotion to God, called
bhaktiBhakti in practice signifies an active involvement by the devotee in divine worship. The term is often translated as "devotion", though increasingly "participation" is being used as a more accurate rendering, since it conveys a fully engaged relationship with God...
. It was a monotheistic movement generally devoted to worship of
ShivaShiva , also known as Rudra is a major Hindu god and one aspect of Trimurti. In the Shaiva tradition of Hinduism, Shiva is seen as the Supreme God...
,
VishnuVishnu , , is the Supreme God in Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God...
or
ShaktiShakti from Sanskrit shak - "to be able," meaning sacred force or empowerment, is the primordial cosmic energy and represents the dynamic forces that move through the entire universe. Shakti is the concept, or personification, of divine feminine creative power, sometimes referred to as 'The...
.
The first documented bhakti movement was founded by
Karaikkal-ammaiyar. She wrote poems in
TamilTamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in India, Sri Lanka and Singapore. Tamil is also spoken by significant minorities in Malaysia, Mauritius and Réunion as well as emigrant communities around the world...
about her love for
ShivaShiva , also known as Rudra is a major Hindu god and one aspect of Trimurti. In the Shaiva tradition of Hinduism, Shiva is seen as the Supreme God...
and probably lived around the
6th centuryThe 6th century is the period from 501 to 600 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian/Common Era. In the West this century marks the end of Classical Antiquity and the beginning of the Middle Ages.- Overview :...
CE.
1, 2, 3
The twelve
AlvarsThe Alvars were Tamil poet saints of south India who lived between the sixth and ninth centuries and espoused ‘emotional devotion’ or bhakti to Visnu-Krishna in their songs of longing, ecstasy and service...
who were Vaishnavite devotees and the sixty-three
NayanarsThe Nayanars or Nayanmars were Shaivite devotional poets of Tamil Nadu, active between the fifth and the tenth centuries CE. The Tamil Shaiva hagiography Periya Puranam, a volume of the Tirumurai, written during the thirteenth century CE, narrates the history of each of sixty-three Nayanars, though...
who were Shaivite devotees nurtured the incipient bhakti movement in
Tamil NaduTamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai . Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by Puducherry , Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh...
. They constitute
South India's 75 Apostles of BhaktiSouthern India's 75 Apostles of Bhakti are the twelve Alvars and sixty-three Nayanmars . They were all great devotees of the Lord most of whom came from the Tamil region...
.
During the
12th centuryAs a means of recording the passage of time, the 12th century is the period from 1101 to 1200 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian/Common Era. In the history of European culture, this period is considered part of the High Middle Ages and is sometimes called the Age of the...
CE in Karnataka, the Bhakti movement took the form of the Virashaiva movement. It was inspired by Basavanna, a Hindu reformer who created the sect of Lingayats or
ShivaShiva , also known as Rudra is a major Hindu god and one aspect of Trimurti. In the Shaiva tradition of Hinduism, Shiva is seen as the Supreme God...
bhaktas. During this time, a unique
and native form of Kannada literature-poetry called Vachanas was born.
Advaita Vedanta
The introduction of
Advaita VedantaAdvaita Vedanta is a sub-school of the Vedānta school of Hindu philosophy. Other major sub-schools of Vedānta are Dvaita and . Advaita is a monistic system of thought...
by
Adi ShankaraAdi Shankara ; , also known as ' and ', was an Indian philosopher who consolidated the doctrine of Advaita Vedanta, a sub-school of Vedanta. His teachings are based on the unity of the soul and Brahman, in which Brahman is viewed as without attributes...
unified the theistic sects into a common framework of
ShanmataShanmata is the system of worship founded by Adi Shankara, the 8th century CE Hindu philosopher. It centers around the worship of the six main deities of Hinduism, viz, Shiva, Vishnu, Shakti, Ganesha, Surya and Skanda. In this system, six major deities are worshipped...
system. Shankara stressed the importance of the Vedas, introducing the concept of
apaurusheyatvaIn Hinduism, Apaurusheyatva , Sanskrit, "being unauthored", is used to describe the Vedas, the main scripture in Hinduism. This implies that the Vedas are not authored by any agency, be it human or divine...
, and his efforts helped Hinduism regain strength and popularity.
He is the main figure in the tradition of
Advaita VedantaAdvaita Vedanta is a sub-school of the Vedānta school of Hindu philosophy. Other major sub-schools of Vedānta are Dvaita and . Advaita is a monistic system of thought...
. He is the founder of the
Dashanami SampradayaDashanami Sampradaya or Dasanami, literally Tradition of Ten Names , is a Hindu monastic tradition of Ekadandis or wandering renunciates carrying a single staff or stick of knowledge [1][5][7], generally associated with the Advaita Vedanta tradition...
of
HinduA Hindu is an adherent of Hinduism, a set of religious, philosophical and cultural systems that originated in the Indian subcontinent. The vast body of Hindu scriptures, divided into Śruti and Smriti , lay the foundation of Hindu beliefs which primarily include dhárma, kárma, ahimsa and saṃsāra...
monasticismMonasticism is the religious practice in which one renounces worldly pursuits in order to fully devote one's life to spiritual work...
and
ShanmataShanmata is the system of worship founded by Adi Shankara, the 8th century CE Hindu philosopher. It centers around the worship of the six main deities of Hinduism, viz, Shiva, Vishnu, Shakti, Ganesha, Surya and Skanda. In this system, six major deities are worshipped...
tradition of worship. He travelled all over India (
KeralaKerala , is a state located in southwestern India. The state was created in 1956 on linguistc basis, bringing together those places where Malayalam formed the principal language...
to
KashmirKashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent...
and
NepalNepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia and the world's youngest republic. It is bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
) three times over and was a major cause in the revival and integration of Sanatana Dharma. Shankara's reform essentially eclipsed all earlier schools of Hindu philosophy and became the nucleus of the medieval traditions, including
SmartismSmartism is a denomination of the Hindu religion. The term Smarta refers to adherents who follow the Vedas and Shastras. They mainly follow the Advaita Vedanta philosophy of Adi Shankara...
and
Sant MatSant Mat was a loosely associated group of teachers that became prominent in the northern part of the Indian sub-continent from about the 13th century...
lineages, that lead up to the current religion.
Adi Shankara, along with
MadhvaShri Madhvacharya was the chief proponent of Tattvavāda , popularly known as Dvaita or dualistic school of Hindu philosophy. It is one of the three most influential Vedanta philosophies. Madhva was one of the important philosophers during the Bhakti movement. He was a pioneer in many ways, going...
and
RamanujaRamanuja ; traditionally 1017–1137, also known as Ramanujacharya, Ethirajar, Emperumannar, was a theologian, philosopher, and scriptural exegete...
, were instrumental in the revival of Hinduism. In their writings and debates, they provided polemics against the non-Vedantic schools of Sankhya,
VaisheshikaVaisheshika, or ', is one of the six Hindu schools of philosophy of India. Historically, it has been closely associated with the Hindu school of logic, Nyaya....
etc. Thus, they paved the way for
VedantaVedanta was originally a word used as a synonym for that part of the Veda known also as the Upanishads. The name is a sandhied form of Veda-anta = "Veda-end" = "the appendix to the Vedas"...
to be the dominant and most widely followed tradition among the schools of Hindu philosophy.
Pauranic Hinduism
Brahmanic Hinduism evolves out of Vedism during Iron Age India, and in turn contributes to the development of
VedanticVedanta was originally a word used as a synonym for that part of the Veda known also as the Upanishads. The name is a sandhied form of Veda-anta = "Veda-end" = "the appendix to the Vedas"...
and eventually classical Pauranic Hinduism.
The transformation of Brahmanism into Pauranic Hinduism in post-Gupta India was due to a process of
acculturationAcculturation is the exchange of cultural features that results when groups of individuals having different cultures come into continuous first hand contact; the original cultural patterns of either or both groups may be altered, but the groups remain distinct...
. The Puranas helped establish a religious mainstream among the pre-literate tribal societies undergoing acculturation. The tenets of Brahmanic Hinduism and of the Dharmashastras underwent a radical transformation at the hands of the Purana composers, resulting in the rise of a mainstream "Hinduism" that overshadowed all earlier traditions.
Hindu secular scholarship and the Islamic Middle East
Hindu and also Buddhist religious and secular learning had first reached the
Middle EastThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, southeastern Europe, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East...
in an organised manner in the sixth century, when the great Sassanid Emperor
Khosrau IKhosrau I , also known as Anushiravan the Just Khosrau I (also called Khosnow I, Chusro I, Khusro I, Husraw I or Khosrow I, Chosroes I in classical sources, most commonly known in Persian as Anushirvan, Persian: انوشيروان meaning the immortal soul), also known as Anushiravan the Just (انوشیروان...
(531–579) deputed the famous
Borzuya the physicianBorzūya was a Persian physician in the late Sassanid era, at the time of Khosrow I.He translated the Indian Panchatantra from Sanskrit into the Middle Persian language of Pahlavi. But both his translation and the original Sanskrit version he worked from are lost...
as his envoy, to invite Indian and Chinese scholars to the
Academy of GundishapurThe Academy of Gundishapur was a renowned academy of learning in the city of Gundeshapur during late antiquity, the intellectual center of the Sassanid empire. It offered training in medicine, philosophy, theology and science. The faculty were versed not only in the Zoroastrian and Persian...
, then the greatest centre of learning in his vast Afro-Asian empire. Contributions on ancient Greek and Roman learning were already being made in the Academy, mainly by the
JewishThe Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
and
NestorianNestorianism is the doctrine that the two individual natures of Christ, the human and the divine, are joined in conjunction rather than in hypostatic union. The doctrine is identified with Nestorius , Archbishop of Constantinople...
scholars, who were escaping the harsh persecution by the
Byzantine EmpireThe Byzantine Empire or Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered on the capital of Constantinople, and ruled by Emperors in direct and de jure succession to the ancient Roman Emperors...
's Christian orthodoxy. With the help of these 'visiting professors' from the East, translations in
PahlaviThe Parthian language, also known as Arsacid Pahlavi and Pahlavanik, is a now-extinct ancient Northwestern Iranian language spoken in Parthia, a region of northeastern Greater Iran, to include a significant portion of Greater Khorasan....
, the imperial language, were made of Indian and Chinese texts on astronomy, astrology, mathematics, medicine – including herbal
materia medicaMateria medica is a Latin medical term for the body of collected knowledge about the therapeutic properties of any substance used for healing . In Latin, the term literally means "medical material/substance"...
– and religion. Burzoe himself had translated the now world famous
SanskritSanskrit is a historical Indo-Aryan language, one of the liturgical languages of Hinduism and Buddhism, and one of the 22 official languages of India. It is also declared as a classical language by the government of India....
book of fables named
PanchatantraThe Panchatantra was originally a canonical collection of Sanskrit as well as Pali animal fables in verse and prose. The original Sanskrit text, now long lost, and which some scholars believe was composed in the 3rd century BCE, is attributed to Vishnu Sarma...
,in which animals interact in complex ways to convey teachings to princes in policy. His Pahlavi version was translated into Arabic by Ibn al-Mafuqqa under the title of
Kalila and Dimna or
The Fables of Bidpai and became one of the greatest prose classics of the Arabs.
During the enlightened
AbbasidThe Abbasid Caliphate was the third of the Islamic Caliphates of the Islamic Empire. It was ruled by the Abbasid dynasty of caliphs, who built their capital in Baghdad after overthrowing the Umayyad caliphs from all but Al Andalus....
Caliphacy,
BaghdadBaghdad is the capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate, with which it is coterminous. Having a municipal population estimated at 6.5 million, it is the largest city in Iraq and the second largest in the Arab World....
had replaced Gundishapur as the most important centre of learning in the then vast Islamic Empire, wherein the traditions as well as scholars of the latter flourished. Hindu scholars were invited to the conferences on sciences and mathematics held in
BaghdadBaghdad is the capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate, with which it is coterminous. Having a municipal population estimated at 6.5 million, it is the largest city in Iraq and the second largest in the Arab World....
, in which they contributes the latest 'Updates' in their fields. Indian contributions in secular disciplines thus reached the
ArabArab people or Arabs are an ethnic group whose members identify along linguistic, cultural or genealogical grounds...
s, had significant impact on them, and through them on the
WestWest is most commonly a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.West is one of the four cardinal directions or compass points...
.
Decimal systemDecimal system may refer to:* The decimal number system, used in mathematics for writing numbers and performing arithmetic.* The Dewey Decimal System, a subject classification system used in libraries....
of numbers, use of zero as one the
numeralA numeral system is a writing system for expressing numbers, that is a mathematical notation for representing numbers of a given set, using graphemes or symbols in a consistent manner....
s and the shapes of numerals in modern languages are a testimony to these contributions.
Muslim conquests
Muslim rulers began to extend their rule across Hindu-Buddhist populated lands in the 8th century CE and the Abrahamic religion of
IslamIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām,
[There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
began to spread across the Indian-subcontinent over several centuries. Most converts were from
HinduismHinduism is the predominant religion of the Indian subcontinent. Hinduism is often referred to as ', a Sanskrit phrase meaning "the eternal law", by its adherents. Generic "types" of Hinduism that attempt to accommodate a variety of complex views span folk and Vedic Hinduism to bhakti tradition, as...
or
BuddhismBuddhism, as traditionally conceived, is a path of salvation attained through insight into the ultimate nature of reality. It encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha...
, the two dominant local religions. While all traditions of popular Hinduism continued - including the worship of popular reincarnations of the primordial
ShaktiShaktism is a denomination of Hinduism that focuses worship upon Shakti or Devi – the Hindu Divine Mother – as the absolute, ultimate Godhead...
-
BhaktiBhakti in practice signifies an active involvement by the devotee in divine worship. The term is often translated as "devotion", though increasingly "participation" is being used as a more accurate rendering, since it conveys a fully engaged relationship with God...
tradition attained new prominence; Bhakti poetry of lasting greatness was composed in northern India under the rule of Muslim emperors. The humble mystic saint
KabirKabīr Kabīr (also Kabīra) Kabīr (also Kabīra) (Hindi: कबीर, Punjabi: ਕਬੀਰ, Urdu: کبير (1440—1518) was a mystic composer and saint of India, whose literature has greatly influenced the Bhakti movement of India.-Early life and background:...
, who established his own order, composed devotional verses in the Bhakti spirit, but in common-man's Hindi dialect and transcendenting Hindu-Muslim theocratic divide.
TulsidasTulsidas Devanāgarī: तुलसीदास) was a great Awadhi bhakta , philosopher, composer, and the author of Ramacharitamanasa, an epic poem and scripture devoted to the Hindu god Rama.-Birth:Tulsidas was born on the Shraavan Shukla Saptami, Vikrami Samvat 1554 in Degana, ,Rajasthan, India...
, Mira Bai and
SurdasSurdas , Indian saint and composer.What little knowledge we have of Surdas's life comes from Ain-e-Akbari and Munshiat-e-Abul-Fazl, both written during the time of Akbar.-Early life and background:...
composed immortal Hindu devotional poetry in Hindi-dialects in the
MughalThe Mughal Empire was an Islamic and Persianate imperial power of the Indian subcontinent which began in 1526, invaded and ruled most of Hindustan by the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and ended in the mid-19th century...
period - it is reminiscent of the earlier Kannada and Tamil Bhakti poetry of South India.
Mughal India
After the conquest of Persia by the
Mongol EmpireThe Mongol Empire was an empire from the 13th and 14th century spanning from Eastern Europe across Asia. It is the largest contiguous empire in the history of the world...
, a regional Turko-Persio-Mongol dynasty formed. Just as eastern Mongol dynasties inter-married with locals and adopted the local religion of
BuddhismBuddhism, as traditionally conceived, is a path of salvation attained through insight into the ultimate nature of reality. It encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha...
and the Chinese culture, this group adopted the local religion of
IslamIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām,
[There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
and the Persian culture; their descendants ruled in India as
MughalThe Mughal Empire was an Islamic and Persianate imperial power of the Indian subcontinent which began in 1526, invaded and ruled most of Hindustan by the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and ended in the mid-19th century...
s.
The official State religion of the Mughal Empire was
IslamIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām,
[There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
, with the preference to the
jurisprudenceJurisprudence is the theory and philosophy of law. Scholars of jurisprudence, or legal philosophers, hope to obtain a deeper understanding of the nature of law, of legal reasoning, legal systems and of legal institutions. Modern jurisprudence began in the 18th century and was focused on the first...
of the
HanafiThe Hanafi school is one of the four schools of law or jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. The Hanafi madhhab is named after Abu Hanifa an-Nu‘man ibn Thābit , and his legal views were preserved primarily by his two most...
Madhab (Mazhab). However, throughout its history, subjects had complete freedom to practice any religion of their choice, though Non-Muslim able-bodied adult males with income were obliged to pay the
JizyaUnder Islamic law, jizya or jizyah is a per capita tax levied on a section of an Islamic state's non-Muslim citizens, who meet certain criteria...
(poll-tax to be spent by the State only on protection of non-Muslims), which signified their status as Dhimmis (responsibility of the State, in regard to safety of life and property).
Akbar the GreatJalaluddin Muhammad Akbar , also known as Akbar the Great was the third Mughal Emperor of India. He was the son of Nasiruddin Humayun whom he succeeded as ruler of the Mughal Empire from 1556 to 1605, and the grandson of Babur who founded the dynasty...
, Mughal emperor
HumayunHumayun was the second Mughal Emperor who ruled modern Afghanistan, Pakistan, and parts of northern India from 1530–1540...
's son and heir from his
SindhiSindhi may refer to more than one article:*the Sindhi people, an ethnic group from the Sindh region in Pakistan.*the Sindhi language, an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Sindhi people.*a resident of Sindh province of Pakistan-See also:*Sindhu Kingdom...
queen Hameeda Banu Begum, had a broad vision of Indian and Islamic traditions. One of Emperor Akbar's most unusual ideas regarding religion was
Din-i-IlahiThe Dīn-i Ilāhī , was a syncretic religious doctrine propounded by the Mughal emperor Jalālu d-Dīn Muḥammad Akbar intended to merge the best elements of the religions of his empire and thereby reconcile the differences that divided his subjects.Akbar...
(Faith of God), which was an eclectic mix of
IslamIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām,
[There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
,
ZoroastrianismZoroastrianism is the religion and philosophy based on the teachings ascribed to the prophet Zoroaster , after whom the religion is named. The term Zoroastrianism is, in general usage, essentially synonymous with Mazdaism, i.e...
, Hinduism,
JainismJainism is an ancient dharmic religion from India that prescribes a path of non-violence for all forms of living beings in this world. Its philosophy and practice relies mainly on self-effort in progressing the soul on the spiritual ladder to divine consciousness...
and
ChristianityChristianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented by the revelations in the New Testament....
. It was proclaimed the state religion until his death. These actions however met with stiff opposition from the Muslim clergy, especially the Sufi Shaykh Alf Sani
Ahmad SirhindiImām-i Rabbānī Shaykh Ahmad al-Farūqī al-Sirhindī was an Indian Islamic scholar from Punjab and a prominent member of the Naqshbandī Sufi order. He is described as Mujaddid Alf Thānī, meaning the "reviver of the second millennium", for his work in rejuvenating Islam and opposing the heterodoxies...
. Akbar's abolition of poll-tax on non-Muslims, acceptance of ideas from other religious philosophies, toleration of public worship by all religions and his interest in other faiths showed an attitude of considerable religious tolerance, which, in the minds of his orthodox Muslim opponents, were tantamount to
apostasyApostasy is the formal religious disaffiliation or abandonment or renunciation of one's religion, especially if the motive is deemed unworthy. In a technical sense, as used sometimes by sociologists without the pejorative connotations of the word, the term refers to renunciation and criticism of,...
.
Akbar's son, Emperor
JahangirNur-ud-din Salim Jahangir was the ruler of the Mughal Empire from 1605 until his death...
, half Rajput, was also a religious moderate, his mother being Hindu. The influence of his two Hindu queens (the Maharani Maanbai and Maharani Jagat) kept religious moderation as a center-piece of state policy which was extended under his son, Emperor
Shah JahanShahab-ud-din Muhammad Shah Jahan I was the ruler of the Mughal Empire in the Indian subcontinent from 1628 until 1658...
, who was by blood 75%
RajputA Rajput is a member of one of the major Hindu Kshatriya groups of India. They enjoy a reputation as formidable soldiers and it is common to find many of them serving in the Indian Armed Forces. The British Government also accepted them and recruited them heavily into their armies...
and less than 25% Moghul.
Religious orthodoxy would only play an important role during the reign of Shah Jahan's son and successor,
AurangzebMuhi ud-din Muhammad Aurangzeb Bahadur Alamgir I, more commonly known as Aurangzeb Muhi ud-din Muhammad Aurangzeb Bahadur Alamgir I, more commonly known as Aurangzeb Muhi ud-din Muhammad Aurangzeb Bahadur Alamgir I, more commonly known as Aurangzeb ( (full title: Al-Sultan al-Azam wal Khaqan...
, a devout Sunni Muslim. Aurangzeb was comparatively less tolerant of other faiths than his predecessors had been, and his reign saw an increase in the number and importance of Islamic institutions and scholars. He led many military campaigns against the remaining non-Muslim powers of the Indian subcontinent - the
SikhSikh is the title and name given to an adherent of Sikhism. The term has its origin in the Sanskrit term , meaning "disciple, learner" or , meaning "instruction"....
states of the Punjab, the last independent Hindu Rajputs and the
Maratha Marāthā has three related usages: within the Marathi speaking region it describes the dominant Maratha caste or to the Maratha and Kunbi castes together; outside Maharashtra it can refer to the entire regional population of Marathi-speaking people; historically, it describes the Maratha empire...
rebels - as also against the Shia Muslim kingdoms of the Deccan. He also virtually stamped out, from his empire, open proselytisation of Hindus and Muslims by foreign Christian Missionaries, who remained successfully active, however, in the adjoining regions: the present day
KeralaKerala , is a state located in southwestern India. The state was created in 1956 on linguistc basis, bringing together those places where Malayalam formed the principal language...
, Tamilnadu and
GoaGoa is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located on the west coast of India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its western coast.Panaji is...
.
OrissaOrissa , is a state of India, located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It is the modern name of ancient republican nation of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Indian Emperor Ashoka in 261 BC, that led to a turning point in the Emperor's life when deeply saddened by the bloodshed...
(known as Kalinga and Utkala in ancient period) remained a powerful Hindu kingdom under different monarchs till 17 century. The Muslim positions in
BengalBengal , is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent...
and Deccan were seriously threatened by Gajapati Kings of Orissa.
Early Modern period
The fall of Vijayanagar Empire to Muslim rulers had marked the end of Hindu imperial assertions in the Deccan. But, taking advantage of an over-stretched
Mughal EmpireThe Mughal Empire was an Islamic and Persianate imperial power of the Indian subcontinent which began in 1526, invaded and ruled most of Hindustan by the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and ended in the mid-19th century...
, Hinduism once again rose to political prestige, under the
Maratha EmpireThe Maratha Empire or the Maratha Confederacy was a Hindu state located in present-day India. It existed from 1674 to 1818...
, from 1707 to 1761.
Maratha Empire
The
HinduA Hindu is an adherent of Hinduism, a set of religious, philosophical and cultural systems that originated in the Indian subcontinent. The vast body of Hindu scriptures, divided into Śruti and Smriti , lay the foundation of Hindu beliefs which primarily include dhárma, kárma, ahimsa and saṃsāra...
Marathas long had lived in the
DeshDesh , is a region of Maharashtra state in central India.Desh is bounded on the west by the Western Ghats or Sahyadri range, on the north by the Kandesh and on the east by the Marathwada regions of Maharashtra, and on the south by the state of Karnataka...
region around
SataraSatara is a town located in the Satara District of Maharashtra state of India. The name is derived from the seven hills surrounding the town. The town is 2320 ft...
, in the western portion of the Deccan plateau, where the plateau meets the eastern slopes of the
Western GhatsThe Western Ghats also known as the Sahyadri Mountains, is a mountain range along the western side of India. It runs north to south along the western edge of the Deccan Plateau, and separates the plateau from a narrow coastal plain along the Arabian Sea...
mountains. They had resisted incursions into the region by the
Muslim:A Muslim , , is an adherent of the religion of Islam. The feminine form is Muslimah . Literally, the word means "one who submits ". Muslim is the participle of the same verb of which Islam is the infinitive. Muslims believe that there is only one God, translated in Arabic as Allah...
MughalThe Mughal Empire was an Islamic and Persianate imperial power of the Indian subcontinent which began in 1526, invaded and ruled most of Hindustan by the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and ended in the mid-19th century...
rulers of northern India. Under their ambitious leader
ShivajiShivaji Raje Bhosle , popularly known as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj laid the foundations of the Maratha Empire. Shivaji Maharaj was younger of the two sons of Shahaji Bhosle and Jijabai...
, the Maratha freed themselves from the
Muslim:A Muslim , , is an adherent of the religion of Islam. The feminine form is Muslimah . Literally, the word means "one who submits ". Muslim is the participle of the same verb of which Islam is the infinitive. Muslims believe that there is only one God, translated in Arabic as Allah...
sultans of Bijapur to the southeast and, becoming much more aggressive, began to frequently raid Mughal territory, eventually sacking the wealthy Mughal port of
SuratSurat formerly known as Suryapur or Khubsoorat, is the eighth largest city in India. The city proper is the seventh most populous city in India and 49th in the world. Surat is the administrative capital of Surat district....
in 1664. After substantial territorial gains, Shivaji was proclaimed 'Chatrapati' (Emperor) in 1674; the Marathas had spread and conquered much of central India by Shivaji's death in 1680. Subsequently, under the able leadership of
BrahminBrahmins have historically been the class of educators, scholars and preachers in Hinduism. They are considered as belonging to the "forward castes" of the four varnas of Hinduism....
prime ministers (Peshwas), who often led as
generalsShrimant Baji Rao Balaji Bhat , also known as Baji Rao I, was a noted general who served as Peshwa to the fourth Maratha Chhatrapati Shahu from 1719 until Baji Rao's death. He is also known as Thorala Baji Rao.Despite being a Brahmin, he took up leading his troops...
also,
Maratha EmpireThe Maratha Empire or the Maratha Confederacy was a Hindu state located in present-day India. It existed from 1674 to 1818...
reached its zenith.
PunePune , formerly known as Punawadi or Punya-Nagari or Poona, is the eighth largest city in India, and the second largest in the state of Maharashtra, after Mumbai...
, the seat of Peshwas, flowered as a centre of Hindu learning and traditions. In 1761, the empire broke into smaller Maratha kingdoms that survived till they were eventually subdued by the
British East India CompanyThe Anglo-Maratha Wars were three wars fought in India between the Maratha Empire and the British East India Company:* First Anglo-Maratha War * Second Anglo-Maratha War...
.
Early colonialism
PortuguesePortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east...
missionaries had reached the
Malabar CoastThe Malabar Coast, also known as the Malabarian Coast, is a long and narrow south-western shore line of the mainland Indian subcontinent. Geographically, it comprises the wettest region of southern India, as the Western Ghats intercept the moisture-laden monsoon rains, especially on their...
in the late
15th centuryAs a means of recording the passage of time, the 15th century was the century which lasted from 1401 to 1500.Spanish and Portuguese explorations led to discovery of the Americas and the sea passage along Cape of Good Hope to India for the European civilization...
, made contact with the
St Thomas ChristiansThe Saint Thomas Christians are an ancient body of Christians on the east and west coasts of India, claiming spiritual descent from the Apostle St. Thomas. Until the middle of the XVII century, the Thomas Christians were all one in faith and rite...
in
KeralaKerala , is a state located in southwestern India. The state was created in 1956 on linguistc basis, bringing together those places where Malayalam formed the principal language...
and sought to introduce the
Latin RiteLatin liturgical rites used within that area of the Roman Catholic Church where the Latin language once dominated were for many centuries no less numerous than the liturgical rites of the Eastern autonomous particular Churches. Their number is now much reduced...
among them. Since the priests for St Thomas Christians were served by the Eastern Christian Churches, they were following Eastern Christian practices at that time. Throughout this period, foreign missionaries also made many new converts to Christianity. This led to the formation of the Latin Catholics in Kerala.
The
Goa InquisitionThe Goa Inquisition was the office of the Inquisition acting in the Indian state of Goa and the rest of the Portuguese empire in Asia. It was established in 1560, briefly suppressed from 1774-1778, and finally abolished in 1812....
was the office of the Christian
InquisitionThe term Inquisition can apply to any one of several institutions charged with trying and convicting heretics within the Catholic Church...
acting in the
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
n city of
GoaGoa is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located on the west coast of India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its western coast.Panaji is...
and the rest of the
Portuguese empireThe Portuguese Empire was the first global empire in history, with territories in South America, Africa, India and South East Asia...
in
AsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population.Asia is traditionally defined as part of the...
. St. Francis Xavier, in a 1545 letter to
John IIIJohn III , nicknamed o Piedoso , was the fifteenth King of Portugal and the Algarves....
, requested for an
InquisitionThe term Inquisition can apply to any one of several institutions charged with trying and convicting heretics within the Catholic Church...
to be installed in Goa. It was installed eight years after the death of Francis Xavier in 1552. Established in 1560 and operating until 1774, this highly controversial institution was aimed primarily at
HindusHinduism is the predominant religion of the Indian subcontinent. Hinduism is often referred to as ', a Sanskrit phrase meaning "the eternal law", by its adherents. Generic "types" of Hinduism that attempt to accommodate a variety of complex views span folk and Vedic Hinduism to bhakti tradition, as...
and wayward new converts.
In the century from 1760 to 1860, India was once more divided into numerous petty and unstable kingdoms: the
Sikh ConfederacyThe Sikh Empire was a state in the north-western part of the Indian Subcontinent from 1733 to 1849.It consisted of a collection of autonomous Punjabi Sikh Misls, which were governed by Misldars, mainly in the Punjab region....
; the "lesser Mughals" following
Bahadur Shah IHis original name was Qutb ud-Din Muhammad Mu'azzam later titled as Shah Alam by his father. He took the throne name Bahadur Shah in 1707...
; the
Kingdom of MysoreThe Kingdom of Mysore was a kingdom of southern India, traditionally believed to have been founded in 1399 in the vicinity of the modern city of Mysore. The kingdom, which was ruled by the Wodeyar family, initially served as a vassal state of the Vijayanagara Empire...
;
Hyderabad StateHyderābād state was the largest princely state in the erstwhile British Indian Empire. It was located in the south-central region of the Indian subcontinent, and was ruled, from 1724 until 1948, by a hereditary Nizam...
; the
Durrani EmpireThe Durrani Empire was a large state based in modern Afghanistan and Pakistan and later included northeastern Iran and even parts of eastern Punjab, India. It was founded at Kandahar in 1747 by a Pashtun military commander, Ahmad Shah Durrani...
; and the territories held by the
British East India CompanyCompany rule in India refers to the rule or dominion of the British East India Company on the Indian subcontinent...
. The entire subcontinent fell under British rule (partly
indirectlyIndirect rule is a type of European colonial policy in which the traditional local power structure, or at least part of it, is incorporated into the colonial administrative structure. It was practiced in large parts of the British Empire, especially British India and elsewhere in Asia and...
, via
Princely states) following the
Indian Rebellion of 1857The Indian Rebellion of 1857 began as a mutiny of sepoys of the British East India Company's army on 10 May, 1857, in the town of Meerut, and soon erupted into other mutinies and civilian rebellions largely in the upper Gangetic plain and central India, with the major hostilities confined to...
.
Hindu revivalism
During the 19th century, Hinduism developed a large number of
new religious movementA new religious movement is a faith-based community, or ethical, spiritual, or philosophical group of recent origin. NRMs may be novel in origin or they may be part of a wider religion, such as Christianity, in which case they will be distinct from pre-existing denominations...
s, partly inspired by the European
RomanticismRomanticism is a complex artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Western Europe, and gained strength during the Industrial Revolution...
,
nationalismNationalism is an ideology, a sentiment, a form of culture, or a social movement that focuses on the nation. It is a type of collectivism emphasizing the collective of a specific nation...
,
scientific racismScientific racism is the use of scientific or ostensibly scientific findings and methods to investigate differences between races, often to support or validate racist attitudes and worldviews. It is based on belief in the existence and significance of racial categories, typically with a hierarchy...
and
esotericismEsotericism or Esoterism is a term with two basic meanings. In the dictionary sense of the term, it signifies the holding of esoteric opinions, and derives from the Greek , a compound of : "within", thus "pertaining to the more inward", mystic. Its antonym is exoteric...
(
TheosophyTheosophy is a doctrine of religious philosophy and metaphysics. Theosophy holds that all religions are attempts by the "Spiritual Hierarchy" to help humanity in evolving to greater perfection, and that each religion therefore has a portion of the truth...
) popular at the time (while conversely and contemporaneously, India had a similar effect on European culture with
OrientalismOrientalism is the imitation or depiction of aspects of Eastern cultures in the West by writers, designers and artists. An "Orientalist" may be a person engaged in these activities, but it is also the traditional term for any scholar of Oriental studies...
, "
Hindoo styleHindoo, an archaic spelling of Hindu, is a term used in architectural history to refer to Western imitations of Indian architecture in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries...
" architecture, reception of
Buddhism in the WestBuddhism in the West broadly encompasses the knowledge and practice of Buddhism outside of Asia. Occasional intersections between Western civilization and the Buddhist world have been occurring for thousands of years, but it was not until the era of European colonization of Buddhist countries in...
and similar).
These reform movements are summarized under Hindu revivalism and continue into the present.
- Sahajanand Swami establishes the Swaminarayan Sampraday
Swaminarayan Sampraday , known previously as the Uddhav Sampraday, is a Hindu sect established by Swaminarayan...
sect around 1800.
- Brahmo Samaj
Brahmo Samaj is the societal component of Brahmoism. It has without doubt proved to be the most influential religious movement of the nineteenth century...
is a social and religious movement founded in Kolkata, formerly , is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located in eastern India on the east bank of the River Hooghly. When referred to as Calcutta, it usually includes the suburbs, and thus its population exceeds 15 million, making it India's third-largest metropolitan area and...
in 1828 by Raja Ram Mohan RoyRaja Ram Mohan Roy was a founder of the Brahma Sabha in 1828 which engendered the Brahmo Samaj, an influential Indian socio-religious reform movement. His remarkable influence was apparent in the fields of politics, public administration and education as well as religion...
. He was one of the first Indians to visit EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
and was influenced by western thought. He died in BristolBristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, west of London, and east of Cardiff.With an estimated population of 416,400 for the unitary authority in mid-2007, and a surrounding urban area with an estimated 561,500 residents, it is England's sixth, and...
, EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The Brahmo Samaj movement thereafter resulted in the Brahmo religion in 1850 founded by Debendranath TagoreDebendranath Tagore was the founder in 1848 of the Brahmo Religion which today is synonymous with Brahmoism the youngest religion of India and Bangladesh....
— better known as the father of Rabindranath TagoreRabindranath Tagore , sobriquet Gurudev, was a Bengali polymath. As a poet, novelist, musician, and playwright, he reshaped Bengali literature and music in the late 19th and early 20th centuries...
.
- Sri Ramakrishna and his pupil Swami Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda , born Narendranath Dutta is the chief disciple of the 19th century mystic Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and the founder of Ramakrishna Mission...
led a reform in Hinduism in late 19th century. Their ideals and sayings have inspired numerous Indians as well as non-Indians, Hindus as well as non-Hindus. Among the prominent figures whose ideals were very much influenced by them were Rabindranath TagoreRabindranath Tagore , sobriquet Gurudev, was a Bengali polymath. As a poet, novelist, musician, and playwright, he reshaped Bengali literature and music in the late 19th and early 20th centuries...
, Gandhi, Subhas Bose, Satyendranath Bose, Megh Nad Saha, and Sister NiveditaSister Nivedita , born Margaret Elizabeth Noble was an Anglo-Irish social worker, author, teacher and disciple of Swami Vivekananda. She met Vivekananda in 1895 in London and travelled to India in 1898...
.
- Arya Samaj
Arya Samaj is a Hindu reform movement founded in India by Swami Dayananda in 1875. He was a sannyasi who believed in the infallible authority of the Vedas. Dayananda advocated the doctrine of karma and reincarnation, and emphasized the ideals of brahmacharya and sanyasa...
("Society of NoblesĀrya is an Old Indic and Old Iranian language self-designator that first appears in the ancient religious literature of the Indians and of the Iranians...
") is a HinduA Hindu is an adherent of Hinduism, a set of religious, philosophical and cultural systems that originated in the Indian subcontinent. The vast body of Hindu scriptures, divided into Śruti and Smriti , lay the foundation of Hindu beliefs which primarily include dhárma, kárma, ahimsa and saṃsāra...
reform movementA reform movement is a kind of social movement that aims to make gradual change, or change in certain aspects of society rather than rapid or fundamental changes. A reform movement is distinguished from more radical social movements such as revolutionary movements.Reformists' ideas are often...
in IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
that was founded by Swami Dayananda in 1875. He was a sannyasin (renouncer) who believed in the infallible authorityMoral absolutism is the meta-ethical view that certain actions are absolutely right or wrong, devoid of the context of the act. Thus lying, for instance, might be considered to be always immoral, even if done to promote some other good...
of the VedasThe Vedas are a large body of texts originating in Ancient India. The texts are composed in Vedic Sanskrit and form the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature, and the oldest sacred texts of Hinduism....
. Dayananda advocated the doctrine of karmaKarma in Indian religions is the concept of "action" or "deed", understood as that which causes the entire cycle of cause and effect originating in ancient India and treated in Hindu, Jain, Sikh and Buddhist philosophies..'Karma' is an Eastern religious concept in contradistinction to...
and reincarnationReincarnation, literally "to be made flesh again", is a doctrine or metaphysical belief that some essential part of a living being survives death to be reborn in a new body. This essential part is often referred to as the spirit or soul, the "higher" or "true" self, "divine spark", or "I"...
, and emphasised the ideals of brahmacharyaBrahmacharya whose literal meaning is under the tutelage of Brahma refers to a period of spiritual education in the traditional scheme of life in Hinduism that takes place during the teenage years...
(chastityChastity is sexual behavior of a man or woman acceptable to the ethical norms and guidelines of a culture, civilization, or religion.In the western world, the term has become closely associated with sexual abstinence, especially before marriage...
) and sanyasa (renunciation* In Hinduism, the renounced order of life is sannyāsa* In Buddhism, the Pali word for "renunciation" is nekkhamma* Renunciation of citizenship...
). Dayananda claimed to be rejecting all non-Vedic beliefs altogether. Hence the Arya Samaj unequivocally condemned idolatryIdolatry is usually defined as worship of any cult image, idea, or object, as opposed to the worship of a monotheistic God. It is considered a major sin in the Abrahamic religions whereas in religions where such activity is not considered a sin, the term "idolatry" itself is absent...
, animal sacrificeAnimal sacrifice is the ritual killing of an animal as part of a religion. It is practiced by many religions as a means of appeasing a god or gods or changing the course of nature...
s, ancestor worship, pilgrimageIn religion and spirituality, a pilgrimage is a long journey or search of great moral significance. Sometimes, it is a journey to a shrine of importance to a person's beliefs and faith. Members of many major religions participate in pilgrimages...
s, priestA priest or priestess is a person having the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities. Their office or position is the priesthood, a term which may also apply to such persons collectively.Priests and priestesses...
craft, offerings made in templeA temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur. It has the same root as the word "template," a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out...
s, the casteA caste is a combined social system of occupation, endogamy, culture, social class, and political power. Caste should not be confused with class, in that members of a caste are deemed to be alike in function or culture, whereas not all members of a defined class may be so alike.Although Indian...
system, untouchabilityDalit is a self-designation for a group of people traditionally regarded as low caste or untouchables . Dalits are a mixed population of numerous caste groups all over South Asia, and speak various languages. It is impossible to differentiate between Dalits and the various other caste groups on the...
and child marriageChild marriage usually refers to two separate social phenomena which are practiced in some societies. The first and more widespread practice is that of marrying a young child to an adult...
s, on the grounds that all these lacked Vedic sanction. It aimed to be a universal churchThe phrase universal church can refer to:* the Church Universal:** A translation of catholic as in "catholic church". Used most likely in the first century "Catholic" means 'universal.'...
based on the authority of the VedasThe Vedas are a large body of texts originating in Ancient India. The texts are composed in Vedic Sanskrit and form the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature, and the oldest sacred texts of Hinduism....
. Dayananda stated that he wanted 'to make the whole world Aryan', i.e. he wanted to develop missionaryA missionary is a member of a religion who works to convert those who do not share the missionary's faith; someone who proselytizes. The word "mission" is derived from the Latin missioninimus A missionary is a member of a religion who works to convert those who do not share the missionary's faith;...
Hinduism based on the universality of the Vedas. To this end, the Arya Samaj started ShuddhiShuddhi is Sanskrit for purification. In Hinduism it is a part of worship. It also sometimes refers to reverting to Hinduism after converting from Hinduism to another religion.-Shuddhi movement:...
movement in early 20th century to bring back to HinduismHinduism is the predominant religion of the Indian subcontinent. Hinduism is often referred to as ', a Sanskrit phrase meaning "the eternal law", by its adherents. Generic "types" of Hinduism that attempt to accommodate a variety of complex views span folk and Vedic Hinduism to bhakti tradition, as...
people converted to IslamIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām,
[There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
and ChristianityChristianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented by the revelations in the New Testament....
, set up schools and missionary organisations, and extended its activities outside India. It now has branches around the world and has a disproportional number of adherents among people of Indian ancestry in SurinameSuriname , officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America....
and the NetherlandsThe Netherlands is a country in Northwestern Europe, constituting the major portion of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east...
, in comparison with India.
Reception in the West
An important development during the British colonial period was the influence Hindu traditions began to form on
WestWest is most commonly a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.West is one of the four cardinal directions or compass points...
ern thought and new religious movements. An early champion of Indian-inspired thought in the West was
Arthur SchopenhauerArthur Schopenhauer was a German philosopher known for his atheistic pessimism and philosophical clarity...
who in the 1850s advocated ethnics based on an "Aryan-Vedic theme of spiritual self-conquest", as opposed to the ignorant drive toward earthly utopianism of the superficially this-worldly "Jewish" spirit. Helena Blavatsky moved to India in 1879, and her
Theosophical Society]The Theosophy Society - Adyar is the original Theosophical Society founded by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and others in 1875. Its headquarters moved with Blavatsky and president Henry Steel Olcott to Adyar, an area of Chennai in 1883...
, founded in New York in 1875, evolved into a peculiar mixture of Western occultism and Hindu mysticism over the last years of her life.
The sojourn of Vivekananda to the World Parliament of Religions in
ChicagoChicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois, and with more than 2.8 million people, the 3rd largest city in the United States...
in 1893 had a lasting effect. Vivekananda founded the
Ramakrishna MissionRamakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission are twin organizations which form the core of a worldwide spiritual movement known as Ramakrishna Movement or Vedanta Movement. The Ramakrishna Mission is a philanthropic, volunteer organization founded by Sri Ramakrishna's chief disciple Swami Vivekananda...
, a Hindu missionary organization still active today.
In the early 20th century, Western occultists influenced by Hinduism include Maximiani Portaz - an advocate of "Aryan Paganism" - who styled herself
Savitri Devi and
Jakob Wilhelm HauerJakob Wilhelm Hauer was a German Indologist and religious studies writer. He was the founder of the German Faith Movement.-Biography:...
, founder of the
German Faith MovementThe German Faith Movement was closely associated with Jakob Wilhelm Hauer during the Third Reich and sought to move Germany away from Christianity towards a religion based on "immediate experience" of God...
. It was in this period, and until the
1920sThe 1920s was the decade that ran from January 1, 1920, to December 31, 1929. It is sometimes referred to as the Roaring Twenties or the Jazz Age, when speaking about the United States, Canada or the United Kingdom...
, that the
swastikaThe swastika is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles, in either right-facing form or its mirrored left-facing form. Archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates from the Neolithic period and was first found in the Indus Valley Civilization of the Indian...
became an
ubiquitous symbol of goodlooks in the WestThe swastika is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles, in either right-facing form or its mirrored left-facing form. Archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates from the Neolithic period and was first found in the Indus Valley Civilization of the Indian...
before its association with the Nazi Party became dominant in the 1930s.
Hinduism-inspired elements in
TheosophyTheosophy is a doctrine of religious philosophy and metaphysics. Theosophy holds that all religions are attempts by the "Spiritual Hierarchy" to help humanity in evolving to greater perfection, and that each religion therefore has a portion of the truth...
were also inherited by the spin-off movements of
AriosophyArmanism and Ariosophy are the names of ideological systems of an esoteric nature, pioneered by Guido von List and Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels respectively, in Austria between 1890 and 1930. List also used the name Wotanism, whereas Lanz also used the names Theozoology and Ario-Christianity...
and
AnthroposophyAnthroposophy, a spiritual philosophy based on the teachings of Rudolf Steiner, postulates the existence of an objective, intellectually comprehensible spiritual world accessible to direct experience through inner development—more specifically through cultivating conscientiously a form of...
and ultimately contributed to the renewed
New AgeThe New Age is a decentralized Western social and spiritual movement that seeks "Universal Truth" and the attainment of the highest individual human potential. It includes aspects of cosmology, astrology, esotericism, alternative medicine, music, collectivism, sustainability, and nature...
boom of the 1960s to 1980s, the term
New Age itself deriving from Blavatsky's 1888
The Secret DoctrineThe Secret Doctrine, the Synthesis of Science, Religion and Philosophy, a book originally published as two volumes in 1888, is Helena P. Blavatsky's magnum opus. The first volume is named Cosmogenesis, the second Anthropogenesis...
.
Contemporary Hinduism
As of 2007, of an estimated 944 million Hindus, 98.5% live in South Asia. Of the remaining 1.5% or 14 million, 6 million live in Southeast Asia (mostly
IndonesiaThe Republic of Indonesia is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia comprises 17,508 islands. With an estimated population of around 237 million people, it is the world's fourth most populous country, with the world's largest population of Muslims.Indonesia is a republic, with an...
), 2 million in
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
, 1.8 million in
North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
, 1.2 million in
Southern AfricaSouthern Africa is the southernmost region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. Within the region are numerous territories, including the Republic of South Africa ; nowadays, the simpler term South Africa is generally reserved for the country in English.-UN...
.
Modern Hinduism is the reflection of continuity and progressive changes that occurred in various traditions and institutions of Hinduism during the
19thThe 19th century was a period in history marked by the collapse of the Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Ottoman, Holy Roman and Mughal empires...
and 20th centuries.
Its main divisions are into
VaishnavismVaishnavism is a tradition of Hinduism, distinguished from other schools by its worship of Vishnu or his associated avatars, principally as Rama and Krishna, as the original and supreme God. This worship in different perspectives or historical traditions addresses God under the names of Narayana,...
(largely influenced by
BhaktiBhakti in practice signifies an active involvement by the devotee in divine worship. The term is often translated as "devotion", though increasingly "participation" is being used as a more accurate rendering, since it conveys a fully engaged relationship with God...
),
ShaivismShaivism names the oldest of the four sects of Hinduism. Followers of Shaivism, called "Shaivas," and also "Saivas" or "Saivites," revere Shiva as the Supreme Being. Shaivas believe that Shiva is All and in all, the creator, preserver, destroyer, revealer and concealer of all that is. Shaivism is...
,
ShaktismShaktism is a denomination of Hinduism that focuses worship upon Shakti or Devi – the Hindu Divine Mother – as the absolute, ultimate Godhead...
and
SmartismSmartism is a denomination of the Hindu religion. The term Smarta refers to adherents who follow the Vedas and Shastras. They mainly follow the Advaita Vedanta philosophy of Adi Shankara...
(
Advaita VedantaAdvaita Vedanta is a sub-school of the Vedānta school of Hindu philosophy. Other major sub-schools of Vedānta are Dvaita and . Advaita is a monistic system of thought...
).
Besides these traditional denominations, movements of Hindu revivalism look to founders such as
Swami VivekanandaSwami Vivekananda , born Narendranath Dutta is the chief disciple of the 19th century mystic Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and the founder of Ramakrishna Mission...
, Swami Dayananda (
Arya SamajArya Samaj is a Hindu reform movement founded in India by Swami Dayananda in 1875. He was a sannyasi who believed in the infallible authority of the Vedas. Dayananda advocated the doctrine of karma and reincarnation, and emphasized the ideals of brahmacharya and sanyasa...
),
Rabindranath TagoreRabindranath Tagore , sobriquet Gurudev, was a Bengali polymath. As a poet, novelist, musician, and playwright, he reshaped Bengali literature and music in the late 19th and early 20th centuries...
,
Ramana MaharshiSri Ramana Maharshi , born Venkataraman Iyer, was an Indian sage. He was born to a Tamil-speaking Brahmin family in Tiruchuzhi, Tamil Nadu. After having attained liberation at the age of 16, he left home for Arunachala, a mountain considered sacred by Hindus, at Tiruvannamalai, and lived there for...
, Aurobindo,
Shriram Sharma AcharyaShriram Sharma was an Indian seer, sage, a visionary of the New Golden Era and the Founder of the All World Gayatri Pariwar....
,
Swami SivanandaSwami Sivananda Saraswati was a Hindu spiritual teacher and a well known proponent of Sivananda Yoga and Vedanta. Sivananda was born Kuppuswami in Pattamadai, in the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu. He studied medicine and served in Malaya as a physician for several years before taking up...
,
Swami Rama TirthaSwami Rama Tirtha , was an Indian teacher of the Hindu philosophy of Vedanta. He was among the first notable teachers of Hinduism to lecture in the United States, traveling there in 1902. He was preceded by Swami Vivekananda in 1893, and followed by Paramahansa Yogananda in 1920...
,
Narayana GuruNārāyana Guru , also known as Sree Nārāyana Guru Swami, was a Hindu saint, sage, prophetand social reformer of India. The Guru was born into an Ezhava family, in an era when people from backward communities like the Ezhavas faced much social injustices in the caste-ridden Kerala society...
, Paramhansa Yogananda, Shrii Shrii Anandamurti,
Pandurang Shastri AthavalePandurang Shastri Vaijnath Athavale , also known as Dada-ji , which literally translates as elder brother in Marathi, was a Indian philosopher, spiritual leader, social reformer and Hinduism reformist, who founded the Swadhyay Movement and the Swadhyay Parivar organization in 1954 , a...
(
Swadhyay Movement- Swadhyaya :Swadhyaya is a socio-spiritual movement set up by noted Indian philosopher and orator, Pandurang Shastri Athavale, also known as Dadaji in 1950s...
) and others.
Influential in spreading Hinduism to a western audience were A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (Hare Krishna movement),
Sri AurobindoSri Aurobindo was an Indian nationalist and freedom fighter, poet, philosopher, and yogi...
,
Meher BabaMeher Baba , , born Merwan Sheriar Irani, was an Indian mystic and spiritual master who declared publicly in 1954 that he was the Avatar of the age....
,
Jiddu KrishnamurtiJiddu Krishnamurti or J. Krishnamurti or , was a renowned writer and speaker on philosophical and spiritual subjects. His subject matter included: psychological revolution, the nature of the mind, meditation, human relationships, and bringing about positive change in society...
,
OshoOshō is the Japanese reading of the Chinese he shang , meaning a high-ranking Buddhist monk or highly virtuous Buddhist monk. It is also a respectful designation for Buddhist monks in general and may be used with the suffix -san...
,
Maharishi Mahesh YogiMaharishi Mahesh Yogi introduced the Transcendental Meditation technique and related programs and initiatives, including schools and universities with campuses in several countries including India, the United States, Mexico, the United Kingdom and China.In approximately 1939, the Maharishi became...
(
Transcendental MeditationThe Transcendental Meditation technique, or TM technique is a form of mantra meditation introduced in India in 1955 by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi...
),
Sathya Sai BabaSathya Sai Baba , is a South Indian guru, religious figure, and educator. He is described by his devotees as an avatar, godman, spiritual teacher, and miracle worker...
,
Mother MeeraFor other uses of the name; see Meera Mother Meera, born Kamala Reddy is believed by her devotees to be an embodiment of the Divine Mother .-Life account:...
, among others.
The
HindutvaHindutva is the term used to describe movements advocating Hindu nationalism....
movement advocating
Hindu nationalismHindu nationalism has been collectively referred to the expressions of social and political thought, based on the native spiritual and cultural traditions of India...
originated in the 1920s and has remained a strong political force in India. The major party of the religious right,
Bharatiya Janata PartyThe Bharatiya Janata Party , translation: Indian People's Party) is a major political party in India, founded in 1980. The party is a strong force in Hindu nationalism and advocates conservative social policies, self-reliance, free market economics, foreign policy driven by a nationalist agenda,...
, since its foundation in 1980 has won several elections, and after a
defeat in 2004Legislative elections were held in India, the world's largest democracy and a Republic, in four phases between April 20 and May 10, 2004. Over 670 million people were eligible to vote, electing 543 members of the 14th Lok Sabha...
remains the leading force of opposition against the current
Congress PartyThe Indian National Congress is a major political party in India. Founded in 1885 by Allan Octavian Hume, Dadabhai Naoroji, Dinshaw Wacha, Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee, Surendranath Banerjee, Monomohun Ghose, and William Wedderburn, the Indian National Congress became the leader of the Indian...
government.
The resurgence of
Hinduism in IndonesiaHinduism in Indonesia, also known by its formal Indonesian name Agama Hindu Dharma, refers to Hinduism as practised in Indonesia. It is practised by 93% of the population of Bali, but also in Sumatra, Java , Lombok and Kalimantan. Only about 3% of Indonesian population is officially Hindu...
is occurring in all parts of the country. In the early seventies, the
TorajaThe Toraja are an ethnic group indigenous to a mountainous region of South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Their population is approximately 650,000, of which 450,000 still live in the regency of Tana Toraja . Most of the population is Christian, and others are Muslim or have local animist beliefs known as aluk...
people of
SulawesiSulawesi is one of the four larger Sunda Islands of Indonesia and is situated between Borneo and the Maluku Islands.- Etymology :...
were the first to be identified under the umbrella of 'Hinduism', followed by the Karo Batak of Sumatra in 1977 and the Ngaju Dayak of Kalimantan in 1980.
The growth of Hinduism has been driven also by the famous Javanese prophesies of
SabdapalonSabdapalon was a priest and adviser to Brawijaya V, the last ruler of the Hindu empire Majapahit in Java. He was mentioned in Darmagandhul, a Javanese spiritual story. He was also said to have cursed his king upon the conversion of the latter to Islam in 1478...
and Jayabaya. Many recent converts to Hinduism had been members of the families of
SukarnoSukarno, born Kusno Sosrodihardjo was the first President of Indonesia. He helped the country win its independence from the Netherlands and was President from 1945 to 1967, presiding with mixed success over the country's turbulent transition to independence...
's PNI, and now support
Megawati Sukarnoputri, also known simply as Megawati, is an Indonesian politician, and leader of opposition party PDI-P. She served as the President of Indonesia from 23 July 2001 to 20 October 2004 and was the country's first female President. She is also the first Indonesian leader to be born after independence...
. This return to the 'religion of Majapahit' (Hinduism) is a matter of nationalist pride.
The new Hindu communities in Java tend to be concentrated around recently built temples (
pura) or around archaeological temple sites (
candi) which are being reclaimed as places of Hindu worship. An important new Hindu temple in eastern Java is Pura Mandaragiri Sumeru Agung, located on the slope of
Mt. SemeruSemeru also Mount Semeru or Gunung Semeru - located in East Java is the highest mountain on the island of Java, Indonesia and one of its most active volcanoes....
, Java's highest mountain. Mass conversions have also occurred in the region around Pura Agung Blambangan, another new temple, built on a site with minor archaeological remnants attributed to the kingdom of Blambangan, the last Hindu polity on Java, and Pura Loka Moksa Jayabaya (in the village of Menang near Kediri).
See also
- History of India
The known history of India - the name in this context includes the areas now known as India, Pakistan and Bangladesh - begins with the Indus Valley Civilization, which spread and flourished in the north-western part of the Indian subcontinent, from c. 3300 to 1300 BCE. Its Mature Harappan period...
- History of Yoga
Yoga derives from prehistoric roots, and develops out of ancient Indian asceticism .Yoga as a Hindu philosophy is first expounded in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. This earliest school of Yoga retrospectively came to be known by the retronym Raja Yoga to distinguish it from later schools.-Indus...
- History of Shaivism
Shaivism , refers to the religious traditions of Hinduism that focus on the deity Shiva.The worship of Shiva is a pan-Hindu tradition, practiced widely across all of India, Sri Lanka and Nepal. Shaivism has many different schools showing both regional variations and differences in philosophy...
- Indian religions
- Religion in India
Indian religions are the related religious traditions that originated in the Indian subcontinent, namely Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Ayyavazhi, inclusive of their sub-schools and various related traditions. They form a subgroup of the larger class of "Eastern religions"...
Further reading
- Benjamin Walker
Benjamin Walker is the truncated pen name of George Benjamin Walker, who also writes under the pseudonym Jivan Bhakar. He is a British citizen, and an Indian-born author on religion and philosophy, and an authority on esoterica in all its curious forms.He was born George Benjamin Walker, in...
Hindu World: An Encyclopedic Survey of Hinduism, (Two Volumes), Allen & Unwin, London, 1968; Praeger, New York, 1968; Munshiram Manohar Lal, New Delhi, 1983; Harper Collins, New Delhi, 1985; Rupa, New Delhi, 2005, ISBN 81-291-0670-1.
External links