Hinduism is a religion or a way of living all around the world, also known as Sanatana Dharma is one of the oldest religions in the world still practiced which has neither founder, nor imposed dogma, nor uniformly organized clerical institution (the Brahmins can be from different schools).
In 2020, the number of faithful is estimated at 1.25 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global population, known as Hindus. Hinduism practice in more than 85 countries, it is currently the third most practiced religion in the world after Christianity and Islam. It comes from the Indian subcontinent which remains its main focus of settlement.
For the Muslims who entered India, the Persian term Hindu (from Sanskrit Sindhu) originally referred to the inhabitants of the Indus basin. The majority of Hindus have faith in the authority of Veda, considered “permanent” (Nitya), which was revealed to men in a “non-human” way (अपौरुषेय, apauruṣeya) by Brahma and through the “hearing” of the Rishi 10 (ie the“Sages”);
This is the opinion of the Brahmanic traditions like Vedanta and Mîmâmsâ (means “reflection” or “critical investigation”), but not for the Brahmanic schools of philosophy Nyâya and Vaisheshika which recognize the authority of the Veda while considering it Anitya (“impermanent”) and paurusheya (“human”). The authors of Vedic texts are not all identified, or in a legendary way as Vyāsa.
Hinduism is presented as a set of philosophical concepts stemming from a tradition dating back to Indian protohistory, Hindu practice undoubtedly stemming from a very ancient oral tradition, close to animism. We sometimes remember a historical tripartition that makes Hinduism the last phase of the development of religions in India, after Vedism (c. 1500-500 BC) and Brahmanism (-600 to 500 AD).
Beyond theological syncretism, Hinduism before Islam and European colonialism which submitted India to their authority 14 was a vector of all the sciences of its time: law, politics, architecture, astronomy, philosophy, Ayurvedic medicine, and other knowledge which shared the religious substratum.
Hinduism Facts
- Originated: Around 1500 B.C
- Original Name: Sanatana Dharma
- Place of Origin: Indus Valley (Near modern-day Pakistan)
- Founder:
Brahma (Creates the Universe)
Vishnu (Preserves the Universe)
Shiva (Destroys the Universe) - People: Indo-Aryan
- Classification: Indian religions
- Original Language: Sanskrit and Devanagari
- Scripture: Vedas, Puranas, Itihasa, and various other Hindu texts
- Follower: 1.25 Billion
- Hinduism present in:
Nepal 81.3%
India 79.8%
Mauritius 48.54%
Fiji 27.9%
Bhutan 25%
Guyana 24.8%
Suriname 22.3%
Trinidad and Tobago 18.2%
United Arab Emirates 15%
Sri Lanka 12.6%
Hinduism Origin and History
Most scholars consider Vedism, the religion of the Vedas practiced by the Indo-Aryan, at the origin of what we now refer to as “Hinduism”. This civilization originated in the Neolithic (7000 BC), developed from 3300 BC-2500 BC, and faded around 1800-1500 BC.
It was a highly developed agricultural and urbanized civilization, with commercial links with Mesopotamia, which has left important vestiges and works of art. Several elements of linguistic and iconographic heritage are documented between the Indus Valley Civilization and the Dravidian culture of southern India.
The large number of figurines representing female fertility found to indicate a cult to a “mother goddess”, which could be at the origin of the goddess cult of later Hinduism. The images of statuettes prefer to represent the female divinity in human form and the male divinity in animal form (especially bull, water buffalo, and zebu).
The Indus Valley Civilizations suddenly declined around the 19th century BC due, it would seem, to climate changes such as droughts or floods. Nevertheless in Mohenjo-Daro skeletons of victims of violent death have been found, fallen where they were found, according to Mortimer Wheeler this would, however, testify to the invasion of the indoor.
In 1500 BC, the arrival of the Indo-Aryan conquerors in the Punjab area, again for Thomas J. Hopkins and Alf Hiltebeitel, meant that this religious culture was inherited only by the Dravidian cultures of southern India, surviving in the North but limited to small rural communities and re-emerging in the late and post-Vedic period.
Vedic Period
The earliest evidence of the practice of Hinduism dates from the Late Neolithic to the Harappan civilization (5500-2600 BC). Beliefs and practices of the pre-classical period (XVI – VI centuries BC) are usually called Vedism. Modern Hinduism originated from the Vedas, the oldest of which is the Rig Veda, dated by most scholars to the second half of the 2nd millennium BC. e.
The Vedas are mainly dedicated to the worship of various devas (deities) such as Indra, Varuna, and Agni, they also contain a description of the Soma ritual. The main religious practice of the Vedic religion was the performance of fire sacrifices and the chanting of the Vedic mantras.
The ancient Vedic traditions bear a great resemblance to Zoroastrianism and other Indo-European religions.
Hinduism Beliefs
In Hinduism, there is a diversity of beliefs, but basically, the Hindus believe that behind the visible universe (“maia” or “Goddess powers”) – to which they attribute successive cycles of creation and destruction – is the principle that sustains the universe:
Brahman, that absolute that – considered through the veil of māyā (illusion) -, it is God [(Īśvara) mean “supreme soul, ruler, lord, king, queen or husband.”)]. Leaving the cycle of reincarnations (“samsara” or the concept of rebirth and “cyclicality of all life, matter, existence”) and returning to the divine principle is the greatest of all achievements for Hindus.
This god can be considered personal or impersonal. Personal worship constitutes bhakti (devotion), and impersonal worship implies jnana (wisdom). In the impersonal Hindu stream, God is called Brahman. All other beings are its expression, which is why it is considered the beginning of the universe.
This view can be called monism. It must be distinguished that impersonal Brahman is the non-personified aspect of God, 3 and is distinct from Brahma, who is the creator of this universe, but not the “one god.”
Brahma is a very high incarnated soul who temporarily occupies that position within the material world, but can fall from his place and be replaced by another soul. Depending on the complexity of each universe, the creative Brahma may have a different number of heads, up to a thousand.
One of the main characteristics of Hinduism is the varied concept of ishta devata (worshipper’s favorite deity). It recognizes that any person can have a personal conception of the Godhead, equally respectable, since God can have all the forms, and finally transcend them. Hence the infinity of representations of the Divine.