***the views are entirely personal and there is no intention to hurt any sentiments. the post is purely out of academic interest***
Hinduism is probably one of the most confused modern religions. Beginning with the tag of 'religion' and the name 'Hinduism'. For 'Hindu' is the Persian version of the name 'Sindhu', the grand river in north India on whose bank the ancient Indus valley civilization survived. For early Persians and most of the successive invaders and travelers, Hindus were the people who stayed on the banks of river Indus and beyond it.
If one studies Hinduism free from prejudices, it shows almost no signs of the existing trends of organized religion. It does not have a single prophet or saint. There is no single religious book like a Bible or Quran. Till date, no one has been able to assess the number of sects and cults that come under Hinduism. There is no way one can initiate oneself in to the Hinduism or no one can debar a person from practicing the religion.
After understanding the above points, it is hard to put Hinduism under the umbrella term of 'religion'.
As far as personal research guides me, the religion that we know today as Hinduism, has gone through the following stages of evolution-
- The pagan religion of Indus valley people.
Cult of Mother Goddess
Simple rituals of nature worship
-The amalgamation of the above with the Vedic religion.
Introduction of fire worship from Iran
worship of powerful, male Gods like Indra
Excess importance to sacrifices
- The Puranic religion of ancient age
Writing down of epics like Ramayan and Mahabharata
Deity-fication of religion.
Humanizing of deities
Idol worship
- Influence of Islam and Christianity throughout medieval period and Bhakti Cult
Need to stand out against the popularity of an organized, monotheistic religion of Islam
Increasing popularity of monotheistic sects of Vaishnav and Bhagwat
Redefining the idea of the tag of 'Hindu' with clear boundaries
Of course, Hinduism is not the only religion that has gone through a lot of transformation. But the fact worth pondering upon is that Hinduism is not a deliberate action, or an invention out of an idea. It can be compared to the stream, that flows through endless mountain ranges for an eternity, collecting everything in its stride, and turning itself in into a mighty river and quenching the thirst of millions. And a river is not a judge of what pollutes it and what adds to its beauty.
What amazes me is that the entire intellectual corpus of what is Hinduism, is based on a wafer thin assumption that it is a religion. In that way, it is much like India itself- something that survives solidly, based only on the assumption that it is actually a nation.
***Feel free to contradict me***
