Early texts were centralized around sacrifice and the sharing of it with others and the gods. During the Medieval Period there is a rise of devotion (bhakti) to the major gods: Vishnu, Shiva and Devi. Historians believe that either Indus Valley groups invaded India and recorded their religion along with elements from indigenous tribes in the Veda.
Early texts were centralized around sacrifice and the sharing of it with others and the gods. During the Medieval Period there is a rise of devotion (bhakti) to the major gods: Vishnu, Shiva and Devi. Historians believe that either Indus Valley groups invaded India and recorded their religion along with elements from indigenous tribes in the Veda.
Early texts were centralized around sacrifice and the sharing of it with others and the gods. During the Medieval Period there is a rise of devotion (bhakti) to the major gods: Vishnu, Shiva and Devi. Historians believe that either Indus Valley groups invaded India and recorded their religion along with elements from indigenous tribes in the Veda.
These early texts were centralized around sacrifice
and the sharing of it with others and the gods. Sacrifices were not only limited to animals, and was anything offered to the sacred fire. Some of these vedic rituals were very complex, and these sacrifices went to the many gods who ruled the three separate, domains of the universe: earth, atmosphere and sky.
Medieval Period (500 CE1500 CE)
During the medieval period there is a rise of devotion (bhakti) to the major gods: Vishnu, Shiva and Devi. The fall of the Gupta empire led to the adoption of different traditions in each region. This increased devotion led to the construction of many great temples that served as hubs for religious and political power. Works of literature developed in Sanskrit and Tamil, where saints recorded their teachings in poems. Teachers (gurus) that followed gathered these works, and formed new theories and ideas infusing their own ideals (sampradaya). This led to many important new philosophers in the separate
Hinduism originated in India sometime around 2000
traditions. The Tantras grew popular in this time period,
BCE. It is not one sole religion; instead it encompasses a
and they superseded the Veda.
multitude of religions consisting of common components
but having no consolidated structure. Remains of religious activity have been found in the Indus Valley;
The Epic, Puranic and Classical
Age (500 BCE500 CE)
however, it is unclear whether or not these are from
early forms of Hinduism.
The Pre-Modern Period
(15001757 CE)
The Vedic Period (c.1500c.500 BCE)
During the Vedic Period, historians believe that either Indus Valley groups invaded India and recorded their religion along with elements from indigenous tribes in the Veda, or that the culture that developed in the Indus Valley overtime was Aryan culture. In both cases this lead to development of Hinduisms traditions. Historians primarily gained insight on this period
Dharma, which is the idea of an overriding law that
Muslims took control of parts of India during the 16th
keeps order to the universe, was manifested in this era.
century. While the Mughal emperor Akbar was willing to
People began to focus more on the worship of deities in
let the conquered peoples practice Hinduism, his great
from the Neolithic period. The Vedic Period generally
temples, and fire sacrifice became less common.
grandson Aurangzeb was not. Many temples were
refers to time when the Vedas were composed.
Three traditions were also born out of this era:
destroyed during his reign.The Sant tradition is started in
Vaishnavism (Vishnu), Shaivism (Shiva), and Shaktism
the north during this time period, which combined aspects
(Devi).
of bhakti, meditation or yoga, and Islamic mysticism.
through its language and archeology. The language of
the vedic culture was vedic Sanskrit. Historians have interestingly found archeological continuities in India