HISTORY OF HINDUISM_Powerpointpresentation

History of Hinduism

1. HINDUISM BRIEF HISTORY, CORE TEACHINGS, FUNDAMENTAL BELIEFS, PRACTICES AND RELATED ISSUES IWRBS GRADE 11 SAPPHIRE DACUDAC NHS

2. ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENT Hinduism is one of the world's oldest religions, with its origins tracing back over 4,000 years. Unlike other major religions, Hinduism has no single founder Instead, it evolved over time through cultural and religious traditions from ancient civilizations, primarily in the Indian subcontinent

3. ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENT The earliest evidence of Hinduism comes from the Indus Valley Civilization (c. 2500–1500 BCE), where archaeological findings suggest early forms of religious worship, including rituals, fertility symbols, and water-based purification practices Around 1500 BCE, Indo-Aryan tribes migrated to India, bringing with them the Vedas, the oldest sacred texts of Hinduism

4. ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENT This marked the beginning of the Vedic Period (1500–500 BCE), during which Hindu religious practices and social structures, such as the caste system, began to develop. Hinduism does not have a single founder

5. ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENT Unlike religions such as Christianity (founded by Jesus Christ) or Islam (founded by Prophet Muhammad), Hinduism evolved over thousands of years through the traditions, beliefs, and practices of ancient civilizations, particularly the Indus Valley Civilization (c. 2500–1500 BCE) and the Vedic culture introduced by the Indo-Aryans (c. 1500 BCE). Instead of a founder, Hinduism developed from a collection of teachings found in ancient scriptures like the Vedas, which were composed by early sages (rishis)

6. Key figures who shaped Hindu thought over time Vyasa – credited with compiling the Vedas and writing the Mahabharata, which includes the Bhagavad Gita. Valmiki – author of the Ramayana . Shankaracharya (8th century CE) – a philosopher who revived and systematized Advaita Vedanta (non-dualism) . Swami Vivekananda (19th century CE) – a modern Hindu reformer who promoted Hindu philosophy globally. Since Hinduism is a diverse and evolving tradition, it is often called the “Sanatana Dharma” (Eternal Order) rather than a religion founded by one person.

7. ORIGINS AMND DEVELOPMENT Since Hinduism is a diverse and evolving tradition, it is often called the “Sanatana Dharma” (Eternal Order) rather than a religion founded by one person.

8. WHAT IS HINDUISM? T he world oldest organized religion that begin on the Indian subcontinent with no specific moment of origin and specific founder Asian countries with considerable Hindu faithful includes Nepal( 23 million) Bangladesh (15 million ) and Indonesia (3.9 million in Bali ) There are other religion that sprung In India have their origins in Hinduism like the Jainism, Budhism and Sikhism

9. WHAT IS HINDUISM? Their sacred scriptures were categorized as Shruti and Smriti. Hinduism is the oldest living religion on Earth I ts many sacred texts in Sanskrit and vernacular languages served as a vehicle for spreading the religion to other parts of the world, though ritual and the visual and performing arts also played a significant role in its transmission

10. WHAT IS HINDUISM? Hinduism became familiar as a designator of religious ideas and practices distinctive to India with the publication of books such as Hinduism (1877) by Sir Monier Monier_x0002_Williams, the notable Oxford scholar and author of an influential Sanskrit dictionary. Initially it was an outsiders' term, building on centuries-old usages of the word Hindu Early travelers to the Indus valley, beginning with the Greeks and Persians, spoke of its inhabitants as “Hindu” (Greek: ‘indoi).

11. DOCTRINE The first of the five strands of Hinduism is doctrine, as expressed in a vast textual tradition anchored to the Veda The term Veda means knowledge or sacred lore

12. The F our B asic Vedic Rig Veda - most important and oldest book a collection of over a thousand hymns and more than thousand verses dedicated to pantheon of gods. Sama Veda - knowledge of chants. Yajur Veda - knowledge of rites, the collection of verses from the hymns recited by priests during sacrifices. Atharva Ved a- knowledge given by the sage.

13. MAIN PARTS OF VEDAS Mantras - hymns and chants praising god. Brahmanas - explanation of the Mantras with detailed description of the s acrificial ceremonies Aranyakas - meditations that explicate their meaning Upanishads or the secret teaching transcend rituals to elucidate the nature of the universe and human connectiveness to it is also called Vedanta (Brown 1987)

14. K NOWLEDGE the oldest core of Hindu religious utterance, and organized through the centuries primarily by members of the learned Brahman class several characteristic tensions appear

15. Appeared Several Characteristic Tensions C oncerns the relationship between the divine and the world Tension c oncerns the disparity between the world-preserving ideal of dharma and that of moksha (release from an inherently flawed world) T ension exists between individual destiny, as shaped by karma (the influence of one's actions on one's present and future lives), and the individual's deep bonds to family, society, and the divinities associated with these concepts

16. I I . The Story: Beliefs and doctrines Another dimension drawing Hindus into a single community of discourse is narrative A t least two millennia, people in almost all corners of India—and now well beyond—have responded to stories of divine play and of interactions between gods and humans

17. M ajor figures in the Hindu pantheon Krishna and his lover Radha Rama and his wife Sita and brother Lakshmana Shiva and his consort Parvati (or, in a different birth, Sati) The Great Goddess Durga, or Devi, as a slayer of the buffalo demon Mahisasura

18. N arratives T he interpenetration of the divine and human spheres, with deities such as Krishna and Rama entering entirely into the human drama Many tales focus in different degrees on genealogies of human experience, forms of love, and the struggle between order and chaos or between duty and play In generating, performing, and listening to these stories, Hindus have often experienced themselves as members of a single imagined family S erve to articulate tensions connected with righteous behavior and social inequities T he Ramayana, traditionally a testament of Rama's righteous victories, is sometimes told by women performer. In north India lower-caste musicians present religious epics such as Alha or Dhola in terms that reflect their own experience of the world rather than the upper-caste milieu of the great Sanskrit.s as the story of Sita's travails at Rama's hands

19. BELIEFS AND DOCTRINES The Hindu faith offers its followers many paths to salvation. Their devotion to Trimurti. The central to Hinduism. Brahma- widely respected and recognized as the creator of the universe. His chief consort is Saraswati, the goddess of science and wisdom Vishnu – is known as god of love, benevolence and forgiveness. Vishnu’s consort is Lakhmi , the goddess of fortune who seated on a Lotus between elephants. Shiva – the destroyer, the god of death, destruction and disease. His most terrifying consort is Kali depicted as wearing a garland of human skulls, tearing the flesh of sacrificed victims and drinking blood.

20. I II . The routes to Moksha From the Upanishad one may find the three principal and interrelated doctrine 1. Every soul die and reborn anew in a new form (Samsara) 2. One’s deeds have an effect in this or a future life. 3. One may escape the weary round of death and birth -Moksha (Parrinder, 1971)

21. Every human is an eternal soul (atman) that is being reborn many times and in various forms in accordance to moral law (karma) (Bowler, 1997) The particular liberation can be achieved through the four yoga’s that involves a system of practice aimed in producing spiritual enlightenment The word yoga is derived from the root word Yuj which translates as” to yoke” or” to join”

22. THE FOUR YOGA

23. Worship and Observance Hindu scriptures state that there are 330 million gods and devas. M anifestation of natural phenomena, evil forces, even illnesses.

24. T he festivals celebrated by a Hindu in a year

25. F our P rincipal D enomination within the Hindu F aith Shaivaism – Lord Shiva, the compassionate one. They were self-discipline and philosophy. They worship in temples and practice yoga. Shaktism – the goddess Shakti is supreme, the divine mother and assumes many forms. They use chants, magic and yoga to summon cosmic forces. Vaishnavism – Their Lord is Vishnu, the incarnation of Krishna and Rama Adherents have multitudes of saints, temples, and sacred texts. Smartism - devotees are left to choose their own deity in one six manifestations namely Ganesha, Siva, Shakti, Vishnu, Surya and Skanda. Smartas are known as liberals as they embrace all major Hindu gods.

26. SELECTED ISSUES A. Hinduism and women In Manu smriti or the” Law of Manu” states that women should be honored in Hindu society. A woman’s life revolves around the men in her life to be taken-care of by her father in childhood, by her husband in married life and by her sons upon old age. Women are expected to perform Sati or Suttee wherein widowed women are expected to jump on the funeral pyre of their husband to prove their loyalty and help save the soul of their husband in the afterlife.

27. B. Caste System O ne major distinguishing feature in Indian culture that still affects the modern society. T he most deplorable group are those person that do not belong to any group – those who are disparagingly called “Outcast or Untouchables “also known as Dalits, they are highly ostracized in the society. Despite the negative backlash on the caste system, India has been receptive enacting legislative aimed at eradicating inherent social evils. The Indian constitution has provided unlawful discrimination against lower caste. Kocherii R. Narayanan is a dalit who become the tenth president of India from 1997-2002.

28. S ystem of S ocial C lass Brahmins - whatever their worldly avocations, claim to have by virtue of their birth the authority to teach the Veda, perform ritual sacrifices for others, and accept gifts and subsistence. Kshatriyas - to protect the people and that of the commoners. Vaishyas - to tend cattle, to trade, and to cultivate land. Shudras - to serve the others. According to Hindu tradition, the Veda should not be studied in the presence of Shudras, but they may listen to the recitation of epics and Puranas.