Hinduism is the majority religion in today’s India and Nepal. However, there are considerable Hindu populations in several other countries such as Indonesia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Malaysia, Great Britain and Mauritius. Worldwide, there are about 900 million people belonging to the Hindu religion and culture, which makes it the world’s third largest religion.
Vedic Period
Hinduism has passed through different periods during its history of several thousand years. Its origin is called the Vedic Period. Although it remains difficult to determine the exact age of the Vedas, they are believed to be at least 3500 years old, but may well be much older than that. Sacrifices and the chanting of Vedic hymns to the various gods and goddesses were characteristic for the early Vedic Period. The many different forms of the Divine were seen as closely related to the forces of nature. Thus, Indra was the Vedic god of thunder and Agni the god of fire.
The Upanishads
At that time, worship mainly consisted of fire sacrifices, which were held in nature – there were no temples. At the end of the Vedic Period, the Upanishads were written, representing a clear shift towards a more internal, philosophical spirituality. This was the time when concepts such as reincarnation, yoga and karma were formulated – concepts which have remained particularly important to the Hindu faith until today.
Classic Period
The following Classic Period of Hinduism started from about 500 BCE. It was during this period that deities such as Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, Ganesha and the divine incarnations Rama and Krishna became the main deities of Hinduism, displacing the hitherto dominating Vedic gods such as Indra and Agni. Temples were built and important scriptures such as the Ramayana, the Mahabharata including the Bhagavad Gita as well as the Puranas were recorded. All of these have continued to be popular scriptures which teach the abstract concepts of the Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita through lively, colorful stories.
Bhakti Yoga – The Path of Devotion
This was also the period of mysticism and the Bhakti movement - the path of loving devotion to the Divine open to people of all castes and sexes. It was also the beginning of Tantra, a spiritual path emphasizing the more female, sensual aspects of spirituality and cultivating practices such as mantra and yantra. Important spiritual concepts such as Shakti (the female energy aspect of the Divine) and Kundalini (serpent power) also belong to Tantra Yoga.
Islamic Influence
From the beginning of the 8th century CE, there was a growing Islamic influence, culminating in the almost complete rule over India by the Mughal (Mogul) Empire in the 17th century. The Muslim culture and people have enriched Hinduism in many ways and have contributed to Indian culture until today. Islam is the second largest religion in India today.
Neohinduism
The spiritual-social movement of Hindu Renaissance began in the 19th century. After many centuries of foreign rule, there was an awakening of Hindu nationalism and a common Hindu identity, leading to a strong independence movement. However, Neohinduism was mainly about re-discovering the ancient Hindu spirituality. This process was initiated by spiritual teachers (gurus) like Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and other Indian gurus of the 19th century. Today, Neohinduism is inspired by contemporary spiritual leaders such as Mata Amritanandamayi Ma and Sri Sathya Sai Baba.
Important Hindu Holy Scriptures
The Vedas, which are generally regarded as the timeless revelation of God received by the Vedic Rishis, are not the only important Hindu Holy scriptures. There are also the great epics Ramayana (story of Rama) and Mahabharata (the great story of the Bharatas, dealing mainly with the Krishna Avatar). The Bhagavad Gita with its immortal dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna on the battle field of Kurukshetra is in fact a part of the Mahabharata. The latter comprises more than 90,000 couplets, which makes it about six times as long as the Greek Illiad.
Read more at Suite101: A Short History of Hinduism: From the Vedic Period to Neohinduism http://www.suite101.com/content/a-short-history-of-hinduism-a182823#ixzz14zOO7sai
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