Background Knowledge:

Hinduism is the major religion of India. Hindus now live and worship in many places outside

India as well..

How Hinduism Spread:

The Indian subcontinent is a vast region. Its people belong to many different ethnic groups.

An ethnic group is a group of people who share a distinctive culture and a sense of identity.

Long ago, each of these ethnic groups had its own language, rulers, and religion. Despite

these differences, most Indians became Hindu.

Several factors aided the growth of Hinduism in India. One was Hinduism’s flexibility, or

ability to adapt. Hinduism did not ask people to give up their old deities or ways of worship.

Instead , these deities and traditions simply were absorbed into Hinduism.

Hinduism was flexible in another way. Hindus did not form organized groups to worship

together. They prayed and made offerings to the deities at shrines in their homes or at local

temple. A shrine is a place of worship that is often dedicated to a sacred object or person. So,

no matter where Indians went, they could easily carry their religion with them.

As Hinduism spread, different sects developed in India. A sect is a smaller religious group that

has broken away from a larger established religion. Most sects centered around one special

deity.

Three Hindu sects attracted large number of followers.

(a) One was made of those who worshiped the deity Vishnu.

(b) A second popular sect grew up around the deity Shiva.

(c) A third sect was devoted to the deity Shakti. She was worshiped as the supreme

mother of the Universe.

Over time, Hinduism spread to other lands around the globe. In the first century A.D., Indian

merchants set up trading posts throughout Southeast Asia. Wherever they settled, Hindu

priests traveled with them. These travelling traders and priests introduced Hinduism to the

present day Country of Vietnam and the Island nations of present-day Borneo and Bali.

Today, those islands are part of Indonesia.

Migrating people from northern India took Hinduism into the mountain kingdom of Nepal.

Hindu Kings have ruled Nepal for hundreds of years. Today, 90 percent of Nepal ’s population

is Hindu, making Nepal the country with world ’s second largest Hindu population.

Sri-Lanka , the island at the Sothern tip of India , also has a large Hindu community today.

That island nation is home to more than two million Hindus. Wherever Hinduism spread in

Asia, It took on traditions from the local cultural. At the same time, the religion remained

Indian in spirit.

In more recent times, Hinduism has continued to spread around the world. Today Hindus

live in some 150 countries. In most cases , they or their ancestors originally came form

India. In the 1800s many Indians migrated to Caribbean islands to work. As a result, about

one forth of the people living on the Caribbean islands of Trinidad and Tobago practice

the Hindu religion.

In the past 50 years, large number of Hindus have migrated to Great Britain, the United

States, and Canada. More than a million Hindus now live in the United States. Today

Hinduism is the fifth-largest religion in the United States.

Hinduism today is the world’s third largest religion. More than 800 million people

worldwide follow this faith. However India remains the spiritual and cultural center of

Hinduism

Religious Traditions:

Over thousands of years, Hinduism has shaped Indian life. Placing flowers or food at a

shrine is a daily ritual in millions of Indian homes. The whole country takes part in Hindu

religious festivals throughout the year.

Most Indians believe that they live among holy places. Many rivers, mountains, rocks and

forest are connected with legends of gods and gurus. That may be one reason that

Hinduism remains so closely connected to its Indian homeland.

The mighty Ganges River is one of Indian’s holiest sites. Every year, hundreds of

thousands of pilgrims flock to the banks of Ganges to bathe in its waters. A pilgrim is

someone who travels to a shrine or sacred place. Some pilgrims believe that the waters of

Ganges will wash away bad Karma. Other come hoping that the river’s waters will cure a

disease of disability.

Intellectual Traditions:

Hinduism also shaped India’s intellectual traditions. Thinkers in ancient India asked

questions about life and death that still concern Hindus today. Because the early Hindu

texts were written in Sanskrit, that language became India’s first language of learning.

Long after Sanskrit ceased being used as spoken language, Indian scholars contined to

read and write in this ancient language.

Aesthetic Traditions:

Hinduism shaped India’s aesthetic, or artistic, traditions as well. The religion inspired

India’s first great works of literature. Today, people all over the world still read the

Mahabharata and Ramayana. In India passages from these epic poems are retold in comic

books and movies.

In addition, Hinduism encouraged the development of the arts. Hindu temples are

designed around religious ideas. Detailed carvings of gods and goddesses decorate temple

walls. Hindu temples are centers of art, music , and dance as well as places of worship. For

some one practicing the Hindu religion, the act of creating something beautiful is a form

of worship.