HinduismPart1_2 - UNIT I Religions Originating in India...

UNIT I: Religions Originating in
India
Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism,
Sikhism

Distribution of World Religions,
1980s

Adherents of Religions
Originating in India, 1998
•
Hindus 761,689,000 (12.8% )
•
Buddhists 353,794,000 (6.0%)
•
Jains 3,922,000 (0.1%)
•
Sikhs 22,332,000 (0.4%)
•
Total 1,141,737,000 (19.3%)

Hinduism – Part I -- Introduction
•
Origins of the Term Hinduism
•
Geography and Demography
•
Brief History of India

Hinduism
•
Third largest religion today after
Christianity and Islam.
•
Second fastest growing religion after Islam.
•
Amalgam of spiritual traditions originating
in South Asia
•
Unites
–
the worship of many gods
–
belief in a single divine reality.

Origins of the Term Hinduism
•
comes from Sindhus.
•
Sindhus = great Indus River in Sanskrit.
•
8
th
c. CE, Muslim invaders used Hindu to
designate people who lived east of the Indus
River.
•
19
th
c. the British used Hindu to designate the non-
Muslim natives in census-taking.
•
Later, South Asian intellectuals and politicians
accepted the term

Hinduism is Falsely Singular
•
Some traditions might justify
–
caste
–
social inequality
•
Others might argue
–
for the reform of society
–
for “God-given” egalitarianism
•
Some practice
–
animal sacrifices
–
extreme sensuality
•
others are non violent ascetics

Contrary to Christianity and
Islam, Hinduism
DOES NOT HAVE
- an identifiable founder
- a single canonical text accepted by all
followers
- a religious elite or single priestly group
who exert control over the development of
its fundamental beliefs and practices
- a strong organizational structure to defend
and spread its influence

How do Hindus Name their
Religion?
Dharma (in Sanskrit)
= Duty
= The ways things are intended to be
= Law
= Way of life and thought

Where do Hindus Live?
•
Mainly on the South Asian subcontinent
•
India
•
Nepal (the world’s only Hindu nation)
•
Pakistan and Bangladesh
•
Buddhist Sri Lanka
•
Burma, Malaysia, Indonesia, Fiji, and the
Caribbean

Demography
•
About 800 million Hindus in the world
•
in North America over one million
•
There are Euro-American converts to
Hinduism (the Hare Krishna movement)

Brief History of India
•
The two major ethnic groups in India are:
–
Indo-Aryans in northern India
–
Dravidians in southern India
•
The Dravidians = the aboriginal people of
India.
•
The Indo-Aryans = invaders?

Dravidian Harappa Civilization
•
When? From about 2500 BCE to 1500 BCE
•
Where? in the Indus Valley (in modern-day
Pakistan)
•
Significance: Religious symbols found at Harappa
still appear in contemporary Indian culture
•
seals depicting an ascetic male figure, sitting in yogic posture
•
natural elongated oval stones (= the low columns that some
Indians now worship in honor of the god Shiva)

Indus Valley Civilization

Great Bath, Mohenjo-Daro

Well, Mohenjo-Daro

Private bath, Mohenjo-Daro

Harappan Sewage Drain

Unicorn Seal