Overview of and topical guide to Hinduism
For alphabetial article index, see Index of Hinduism-related articles .
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Hinduism:
Hinduism religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent .[1] Hindus , who refer to it as Sanātana Dharma [2] Sanskrit : सनातनधर्मः , lit. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] historical Vedic religion of Iron Age India and, as such, Hinduism is often called the "oldest living religion "[8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
For timeline, see Timeline of Hinduism .
General reference [ ] Pronunciation:
IPA : hindo͞oˌizəm Common English name: Hinduism
Adherent(s): Hindus
Sacred language : Sanskrit (sa Sacred sign : Om (ॐ)History [ ] Main article: History of Hinduism
History of Hinduism in Pakistan History of Hinduism in Southeast Asia History of Hinduism in Afghanistan History of Hinduism in China History of Hinduism in the Philippines Prehistoric [ ] Indus Valley Civilisation Dravidian folk religion Vedic history [ ] Main article: Vedic period
Historical Vedic religion Vedic Sanskrit Iron Age in India Proto-Indo-Europeans Proto-Indo-European religion Proto-Indo-Iranian religion Indo-Aryan migrations Denomination [ ] Main article: Hindu denominations
Vaishnavism [ ] Main article: Vaishnavism
Manipuri Vaishnavism Bhagavatism Vaikhanasas Pancharatra Thenkalais Vadakalais
Krishnaism Jagannathism Warkari Mahanubhava Haridasa Sahajiya
Pushtimarg Ekasarana Gaudiya Radha-vallabha Ramanandi Kapadi Balmiki Kabir panth Dadu panth Pranami Swaminarayan Ramsnehi Mahanam Shaivism [ ] Main article: Shaivism
Three bondages
Karma Maya 36 Tattvas Yoga Satkaryavada Abhasavada Svatantrya Aham Samariscus
Vibhuti Rudraksha Panchakshara Bilva Maha Shivaratri Yamas -Niyamas Guru -Linga -Jangam Philosphies and Schools
Adi Margam
Pashupata Kalamukha Kapalika Mantra Margam Saiddhantika Siddhantism Non - Saiddhantika Kashmir Shaivism
Others
Nath
Veerashaiva /Lingayatism Siddharism Sroutaism Aghori Indonesian Newer movements [ ] Main articles: Hindu reform movements and Neo-Vedanta
Further information: Contemporary Sant Mat movements
Advait Mat
American Meditation Institute Ananda (Ananda Yoga )Ananda Ashrama Ananda Marga Art of Living Foundation Arya Samaj Ayyavazhi Brahma Kumaris Brahmoism (Brahmo Samaj )
Adi Dharm Sadharan Brahmo Samaj Chinmaya Mission Datta Yoga Divine Life Society Hanuman Foundation Himalayan Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy Advaita Vedanta Akshar-Purushottam Darshan Bhedabheda
Achintya Bheda Abheda Dvaitadvaita Dvaita Vedanta Integral yoga Pratyabhijna Shaiva Siddhanta Shiva Advaita Shuddhadvaita Vishishtadvaita Practices [ ] Festivals [ ] Main article: List of Hindu festivals
Diwali Holi Shivaratri Raksha Bandhan Navaratri
Durga Puja Ramlila Vijayadashami Ganesh Chaturthi Rama Navami Janmashtami Onam Pongal Makar Sankranti New Year
Kumbh Mela
Haridwar Nashik Prayag Ujjain show Festivals in the Hindu calendar Major
Bihu Chhath Dashahara Diwali
Dhanteras Naraka Chaturdashi Lakshmi Puja Balipratipada Bhaubeej Durga Puja
Ayudha Puja Vijayadashami Ganesh Festival
Ganesh Chaturthi Ananta Chaturdashi
Holi Galungan (Bali )Kartik Purnima Kali Puja Krishna Janmashtami Maha Shivaratri Makar Sankranti Nyepi (Bali )Navaratri Onam Pongal Rama Navami Thaipusam Bhratri Dwitiya Ratha-Yatra Vasant Panchami Other Regional
Balipratipada (Gujarati, Rajasthani)Bohag Bihu (Assamese)Bisu Parba (Tulu)Chaitra Navaratri (North & Central India (Lunar))Cheti Chand (Sindhi)Gudi Padwa (Marathi, Konkani)Mha Puja (Newari)Jur Sital (Maithili)Navreh (Kashmiri)Nyepi (Bali )Pana Sankranti (Odia)Pahela Baishakh (Bengali)Puthandu (Tamil)Ugadi (Telugu, Kannada)Vaisakhi (Punjabi, North & Central India(Solar), Nepali)Vishu (Malayali) Holy days Holy periods
Hindu festivals
Philosophy [ ] Main article: Hindu philosophy
Bhakti Krishnaism Supreme Personality of Godhead Japa Yoga Meditation Hare Krishna Mantras Puja Arati Bhajan Kirtan Sattvic diet Ahimsa Rishis Tilaka Guru Diksha Dashavatara
Matsya Kurma Varaha Krishna Balarama Rama Narasimha Vamana Buddha Parashurama Kalki Dhanvantari Kapila Pancha-tattva
Politics [ ] Hindu studies Hindutva Hindu nationalism Hindu groups and political parties [ ] Bharatiya Janata Party Shiv Sena All Jammu and Kashmir Praja Parishad Asom Bharatiya Janata Party Maharashtra Navnirman Sena Hindu Munnani Hindu Dharma Samudaya of Bhutan Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party Hindu Makkal Katchi Dr. Syamaprasad Jana Jagaran Manch Bharath Dharma Jana Sena Hindu Mahasabha Hindu Mahajana Sangam Hindu Samhati Shivsena Nepal Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal Rastriya Prajatantra Party Hindu Prajatantrik Party Siva Senai Banga Sena Swadhin Bangabhumi Andolan Pakistan Hindu Party Progressive Reform Party (Suriname) HINDRAF Malaysia Makkal Sakti Party Malaysian Ceylonese Congress Malaysian Advancement Party Minority Rights Action Party Sangh Parivar
Vishva Hindu Parishad Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh Bharatiya Kisan Sangh Bajrang Dal Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh Akhil Bharatiya Adhivakta Parishad Swadeshi Jagaran Manch Deen Dayal Shodh Sansthan Bharat Vikas Parishad Sabarimala Ayyappa Seva Samajam Seva Bharati Hindu Aikya Vedi Ekal Vidyalaya Saraswati Shishu Mandir Vidya Bharati Akhil Bharatiya Shiksha Sansthan Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram Friends of Tribals Society Akhil Bharatiya Itihas Sankalan Yojana India Development and Relief Fund show Organisations
Foundation
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Political party
Bharatiya Janata Party (1980-present)Bharatiya Jana Sangh (1951-1977)Akhil Bharatiya Ram Rajya Parishad (1948-1971) Religion-specific wings Strata and trade based wings
Farmers wing: Bharatiya Kisan Sangh
Rashtra Sevika Samiti Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh NGOs and social welfare:
Akshaya Patra Foundation
Ekal Vidyalaya Vidya Bharati Seva Bharati Vivekananda Kendra Bharat Vikas Parishad Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram Think tank affiliates Project specific
Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas Sabarimala Ayyappa Seva Samajam
Sarsanghchalaks
Present
Mohan Bhagwat (2009–present) Past
K. S. Sudarshan (2000–2009)Rajendra Singh (1994–2000)Madhukar Dattatraya Deoras (1973–1994)M. S. Golwalkar (1940–1973)Laxman Vasudev Paranjape (1930–1931)K. B. Hedgewar (1925–1930 and 1931–1940)
Other Major figures
Head of state
Atal Bihari Vajpayee (Prime Minister of India)Lal Krishna Advani (Deputy Prime Minister of India)Narendra Modi (Prime Minister of India)Ram Nath Kovind (President of India)Venkaiah Naidu (Vice President of India) Chief Ministers or Governors
Biplab Kumar Deb (CM of Tripura)Devendra Fadnavis Jai Ram Thakur (CM of Himachal Pradesh)Kailashpati Mishra (Governor of Gujarat)Manohar Lal Khattar (CM of Haryana)Manohar Parrikar (CM of Goa)Pushkar Singh Dhami (CM of Uttrakhand)Rama Jois (Governor of Bihar & Jharkhand)Raman Singh (CM of Chattisgarh)Renu Devi (Deputy CM of Bihar)Tarkishore Prasad (Deputy CM of Bihar)Trivendra Singh Rawat (CM of Uttrakhand)Yogi Adityanath (CM of Uttar Pradesh) Union Minister
Amit Shah Arun Jaitley Deendayal Upadhyaya Jana Krishnamurthi Murli Manohar Joshi Syama Prasad Mukherjee Member of Parliament
Dattopant Thengadi Kushabhau Thakre Nanaji Deshmukh Freedom fighters
Balkrishna Shivram Moonje Vinayak Damodar Savarkar Senior officials or affiliates
Ashok Singhal Babasaheb Apte Bal Thackeray Chinmayananda Saraswati Eknath Ranade Prabhakar Balwant Dani Praveen Togadia Ram Madhav Ramchandra Das Paramhans S. S. Apte Suresh Joshi Sambhaji Bhide Activists
Authors
Present
Arun Shourie David Frawley D. P. Agrawal Dilip Kumar Chakrabarti François Gautier Koenraad Elst Michel Danino Rajiv Malhotra Ram Gopal Subhash Kak Suresh Chavhanke Walter K. Andersen Past
Balraj Madhok Dharampal Girilal Jain (editor of Times of India)K. D. Sethna (born as a Parsi )K. S. Lal (PhD, historian)Malati Shendge (PhD, indologist and historian)N. S. Rajaram (PhD)Raj Krishna (PhD)Rajiv Dixit (activist)Ram Swarup Sita Ram Goel Swaraj Prakash Gupta (PhD, archaeologist)
Philosophy
Cultural Hinduism
Bharat Mata Hindu nationalism Hindutva Greater India
Integral humanism
Equality without appeasement No minoritarianism Sarva Dharma Sama Bhava (equality of all faiths without supremacist tenants)Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (universe is one family)Dharma-Dhamma unity
Unity of Indian-origin religions Hinduism Buddhism Jainism Sikhism
show Hindu Nationalism
General ideology Organisations
India
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Sangh Parivar Arya Samaj Bharatiya Janata Party Shiv Sena Vishva Hindu Parishad Abhinav Bharat Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha Karni Sena Hindu Samhati Bajrang Dal Bhartiya Gau Raksha Dal Bharatiya Janshakti Party Hindu Janajagruti Samiti Hindu Munnani Hindu Sena Sri Ram Sena Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party Panun Kashmir Sanatan Sanstha Nepal Overseas
Banga Sena Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh Siva Senai HINDRAF Hindu Dharma Samudaya of Bhutan Defunct
Bharatiya Jana Sangh Akhil Bharatiya Ram Rajya Parishad Jammu Praja Parishad Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal Hindu Maha Sabha (Fiji)
People
Vinayak Damodar Savarkar M. S. Golwalkar Dr. K. B. Hedgewar Dattopant Thengadi Tapan Ghosh Syama Prasad Mookerjee Deendayal Upadhyaya Subramanian Swamy Nanaji Deshmukh Kailashpati Mishra Lal Krishna Advani Murli Manohar Joshi Madhukar Dattatraya Deoras Mohan Bhagwat Pravin Togadia Koenraad Elst François Gautier Kamal Thapa Ram Madhav Amit Shah Digvijay Nath K. S. Sudarshan Savitri Devi B. S. Moonje Uma Bharti Yogi Adityanath Narendra Modi Events and controversies
Demolition of the Babri Masjid 1966 anti-cow slaughter agitation 1970 Bhiwandi riots Saffron terror Cow vigilante violence in India
Organisations [ ] Survey of Hindu organisations ISKCON Swaminarayan Sampraday Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha Arya Samaj Ramakrishna Mission Sringeri Sharada Peetham Banga Mahila Vidyalaya Gaudiya Math Hindu Maha Sabha (Fiji) Manav Dharma Sabha Paramahansa Mandali Prarthana Samaj Ratnagiri Hindu Sabha Satyashodhak Samaj Tattwabodhini Sabha Theosophical Society of the Arya Samaj Trust deed of Brahmo Sabha Hindu Sewa Parishad
Saiva Siddhanta Church Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha Sanatan Sanstha Santhigiri Ashram Sathya Sai Organization Satsang (Deoghar) Science of Identity Foundation Science of Spirituality (a.k.a. Sawan Kirpal Ruhani Mission )Self-Realization Fellowship
Yogoda Satsanga Society of India Shree Shree Anandamayee Sangha Siddha Yoga Dham Associates Foundation Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres Society of Abidance in Truth Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam
Alwaye Advaita Ashram Sree Narayana Trust List of Sree Narayana Institutions Sri Aurobindo Ashram
Sri Chinmoy CentresSri Ramana Ashram Sri Sri Radha Govindaji Trust Sringeri Sharada Peetham Swadhyay Parivar Swaminarayan Mandir Vasna Sanstha Vishwa Madhwa Maha Parishat Vishwa Nirmala Dharma Hindu texts [ ] Main article: List of Hindu texts
For timeline of texts, see Timeline of Hindu texts .
Further information: Hindu texts
Vedas [ ] Main article: Vedas
Rigveda Samaveda Yajurveda Atharvaveda Samhita Brahmana Aranyaka Upanishads Upanishads [ ] Main article: Upanishads
108 Upanishads [ ] show The 108
Upanishads
Rig Vedic [ ] Sama Vedic [ ] Yajur Vedic [ ] Atharava Vedic [ ] Vedangas [ ] Main article: Vedanga
Puranas [ ] Main article: Puranas
Brahma Puranas [ ] Vaishnava Puranas [ ] Shaiva Puranas [ ] Shastras and Sutras [ ] Main articles: Shastra and Sutra
Literary texts [ ] Ramayana Mahabharata Bhagavad Gita Hindu people [ ] List of Hindus List of Hindu gurus Freedom fighters [ ] Pazhassi Raja Mangal Pandey Chandrashekhar Azad Subhas Chandra Bose Bankim Chandra Chatterjee Veer Savarkar Lokmanya Tilak Social leaders [ ] K.B. Hedgewar Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar K.S. Sudarshan Pravin Togadia Shanta Kumar Politicians [ ] Mahatma Gandhi Jawaharlal Nehru Vallabhbhai Patel Lal Bahadur Shastri Rajiv Gandhi Indira Gandhi Atal Bihari Vajpayee Lal Krishna Advani Balasaheb Thackeray Yogi Adityanath Govindacharya Narendra Modi Uma Bharti Himanta Biswa Sarma Rajnath Singh Other terms and concepts [ ] Maya (illusion) Itihasa Karma in Hinduism Kosas Sri Shakti Purusha Gayatri Vac Inter-religious [ ] Main article: Hinduism and other religions
Hinduism and Buddhism
Gautama Buddha in Hinduism Theravada Hinduism and Jainism
Rama in Jainism Salakapurusa Hinduism and Sikhism
Rama in Sikhism Dasam Granth Hinduism and Islam
Hinduism and Christianity Further reading [ ] Dowson, John (1888). A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature Klostermaier, Klaus K. (1994). A Survey of Hinduism: First Edition . SUNY Press . ISBN 978-0-88706-807-2 Osborne, E (2005). Accessing R.E. Founders & Leaders, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Sikhism Teacher's Book Mainstream . Folens Limited. References [ ]
^ Hinduism is variously defined as a "religion", "set of religious beliefs and practices", "religious tradition" etc. For a discussion on the topic, see: "Establishing the boundaries" in Gavin Flood (2003), pp. 1-17. René Guénon in his Introduction to the Study of the Hindu doctrines (1921 ed.), Sophia Perennis, ISBN 0-900588-74-8 , proposes a definition of the term "religion" and a discussion of its relevance (or lack of) to Hindu doctrines (part II, chapter 4, p. 58).
^ A Historical-developmental study of classical Indian philosophy of morals , Rajendra Prasad, Centre for Studies in Civilizations (Delhi, India), Concept Publishing Company, 2009, ISBN 81-8069-595-6 , ISBN 978-81-8069-595-7 ^ Hinduism that is Sanatana Dharma , R. S. Nathan, Chinmaya Mission, 1989, ISBN 81-7597-065-0 , ISBN 978-81-7597-065-6 ^ A conceptual-analytic study of classical Indian philosophy of morals , Rajendra Prasad, from preface of the book , Centre for Studies in Civilizations (Delhi, India), Project of History of Indian Science, Philosophy, and Culture. Sub Project: Consciousness, Science, Society, Value, and Yoga, Concept Publishing Company, 2008, ISBN 81-8069-544-1 , ISBN 978-81-8069-544-5 ^ The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. Ed. John Bowker. Oxford University Press, 2000;
^ The term "Dharma" connotes much more than simply "law". It is not only the doctrine of religious and moral rights, but also the set of religious duties, social order, right conduct and virtuous things and deeds. As such Dharma is the Code of Ethics.[1] The modern use of the term can be traced to late 19th century Hindu reform movements (J. Zavos, Defending Hindu Tradition: Sanatana Dharma as a Symbol of Orthodoxy in Colonial India , Religion (Academic Press), Volume 31, Number 2, April 2001, pp. 109-123; see also R. D. Baird, "Swami Bhaktivedanta and the Encounter with Religions", Modern Indian Responses to Religious Pluralism , edited by Harold Coward , State University of New York Press, 1987); less literally also rendered "eternal way" (so Harvey, Andrew (2001), Teachings of the Hindu Mystics , Boulder: Shambhala, xiii, ISBN 1-57062-449-6 René Guénon , Introduction to the Study of the Hindu Doctrines (1921 ed.), Sophia Perennis, ISBN 0-900588-74-8 , part III, chapter 5 "The Law of Manu", p. 146. On the meaning of the word "Dharma", see also René Guénon , Studies in Hinduism , Sophia Perennis, ISBN 978-0-900588-69-3 , chapter 5, p. 45
^ Osborne 2005 , p. 9^ D. S. Sarma, Kenneth W. Morgan, The Religion of the Hindus , 1953
^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Encyclopedia , Merriam-Webster, 2000, p. 751^ in the world.Laderman, Gary (2003), Religion and American Cultures: An Encyclopedia of Traditions, Diversity, and Popular Expressions , Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO, p. 119, ISBN 1-57607-238-X world's oldest living civilization and religion
^ Turner, Jeffrey S. (1996), Encyclopedia of relationships across the lifespan 359 , ISBN 0-313-29576-X It is also recognized as the oldest major religion in the world ^ Klostermaier 1994 , p. 1
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