Questions tagged [hinduism]
For the questions related to history of Hinduism like civilization, culture, scripture etc.
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What are the strange words on back of idol from India in Devanagari script? [migrated]
A close friend showed me photographs of the reverse side which has numerous words inscribed in Devanagari. I'm unable to decipher a single word. Some of the words are clear but contain archaic forms ...
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Why is syncretism mostly described through an "interpretatio graeca", rather than any other polytheism? [closed]
Ancient Greeks such as Herodotus thought other culture's gods (e.g. Egyptian) are actually same deities as theirs, just having different names.
For example, Plutarch said
Not different gods for ...
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Are there equivalents of the Seven Archangels of Zoroastrianism in Vedic Religion?
As I explore the possible relationship between archangels in Judaism and Proto-Indo-European religion here, here is a related more specific question.
Zoroastrianism and Early Vedic religion are very ...
user58967
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How have European countries affected the caste system in India?
The caste system in India is the paradigmatic ethnographic example of caste. It has its origins in ancient India, and was transformed by various ruling elites in medieval, early-modern, and modern ...
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Did mother Teresa ask to allow to Christianise Arunachal Pradesh to receive Bharat Ratna?
Mother Teresa is a popular person, generally known for her humanitarian work. But from my childhood, I repeatedly used to hear that she promoted and converted many Indians to Christianity either ...
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Which is the oldest of all Hindu Puranas? [closed]
I was trying to answer Which scripture was first to identify Buddha as an avatar of Lord Vishnu? (Hinduism SE) but then I don't know which is the oldest of the Purāṇas.
I'm not looking for references ...
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When did the Hindu-Muslim split start in India? [closed]
I know that Emperor Akbar did a lot of hard work to make Hindus and Muslims closer e.g. marrying Hindu women, manufacturing a new religion named "Din-e-ilahi", etc. He also had Hindu ...
user52230
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Who has dated Mahabharata around 1800BC?
Dr. S. Balakrishna concluded a date of 2559 BCE using consecutive
lunar eclipses.
Prof. I.N. Iyengar concluded a date of 1478 BCE using double eclipses
and Saturn+Jupiter conjunctions.
Dr. B.N. Achar ...
user52548
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Which is the first Hindu scripture that mentions zodiac signs by name?
The following are the names of zodiac signs
Mesha (Aries),
Vrushabha (Taurus),
Mithuna (Gemini),
Karkat (Cancer),
Simha (Leo),
Kanya (Virgo),
Tula (Libra),
Vrushchika (Scorpio),
Dhanu (Sagittarius),
...
user52548
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Were the societies envisioned in the Dharmasastras ever reflective of reality?
Were the Dharmasastras like Manusmriti and Yajnavalkya Smriti ever implemented in ancient Indian society ? Or did they only represent the ideal or utopia Hinduism imagines could be achieved?
bhatnagar prakhar
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Is the Krishna (a god within Hinduism), an appropriated historical figure?
Some people on quora etc, put claims to redefine the events within in the Hinduism theology as verifiable & scientifically true historical events and in such an attempt, the Mythological narrative ...
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Were there religious wars between two sects in Hinduism?
Shaivism and Vaishnavism, are two major sects within the umbrella of Hinduism, each with a different deity as their Supreme God.
This difference, is thought to have, in the ancient and even recent ...
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What's the earliest researched based evidence for Holi?
Holi is an important festival in Hinduism, generally falling between the months of February to April, as per the relevant calculations of the Hindu Luni-solar calendar.
I'd like to have an account ...
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Is Rama Setu a historical proof of Ramayana?
Can Rama Setu be a historical proof of Ramayana?
Rama's Bridge or Rama Setu,[b] is a chain of limestone shoals, between Pamban Island, also known as Rameswaram Island, off the south-eastern coast of ...
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Which myths do these wooden carvings depict?
I found these wooden tableaux in my grandfather's storage basement after he died. He was an interior decorator in Los Angeles who bought and sold a lot of Asian art pieces, principally Chinese and ...
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How did Ram and Krishna become the dominant Gods in Hinduism? [closed]
Hinduism is traditionally a polytheist religion with a wide variety of Gods. In contemporary times, I find that, Ram and Krishna have come to be perceived as the primary Hindu Gods, atleast in certain ...
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What was the world's largest religion in 1500?
Prior to the colonization of the Americas and Africa by the West, it appears somewhat unlikely that Christianity was the largest religion in the world. If I am not mistaken, the majority of the world'...
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What is the source of this Ambedkar quote on freedom of thought in Hinduism?
From here, the Indian social reformer B. R. Ambedkar is supposed to have said:
In the Hindu religion, one can[not] have freedom of speech. A Hindu must surrender his freedom of speech. He must act ...
user15936
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Is this symbol found in Crimea Gothic? Indian? Indo-European?
What is this symbol's history in the West?
—Mangup Kale, Crimea
To me it looks like the Sri Yantra of South Asia,
but Crimea is far from there. Was it distributed during early Indo-European ...
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Relation of Arya and Dravida with Hindu scriptures like Veda and Aagama
I don't know much about the history of Arya and Dravida:
I've heard that word Arya is found in Hindu Scripture (Veda) and Arya is related to Indus valley civilization while Dravida is related with ...
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What did Buddhism vs. Hinduism mean politically?
I am just starting to study the history of Hinduism and Buddhism. This question is strictly about the objective outer trappings of the religions, not their spiritual teachings. Popular literature on ...
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Why did the island of Bali remain Hindu when most of the rest of Indonesia converted to Islam?
The Wiki page on the spread of Islam in Indonesia stresses that our knowledge of this macro-historical process is fragmentary, for instance often we don’t how the religion diffused out into the ...
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Historically, when (and why) did Ganga become a holy river? Is it after Sarasvati dried up?
According to the Nadistuti Sukta (Sanskrit: नदिस्तुति सूक्त), "hymn of praise of rivers", which is hymn 10.75 of the Rigveda:
There were 25 rivers and the most important was the Sindhu river and the ...
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Where is the Hindu law/instruction of Cremation?
Coming from the northern half of India, I assumed that Hindus were all cremated. In the southern half of the country, I was surprised to find many Hindu burial grounds. Subsequent searches showed many ...
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Buddha in Ardha-Naarishvara sculpture in Badami Cave temples?
Badami caves are a series of cave-temples built between 6th and 8th century. In the first cave, dedicated to hindu god Lord Shiva, there is an image of "Ardha-Naarishvara".
I was intrigued by the ...
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Why weren't Indians converted en masse to Islam or Christianity?
India was ruled by Muslims from around the 12th century until 1857, and then by the British till 1947. However, India still has a large number of Hindus. Countries like Indonesia, Afghanistan, ...
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When did Hinduism forbid overseas travel?
Reading a comment made on this site, I saw something very curious:
Why not blame it on the ancient Hindu belief that traveling overseas pollutes a person irredeemably, thereby stunting the growth ...
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Zoroastrianism and Hinduism [closed]
Zoroastrianism and Hinduism have close resemblances. For example Both the religions worship fire god, Both have religious languages are sound alike. Both Teachings agree that Ahura/Asura and Daeva/...
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