Topics in Religion list

Religious lives together

The heritage of Hinduism

The heritage of Islam

Religious spaces

Devotionalism

The living dead

Domestic religion

The couple Parvati and Shiv represent but two of the most popular deities among the many which Hindus revere.

During the puja, or worship, of the goddess Kali, these men participate in an ancient fire ritual which has been practiced for millenia.

The word Hindu originally referred to the Indus river in what is now Pakistan. The term extended to encompass the Indus region and its residents and then the entirety of what is now called North India. Hinduism became the term used to describe the religion of the Hindus and was employed in earnest by British colonial administrators. As this brief etymology might suggest, the exact definition of Hinduism as a religion has been the subject of much scholarly debate. Following many textbooks, we might conventionally understand Hinduism as a religious quest for liberation. Hindus believe in the cycle of birth and rebirth called samsara in which the entirety of creation is likened to a wheel that spins round and round. This wheel is propelled by the law of karma, of action and reaction, that traps human beings within the cycle of birth, death and rebirth, for one's status in this life is the direct result of one's actions in a previous life. The goal for Hindus is then to achieve moksha, or release, from the constant motion of existence itself.

If we can speak of Hinduism as a response to a particular existential dilemma, then we can also speak of the heritage of Hinduism. We could discuss the Vedas, the earliest texts of Hinduism, and their belief in the necessity of sacrifice for the maintenance of the universe itself. We could read the Upanishads and engage Hindu philosophical schools that proclaim knowledge, not action, as the true path of liberation. We could also turn to the great epics of Hinduism, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, and find compelling visions of heroism, order and duty. We could see the importance of devotion, or bhakti, to the gods and goddesses and delve into the rich mythology and practices of worship surrounding deities such as Shiva, Durga, Ganesh, Krishna, Hanuman or Lakshmi. We could also listen to the poet Saint Kabir and his blending of Hinduism and Islam or hear in the verses of Ravidas a voice that many Untouchables recognize as their own. We could then see how this heritage finds its place within an idealized vision of human progress toward moksha, beginning with study and the duties of a householder and culminating in a withdrawal to the forest and a final renunciation of the world.

This, of course, is not the only way to speak of Hinduism and its heritage. We could add nuance, shift emphasis or develop other quite cogent frameworks that would understand Hinduism in entirely different ways. We also could challenge the very idea that a single descriptive term could fully encompass the diversity of what is conventionally called "Hinduism." But we could also listen to the residents of Arampur, and hear how they describe their lives. Perhaps an interesting beginning would be to look for when the words "Hindu" and "Hinduism" are used. But a perhaps even more revealing approach would be to notice when the words "Hindu" and "Hinduism" are not used, especially in contexts where one might expect a seemingly straight-forward assertion of religious identity.