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The Brahmanism of the Dharmaśāstra and the smritis underwent a radical transformation at the hands of the Purana composers, resulting in the rise of Puranic Hinduism, [35] "which like a colossus striding across the religious firmanent soon came to overshadow all existing religions". [181] Puranic Hinduism was a "multiplex belief-system which ...
Hinduism has been variously defined as a religion, a religious tradition, a set of religious beliefs, and "a way of life". [ 69 ] [ note 1 ] From a Western lexical standpoint, Hinduism, like other faiths, is appropriately referred to as a religion.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Hinduism: Hinduism – predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent . [ 1 ] Its followers are called Hindus , who refer to it as Sanātana Dharma [ 2 ] ( Sanskrit : सनातनधर्मः , lit.
The Epic-Puranic chronology is a timeline of Hindu mythology based on the Itihasa (the Sanskrit Epics, that is, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana) and the Puranas.These texts have an authoritaive status in Indian tradition, and narrate cosmogeny, royal chronologies, myths and legendary events.
Hinduism is the largest and most practised religion in India. [1] [2] About 80% of the country's population identified as Hindu in the last census. India contains 94% of the global Hindu population. [3] [4] The vast majority of Indian Hindus belong to Shaivite, Vaishnavite and Shakta denominations. [5]
Hinduism has approximately 1.2 billion adherents worldwide (15% of the world's population). [1] Hinduism is the third largest religion in the world behind Christianity (31.5%) and Islam (23.3%). [2] Most Hindus live in Asian countries, and the majority of Nepal and India are Hindus, and a significant number in Mauritius.
Indian religions, sometimes also termed Dharmic religions or Indic religions, are the religions that originated in the Indian subcontinent. These religions, which include Buddhism , Hinduism , Jainism , and Sikhism , [ web 1 ] [ note 1 ] are also classified as Eastern religions .
[117] [118] The term Hindu, in contemporary parlance, includes people who accept themselves as culturally or ethnically Hindu rather than with a fixed set of religious beliefs within Hinduism. [65] One need not be religious in the minimal sense, states Julius Lipner, to be accepted as Hindu by Hindus, or to describe oneself as Hindu. [119]