The purpose of this paper is to describe the Hindu religion. The paper will describe what the Hindu religious traditions consist of. It will describe what sacred elements characterize the Hindu religious traditions and their significance and meaning.
Hindu Religion Hinduism is the described as the world’s oldest organized religion and is the world’s third largest religion. Hinduism consists of "thousands of different religious groups that have evolved in India since 1500 BCE" ("Hinduism: The World 's Third Largest Religion", 1995-2012). The term Hinduism came from the word “India” and refers to the wide variety of religious traditions and philosophies that developed in India over thousands of years. Most forms of Hinduism are henotheistic religions that are different from Christianity and other monotheistic religions. Henotheistic religions recognize a single deity, and view other Gods and Goddesses as manifestations or aspects of that supreme God. India is one of the most religiously tolerant countries in the world because they have both henotheistic and polytheistic religions.
Hindu Religious Traditions There is a broad array of Hindu religious traditions. One of the most dominant traditions was the worship of the Gods. This took place at outdoor fire altars. The priestly would create a square or rectangular space, purify it with water, and construct one to three low alters inside of the space for sacrifice. There were also sacred chants that only the priestly would know and protect and would only be passed down from father to son orally. These chants were written down at a later time and are considered to have made up the core of the earliest Hindu sacred literature called the Vedas. The Hindu religious traditions are also the sacred elements of the Hindu religion. One of the religious traditions of Hinduism is the Hindu scriptures. The Hindu scriptures were written over a period of 2,000 years and
References: Hinduism: The world 's third largest religion. (1995-2012). Retrieved from http://also known as Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva Sacred Elements of Hinduism. (2005-2012). Retrieved from http://www.articlesbase.com/religion-articles/sacred-elements-of-hinduism-290388.html