Hindu India History

The History of Hindu India, Part One: From Ancient Times

Hi. My name is Chen Panha and I'm going to talk about Hindu history, beliefs and culture. Hinduism is the oldest living religion in the world and the third largest. More than one billion Hindus live in 150 different countries, mostly in India. The United States alone is home to over two million Hindus. Origins of Hinduism: To find the distant beginnings of Hinduism, we have to go back over 6,000 years to the Saraswati-Indus region of the Indian subcontinent. This vast area extends from Sri Lanka in the south to the Himalayan mountains in the north, from the Arabian Sea in the west to the Bay of Bengal in the east. The Saraswati-Indus civilization developed here, eventually becoming the world's largest and most advanced, surpassing even those of Egypt, Mesopotamia and China. The civilization is named after the area's two great river systems, the Saraswati and the Indus. It is called the Vedic culture after the earliest Hindu sacred text. It is also known as the Harappan culture, after the site of its first discovery in 1920. This was an urban culture centered around many highly organized cities, some with populations of 8,000, which was rare in those days. The cities were connected by trade routes which extended west to Mesopotamia and East to central Asia. Five thousand years later archaeologists discovered pottery, seals, statues, beads, jewelry, tools, toys, miniature carts, and dice, all of which hint at what life was like at the source of the civilization that has evolved into modern-day India. The flat, stone seals have writing on them and images of Deities, ceremonies, symbols, people, plants and animals. Even though writing was widespread among the people, we have not deciphered it yet. From these artifacts, we learn that certain religious and cultural practices were identical to those followed by Hindus today. One seal shows a meditating figure that scholars link to Lord Shiva, while others show the lotus posture used today in hatha yoga. Other discoveries connect the far past with today, including swastikas, statues of the Mother Goddess, worship of the Shiva Lingam, fire altars that show the ceremonial practice of Vedic people, who were also known as Aryans, sacred baths, priests, sacred animals and symbolism in the performing arts. You must be familiar with the traditional greeting namaste. Here's a small clay statue portraying the same. And this statue shows a woman with red powder in the part of her hair. Married women even today observe the same custom. As the Sarasvati-Indus culture declined when the river dried up around 2000 bce, many people migrated to more fertile places, in eastern and central India, especially along the river Ganga and also beyond the subcontinent. Hindu Scriptures: The four Vedas, the central holy books of Hinduism, were composed in Sanskrit starting at least six thousand years ago. The Rigveda, the earliest to the four, speaks repeatedly of the Saraswati, describing it as the most mighty of rivers, flowing from the Himalayan mountains to the sea. Thus, we know that a large part of this sacred text was composed well before 2000 bce, by which time the river had dried up. Vedic hymns praise God, Gods and Goddesses and describe a powerful and spiritual people, their clans, kings and emperors, fights and battles. Their sophisticated economy included agriculture, industry, trade, commerce and cattle raising. Vedas call the country Sapta Sindhu, meaning the Land of Seven Rivers. The words Hindu and India both come from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, which means "river." These Vedic hymns describe a form of fire worship, yajna, performed around a specially built altar. Archaeologists have unearthed such altars in several Saraswati-Indus cities. Hindus still perform fire worship in this form. Originally, these thousands of hymns were not written down but memorized. Even today there are priests who can chant from memory as many as 10,500 verses, which takes 50 hours. the There are dozens of other sacred texts that Hindus revere, including the Puranas and the writings of illumined sages. The epics Ramayana and Mahabharata are traditional histories of India and storehouses of Hindu heritage. The Ramayana is the story of Lord Rama, seventh incarnation or avatar of Lord Vishnu, and his divine wife, Sita. The Mahabharata is the world's longest epic. It is about a massive war in ancient India between cousins fighting for the throne of a great kingdom. A central episode called the Bhagavad Gita is a dialogue between commander Arjuna and Lord Krishna, the eighth incarnation of Vishnu, on the day of the battle. The Mahabharata remains one of the most widespread scriptures in the world, with its dominant message of justice. Hindu sacred music, dance, drama and the arts draw heavily on these two literary epics. The Hindu Society: By 600 bce, the social, religious and philosophical ideas and practices central to Hinduism today were fully evident, having emerged from the Indus- Saraswati culture, the Vedas, Dravidian culture and the tribal religions. A distinctive feature of society was the varna or class system. People were classified into groups with specific occupations. Parents taught their skills to their children from a young age, providing a strong grounding in their profession or trade. These groups eventually became hereditary: priests warriors merchants and workers, including craftsman and farmers. However, this class system did not include the various forest tribes. It also did not include small communities considered untouchable because their occupations were unclean, such as the cremation ground chandalas, scavengers and leather workers. This system give identity to the kinship groups and gave all citizens a sense of belonging, greater social order and stability. The socially cohesive contributions of caste continue to play a key role in economic, social and political life, most visibly in marriages and elections. Life in ancient times was hard work for both men and women. Women were responsible for running the household while men for looking after their craft, farm and family security. In general, women participated equally in religious ceremonies, festivities and social relationships. Some of the foremost religious and political leaders in India's history have been women. Some even composed Vedic hymns. The period from 1000 bce through the Gupta period, ending in the mid-6th century ce, was a time of great scientific and mathematical advancement. Hindus developed the counting system we use today, including the mathematical concepts of zero and decimals. Indian astronomers knew that the Earth orbits the Sun, and they calculated the length of a year with amazing precision. Medicine was so advanced that doctors were performing complex surgeries not be equalled in Europe until the 18th century. India was the foremost supplier of steel to the world. In 400 ce, its foundries created an iron pillar which even stands today and has never rusted. Modern science cannot equal this feat. For thousands of years India has been home to one quarter of the human family. It has been honored as a nation of wealth and wisdom and, of course, it is famous today as the world's largest democracy. Hindu Beliefs, Practices and Saints The religion of this land, Hinduism, has always been open minded and tolerant with the belief that, "Truth is One, paths are many." Thus Hindus respect all other religions. Hinduism is the only major religion that worships God in both male and female form, as well as with and without any attributes. The original Sanskrit name for Hinduism is Sanatana Dharma, meaning "eternal religion." Most Hindus believe in a Supreme God, many Gods and Goddesses, spiritual worlds, the divinity of the soul, dharma, karma, reincarnation, God Realization and liberation from rebirth. The Supreme God is known by various names depending on region and denomination: Brahman, Bhagavan, Siva, Shakti, Vishnu and more. He-She is all-powerful, all-knowing, all loving, immanent, (that is, present in all things) and transcendent, (beyond them as well). God exists within each person as atman, the divine soul. God Realization describes the experience of the divine within oneself. This profound encounter with God is regarded as the ultimate goal of life. Hindus teach that every human being can know God personally. Hindus also worship other divinities. Each divinity has distinct powers and areas of responsibility. For example, Lord Ganesha is the Remover of Obstacles, Saraswati is the Goddess of knowledge and Hanuman is the God of service and devotion. Each Hindu freely choose the Deities he or she wishes to worship. Dharma is a cardinal concept in Hinduism. It includes righteousness, truth, Sacred Law, ethics, duty, justice, religion and the laws of nature. Dharma means, "that which upholds." The dharmic principal of ahimsa, or non-violence, is important to this day. Mahatma Gandhi led India's independence in 1947 using nonviolent means such as peaceful protests, boycotts, strikes and speeches that aroused the nation to throw off British rule. He once said, "Non-violence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man." In the 1950s, Martin Luther King Jr. understood the power of Gandhi's methods and went to India to meet his followers. He later applied those methods to fight for and win civil rights for America's Black minority. In the same way, Cesar Chavez won rights for the farm workers of California. Gandhi also inspired Nelson Mandela in his fight for freedom and racial equality in South Africa. Today everyone knows about the Hindu concept of karma, the law of cause and effect. It means that anything a person does, whether good or bad, will eventually return to him in this or a future life. A popular way of expressing this is, "What goes around comes around." Reincarnation is the central Indian belief that the soul, atman, is reborn in the new body time and time again, to grow and mature through all the experiences human life has to offer. Eventually every soul achieves salvation by realizing its oOneness with God and is no longer reborn. Hindus do not believe in a Satan or an eternal hell. Worship is central to a Hindu's life. So, every Hindu home has a place of worship. It may be as simple as a shelf with pictures of Deities, or entire room dedicated to the family's daily worship. A worship ceremony called puja, performed elaborately or very simply every day in the temple or in the home shrine invokes the Divine Beings for blessings and happiness. The puja ceremony includes sacred chanting, bathing the image of the Deity, offering food, flowers, incense and other sacred substances and the waving lights. Hindus practice yogic disciplines everyday, called sadhana. Sitting on the floor, often in a yoga posture, they chant, sing devotional hymns repeat the name of God while counting on beads or simply meditate in stillness and silence. The temple is revered as the home of God. There are millions of temples in India, many quite ancient. The most important of these mystically designed structures cover hundreds of acres and receive thousands of pilgrims each day. Every Hindu is expected to pilgrimage to temples in holy places far and wide. These pilgrimages unify the religion as tens of millions of people travel throughout the subcontinent and interact. Hinduism has a rich history of sages and saints, both men and women, from all castes. Some other great saints wrote detailed explanations of the Upanishads and related scriptures, such as Adi Shankara in the eighth century ce, Ramanuja in the 11th and Vallabhacharya in the 15th. Others, including Sambandar, Mirabai and Tukaram, expressed their experience of God through devotional songs. Recent saints include Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda, Anandamayi Ma, Swaminarayan and Shirdi Sai Baba. Millions of swamis and other saintly souls make up the spiritual leadership within Hinduism. Swamis have renounced the world and taken up spiritual life full-time. Special among these are the gurus, enlightened men and women who serve as religious teachers. Some gurus have millions of followers, others are humble hermits. Hinduism has no central organization and no single dogma. No one person or institution is in charge. Instead, there are thousands of independent guru lineages, spiritual traditions, monastic orders and religious institutions. Hindu Festivals Hindus love festivals and enthusiastically celebrate many holy days each year. The biggest is called Diwali or Dipavali, the festival of lights. This five-day event, held around the new Moon in October or November, celebrates the victory of good over evil, light over darkness. Thousands of small lamps including traditional clay oil lamps are placed everywhere, and fireworks signal hope for mankind. It is a national holiday in India and in many countries with large Hindu populations. Barack Obama was the first US president to celebrate Diwali in the White House. "I want to wish you all a Happy Diwali and a Saal Mubarak." Om Asato Maa Sad-Gamaya Om, Keep me not in the Unreality, but Lead me towards the Reality Tamaso Maa Jyotir-Gamaya Keep me not in the darkness, but lead me towards the Light Mrtyor-Maa Amrtam Gamaya Keep me not in the fear of death, but lead me toward the Immortality Shanti, Shanti, Shanti Peace, Peace, Peace One special festival, the Kumbha Mela, takes place every three years at four sacred river sites. The 2013 Kumbha Mela was held at Prayag, which is modern-day Allahabad in northern India. During the six weeks, 130 million people pilgrimaged there from all across India and the world. On one day alone, 30 million pilgrims were present. It was the largest human gathering ever held on Earth. Hinduism has persisted for thousands of years because the dharma, faith and culture have instilled in each Hindu a unique and strong sense of identity, family and spiritual purpose. It endures because it is a dynamic religion which gives complete freedom of practice, accepts that there are many ways to worship God and provides festivals, temples, pilgrimages, gurus and scriptures to illumine the path, thereby celebrating life itself. We hope that this documentary has increased your understanding of Hinduism and its history. Namaste.

The History of Hindu India, Part Two: 300-1000 ce

Namaste! and welcome to India. My name is Raj Narayan. Today we're going to learn about this great country its people and its religious developments during the seven centuries of 300 to 1000 ce. We will discover India's regional kingdoms, imperial political unification, and great centers of learning and religious development. We will also explore the life in her cities villages and homes, and witness a devotional movement that profoundly influenced Hinduism. During this time, India's Kings built many magnificent monuments and great temples. I visited the Kailasanatha temple at Ellora in Maharashtra. This temple was carved out of a single solid stone hillside using only hammers and chisels and not by stacking stones together. The work was begun in the eighth century and took a hundred years to complete. 400,000 tons of stone were removed to create the many chambers standing 266 feet high, it is the largest monolithic sculpture in the world. The two stairways leading to the main hall of the temple our car with narrative episode of The Hindu epics Mahabharata and Ramayana. this is a temple to Siva but it also has shrines to Vishnu. Many Buddhist and Jain cave temples are carved into nearby cliffs at Ellora. Ajanta, which is about 75 kilometers away, also has many large Buddhist cave temples. All these were supported by the Hindu kings. These are just some of the magnificent monuments built in at time when empires, religion, commerce, science, technology literature, and the arts flourished across the subcontinent. Political History In three hundred ce, an estimated 75 million peopl--a third of the world's populatio--lived in India. Hindu tradition, culture, scriptures and the Sanskrit language linked people across this immense and fertile subcontinent. Historians rely on four major types of evidence: archaeological studies, official inscriptions on stone or metal, coins and contemporary texts including stories, poems, plays and the account of foreign visitors. The greatest empire of the time was founded in the fourth century CE by Chandra Gupta the first. His son Samudragupta, extended the empire across India and rivaled the Mauryas in dominance over the region after a gap of seven hundred years. His grandson, Chandra Gupta the Second, famously known as Vikramaditya, is considered the most brilliant king in India's entire history. Through his conquest and well-organized government, he forged political unity and peace across his vast empire. Historian A.L. Basham called it, "the happiest and most civilized region of the world at the time." What we regard as Indian culture today developed largely during the time of the Guptas. Ruling from their capital city of Patliputra, the kings granted local and regional autonomy to the states under their control. Those far from the capital, such as in southern India, paid tribute but were nearly independent. The empire was responsible for security, major roads, irrigation projects, common welfare and gave exceptional support to learning and the arts. Gupta culture and economy influenced much of Eurasia notably China and Southeast Asia. The Gupta Empire declined in the late 15th century because of internal conflict and invasions by Central Asian Hunas--or Hun--who had conquered Indian territory east of the Indus to central India early in the 6th century CE. However by the mid-6th century, Hindu rulers united and drove the Hunas out of India. India received many foreign visitors during this time. The most important were the Buddhist monks, Faxian and Xuanzang, who left us fascinating reports. Faxian came to India by the Silk Road from China in the fifth century, stayed in India for thirteen years, wrote an account of his visit and returned by sea. He reported, "Charitable institutions are numerous and rest houses for travelers are provided on the highway. In the cities and towns of this country the people are rich and prosperous and seemed to emulate each other in the practice of virtue. Another monk and chronicler, Xuanzang left China in 629 for India and returned after 16 years. He has left us the most complete account of the Indian subcontinent of his time. Xuanzang describes a complex political environment with more than 70 regional powers. Many were part of the empire of King Harsha while others were under the major imperial powers of the South. Xuanzang was a guest of Harsha's court for about a year and praised his patronage of Buddhism, just rule and generosity. In the eighth century the Rashtrakuta dynasty took control of the entire Deccan region, parts of west central India and much of the south. The Rashtrakuta Dynasty also built the Kailasanatha Temple in Ellora. Between the 8th and 10th centuries they competed with the Pratiharas and Palas for dominance over the subcontinent. The Pratiharas at their peak ruled much of the north. They were the first effectively stop the Arab Muslim invasions into western India in the eighth century the exact a tribute from the Arab rulers of Sindh and Multan and blocked any further advancement for over 200 years. The Palas a Buddhist dynasty centered in eastern India reached their zenith in the early 9th century until the Pratisharas largely displaced them from the Ganga Plains. There were several large Hindu kingdoms in the Deccan and southern India in this period. They included the Chalukyas, Pallavas, Pandhyas and Cholas. Rajendra Chola the first unified the entire south. The Cholas boasted a large army and navy and their maritime expeditions are unique in Indian history. To protect vital trade routes, they subdued kingdoms as far away as Malaysia and Indonesia. The Cholas also dominated southern India's trade between the Middle East, Europe, Southeast Asia, Africa and China. Indian traders facilitated the spread of Hinduism and Buddhism throughout the kingdoms of Southeast Asia. For example, this is the great Chola temple at Thanjavur in South India and this is the grand Prambanan temple in Central Java, built in the eighth century where the Hindu king Pikatan in Indian style, and this is Angkor Wat in Cambodia, largest religious building in the world. India's rulers also welcomed Christians Jews Muslims and Parsis into their kingdoms and encourage them to settle and practice their faiths. This policy maintained religious harmony in society and not surprisingly aided international trade. For over a thousand years, India was the richest region on earth. It produced thirty percent of the world's total food, goods and services, while China produced 25 percent and Europe-- even by 1000 ce--produced just eleven percent. City and village life. Cities and towns group as centers of commerce along important trade routes, at sea and inland river ports and around major temples and pilgrimage centers. Cities were largely self-governing. A ruling council consists of a chief records clerk and representatives from large businesses, smaller merchants, and guilds of artisans. An ancient Tamil epic poem called, "The Ankle Bracelet," describes life in a city of that time: Shop selling similar products were located near each other as they still are in many cities of India today. The poet wrote, "In the street, hawkers were selling ointments, bath powders, flowers, perfume and incense. Weavers brought their fine silks and all kinds of fabrics made of wool or cotton. There were special streets for merchants of sandalwood, jewelry, faultless pearls, pure gold and precious gems. One can see coppersmiths, carpenters, goldsmiths, tailors, shoemakers and clever craftsmen making toys out of cork or rags, and expert musicians who demonstrated their mastery of the seven tone scale on the flute and the vena. Only ten percent of the population lived in cities like this. The rest lived in villages surrounded by agricultural land, as two-thirds still do in India today. Each village had a pond or reservoir, wells, grazing grounds and at least one temple. India's year-round warm climate and monsoon rains allowed farmers to grow to crops a year or more. The villagers were self-sufficient. People bartered and sold their goods in local markets and in nearby towns. Because the village jatis, or castes, were hereditary, the families became expert in their work, be they farmers, craftsmen or merchants. Each family interacted with the other jatis. There will be a family barber, washerman, carpenter, blacksmith, and others, providing their services to a family generation after generation. Each village was self governed by an assembly of five elder men called the panchayat. The central unit a society was the joint family, as it is today among many Hindus. Father, mother, sons and their wives, unmarried daughters and grandchildren all lived under one roof. Land and finances were held in common and everyone who worked for the advancement of the family. Marriages were ideally arranged by the parents and the boy and girl had little say in the matter. But however the union occurred--such as elopement--the marriage itself was recognized. In an arranged marriage, the boy and girl usually came from different villages. Visits to relatives created a strong communications network through which news, ideas, trade and technological innovations flowed freely. A Classical Age of Culture and Religion During this time India give rise to a vast wealth of literature, including plays, poems, songs and epics in many languages. The world's first universities were flourishing in India during this time including Takshashila,Nalanda, Vikramashila and Vallabhi. Students studied the Vedas and 18 Arts and Sciences which included medicine, surgery, astronomy, mathematics, agriculture, accounting, law and military strategy. Xuanzang stayed a Nalanda University for five years around 640 ce. He described it as a free residential center of advanced studies, notably Buddhist, with 1,000 teachers and 10,000 students. Nalanda was supported by royal endowments from both Hindu and Buddhist Kings as well as regular income from nearly 100 villages. Many Hindu saints of this time preached the importance of devotion to God and what is called the Bhakti Movement. Bhakti means devotion or worship. The saints stressed one's personal relationship with the divine as a love- centered path of spiritual advancement. All over India great Hindu temples were built or expanded between 300 and 1000 ce. Many are in large cities such as Somnath in the west, Ujjain in central India, Varanasi on the river Ganga in the north, Puri in the east and Kanchi and Madurai in the south. Today these remain powerful places of worship Life in cities and villages centered around the temples, which were places of worship, scholarship, education, and the performing arts. During festivals, thousands of people pilgrimage to the most famous temples as they do to this day. This flow of visitors helped local economies and spread cultural practices and religious belief throughout the nation. The period from 300 to 1000 ce was a golden age in India. The Sanskrit language with its many treasures on religion, philosophy, law and the epics spread throughout not only India but most of Asia. Hinduism thrived throughout this period with the Bhakti Movement in particular popularizing devotional worship across the subcontinent through sacred stories and songs especially those of the Tamil Alvars and Nayamnars. India's prosperity, stability and religious harmony gave rise to philosophical, technological scientific, literary and artistic achievements that set high standards for succeeding generations. Unfortunately there were those on her northwestern frontier who coveted in India's wealth and land and were driven by a desire to expand their faith and obtain glory. In part 3 we will tell the sad tale of how India suffered first from periodic raids of royal cities and rich temples for plunder followed by the sustained conquest of large regions in pursuit of political power and religious dominance. Namaste.

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