HUMA 1160 Lecture 12: L12 Hinduism I
4 Aug 2015
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Document Summary
The word hindu: is an english word. First uses of the word did not to refer to a religious group but to a people. People who lived around and across the sindhu river. We think of india as a single country it is more like a continent than a country. Currently has 22 national languages and hundreds of dialects. When the word hindu was originally used, it was used like our word european today. By early 18th century, hindu becomes a religion. Turning hindu into hinduism is like turning european into europeanism . Applied by british to almost an form of religion or spirituality they couldn"t name or categorize. Hinduism therefore includes a staggering variety of theologies, cosmologies, sacred narratives and rituals. It is hard to identify common denominators in hinduism. Hinduism has no single text or deity. Roughly makes up 80% of india"s population. Hindu is used by india"s english speaking population, who are the political elites.
