The History of Hindu India (English narration and English subtitles)

Hello, my name is Raj Narayan and I am 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, in the United States alone. It is home to more than 2 million Hindus. The Origins of Hinduism To find the distant beginnings of Hinduism we have to go back more than 6,000 years to the Saraswati Indus region of the Indian subcontinent. This vast area stretches 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 source with the Indus civilization developed here and eventually became in the largest and most advanced in the world, even surpassing those of Egypt, Mesopotamia and China.

The civilization is named after the two large rivers in the area. Saraswati and Indus systems is called Vedic culture by early Hindu sacred texts. It is also known as the Harappan culture after the site of its first discovery in 1920. It was an urban culture centered on many highly organized cities, some with populations of 80,000, which was uncommon in those days, the cities were connected by trade routes. which extended westward to Mesopotamia and eastward to central Asia. 5,000 years later, archaeologists discovered pottery, seals, statues, beads, jewelry, tools, toys, miniature cards and dyes, all of which hint at what life was like at the source of the civilization that has evolved into modern India. , the flat stone seals that they carry on them and the images of deities, ceremonies, symbols, people, plants and animals, although writing was widespread among people, we have not yet deciphered it from these artifacts, we learned that certain religious practices and cultural practices were identical to those followed by Hindus today one seal shows a meditating figure that scholars linked to Lord Shiva while others show the lotus posture used today in hatha yoga other discoveries connect the distant past with the present , including swastika statues of mother goddess worship of Shiva Lingam fire altars showing the ceremonial practice of the Vedic peoples, also known as Aryans, sacred baths, priests, sacred animals and symbolism in the performing arts.

You should be familiar with the traditional greeting namaste. Here is a small clay statue representing the Same and this statue shows a woman with red powder on the part of her hair. Married women even today observe the same custom, as the Saraswathi Indus culture declined when the river dried up around 2000 BC. C., many people migrated to more fertile places in eastern and central India. especially along the Ganges River and also beyond the subcontinent the Hindu scriptures the four Vedas the central sacred books of Hinduism were composed in Sanskrit at least 6,000 years ago the Rig Veda the first of the four speaks repeatedly of the Saraswathi describing it as the most powerful of rivers flowing from the Himalayan mountains to the sea, so we know that a large part of this sacred text was composed long before 2000 BC.

C., when the river had dried up. Vedic hymns praise God, gods and goddesses, and describe a powerful and spiritual people. clans kings and emperors fights and battles its sophisticated economy included agriculture industry commerce Commerce and livestock The Vedas called the country Sapta Sindhu, which means the land of seven rivers. The words Hindu and India come from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, which means river. These Vedic hymns describe a form of fire worship, however, Nia performed it around specially constructed altars. Archaeologists have unearthed such altars in several 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 memorizing up to ten thousand five hundred verses, which takes fifty hours, there are dozens of other sacred texts that Hindus revere, including the Puranas and the writings of the alumina sages, the epics Ramayana and the Mahabharata are traditional stories of India and repositories of the Hindu heritage, the Ramayana. is a story of Lord Rama seventh incarnation or avatar of Lord Vishnu and his divine wife Sita The Mahabharata is the longest epic in the world is about a massive war in ancient India between cousins ​​fighting for the throne of a great Kingdom a central episode called bhagavad -gita is a dialogue between commander Arjuna and Lord Krishna, the eighth incarnation of Vishnu on the day of battle, the Mahabharata remains one of the most widespread scriptures in the world with its dominant message of justice, sacred Hindu music , dance, drama and the arts attract strongly in these two literary epics, Hindu society in the year 600 BC.

C., the social, religious and philosophical ideas and practices central to present-day Hinduism or fully evident, having emerged from the Indus sir Swati culture, the Vedas Dravidian culture and tribal religions, a distinctive feature of the society was Varna. or class system people were classified into groups with specific occupations parents taught their skills to their children from an early age providing them with a solid foundation in their profession or trade these groups eventually became hereditary priests warriors merchants and workers including artisans and farmers However, this class system did not include the various forest tribes, nor did it include the small communities considered untouchable because their occupations were dirty, such as cremation sites, chandana scavengers and leather workers, this system gave identity to kin groups and gave all citizens a sense of belonging to a greater social order and stability.

The socially cohesive contributions of castes continued to play a key role in economic, social and political life, most visibly in the marriages and elections. Life in ancient times was hard work for both men and women. Women were responsible for managing the household, while men took care of their children. craft form and family security in general women participated equally in religious ceremonies, festivities and social relations some of the most prominent religious and political leaders in the

history

of India have been women, some even composed Vedic hymns in the period of 1003, period ending in the mid-six centuries, was a time of great scientific and mathematical advances.

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 calculated the length of a year with astonishing precision. Medicine was so advanced that doctors performing complex surgeries that were not equaled in Europe until the 18th century, India was the world's leading supplier of steel in the year 400. Its smelters created an iron pillar that still stands today. today and has never rusted. Modern science cannot match this feat for thousands of years. India has been home to 1/4 of the human family, has been honored as a nation of wealth and wisdom and of course today is famous as the largest democracy in the world.

Hindu beliefs, practices and saints. The religion of this land. Hinduism has always been open-minded. and tolerant of the belief that truth is one, there are many, which is why Hindus respect all other religions. Hinduism is the only major religion that worships God in both male and female forms, as well as with and without attributes. The original Sanskrit name of Hinduism is sanatana- dharma means eternal religion most Hindus believe in one 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 several names depending on region and denomination Brahman Bhagwan shiva shakti vishnu and more he/she is almighty omniscient omniloving eminent who is present in all things and also transcendent beyond them God exists within each person as upman the divine soul The realization of God describes the experience of the divine within oneself this profound encounter with God is considered the ultimate goal of life.

Hindus teach that every human being can know God personally. Hindus also worship other deities. Each deity has different powers and areas of responsibility, for example, Lord Ganesha is the remover of obstacles. Saraswathi is the goddess of knowledge and Hanuman is the God of service and devotion. Each Hindu freely chooses the deities he wishes to worship. Dharma is a cardinal concept in Hinduism that includes righteousness, truth, sacred law, ethics, duty, justice, religion and the laws of nature. Dharma means that which upholds the dharmic principle. of ahimsa or non-violence is important to this day Mahatma Gandhi led India's independence in 1947 using non-violent means such as peaceful protests, boycotts, strikes and speeches that incited the nation to throw off British rule.

He once said that nonviolence is the greatest force of destruction of humanity is more powerful than the most powerful weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man in the 1950s Martin Luther King Jr. He understood the power of Gandhi's methods and went to India to meet his followers. He later applied those methods to fight and win civil rights for the black minority in the United States in the same way that César Chávez won the rights of California farm workers. Gandhi also inspired Nelson Mandela in his fight for freedom and racial equality in South Africa.

Today everyone knows the Hindu concept of karma, the law of cause and effect, meaning that whatever a person does is good. or bad, will eventually return to him in this life or in a future life in a popular way. Reincarnation is the central Indian belief that the soul Atman is reborn in a new body again and again to grow and mature through all the experiences that human life has to offer. Eventually, each soul achieves salvation by realizing its oneness with God and is no longer reborn. Hindus do not believe in Satan or an eternal hell. Worship is fundamental to the lives of Hindus, which is why every Hindu home has a place of worship, it can be as simple as a shelf with photographs of deities or an entire room. dedicated to the daily worship of the family a worship ceremony called pooja performed elaborately or very simply every day in the temple or home shrine invokes divine beings for blessings and happiness puja ceremony includes sacred songs bathe the image of the deity by offering food, flowers, incense and other sacred substances and the movement of lights.

Hindus practice daily yogic disciplines called sadhana, sitting on the floor, often in a yoga posture, singing devotional hymns, repeating God's name while counting with beads, or simply meditating in stillness and silence. Revered as the home of God, there are millions of temples in India, many of them quite ancient. The most important of these mystically designed structures cover hundreds of acres and welcome thousands of pilgrims each day. All Hindus are expected to make pilgrimages to temples and holy places everywhere. Pilgrimages unify religion as tens of millions of people travel across the subcontinent and interact. Hinduism has a rich history of sages and saints, both men and women of all castes.

Some of the great saints wrote detailed explanations of the Upanishads and related scriptures, such as Adi Shankara. in the 8th century CE Ramanuja in the 11th and vallabhacharya in the 15 others, including sambandar Meera Bai and Tukaram, expressed their experience of God through devotional songs. Recent saints include Sri Ramakrishna Swami Vivekananda Ananda Mahima Swaminarayan and Shirdi Sai Baba millions of holy souls of Swami and others constitute the spiritual leadership within Hinduism. The Swamis have renounced the world and taken up a full-time spiritual life. Among them are the Guru's 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 there is no single dogma, no 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 every year, the biggest one is called Diwali or Deepavali, the festival of lights up this five-day event that takes place around the new moon in October or November celebrates victory of good over evil light over darkness thousands of small lamps, including traditional clay oil lamps, are placed everywhere and the firesartificial indicate hope for humanity is a national holiday in India and in many countries with large Hindu populations, Barack Obama was the first American president. president to celebrate Diwali at the white White House diya and wish everyone a happy Diwali and I saw Mubarak hama-san Kamiya Thomas OMA jyothika Maya fresco Alma Hondo tanga Maya shanti shanti shanti he a special festival, the kumbhamela, is taken to held every three years at four Sacred River Sites The 2013 Kumbhamela was held in Prayag, present-day Allahabad, in northern India, during the six weeks that 130 million people from all over India and the rest of the world made a pilgrimage there. world, in a single day 30 million pilgrims were present, it was the largest human gathering.

Hinduism has persisted for thousands of years because faith and Dharma 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 that grants complete freedom of practice. Accept that it exists. There are many ways to worship God and it offers festivals, temples, pilgrimages, gurus and scriptures to light the way, thus celebrating life itself. We hope this documentary has increased your understanding of Hinduism and its history. He is not Muslim.