Hinduism

Subject and Section Professor’s Name Date Unraveling "Hinduism" and Its Colloquiality In the pre-modern period, a refined and elaborate religious milieu in South Asia included various sects of religions prevailing in the region. No single religious faith governed the subcontinent, such as Shaivism, Vaishnavism, and many local cults (Mukherjee and Nasgupta 223; The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica). However, while the title “Hinduism” for such practices is widely used today, this title is an anachronistic label that was primarily coined during British colonial rule. Hence, the term “Hinduism” fails to encapsulate these religious practices mainly because it provides a single lens by which they can be viewed and did not exist as a single religion as understood today but a vast array of different religions and beliefs that remained distinct and were not thought of as a joined bloc. Lorenzen follows the construction of the “Hinduism” element during the colonial British regime instead of the pre-colonial formation of the South Asian region. He also affirms that "the idea of Hinduism as one religion was invented in the nineteenth century" (Lorenzen 60). This seeing implies that no well-defined or even unified religion was called “Hinduism” before the colonial existence of the British. Moreover, the word “Hindu” was more of a geographical and even cultural identity for the Indian people rather than a founder of religion (Lorenzen 52-57). Different shafts, Vaishnavas, local cults, and others existed separately from each other and had their peculiar rituals and dogmas. Such diverse forms of religious practices point out that the notion of the “Hindu religion” as a singular idea that could be grouped under one umbrella term, “Hinduism," was constructed later by colonial scholars and administrators on the premise of what they encountered in South Asia. Lorenzen stated there is a prerequisite before becoming part of the collective term "Hindus" because this is an umbrella term for Vaishnavas, Shaivas, Smartas, and other similar entities (70). However, using the term "Hinduism" to describe the religious system before the nineteenth century in South Asia is incongruous because Lorenzen argues that there were diverse ...