Ethnography of Hinduism

Hinduism is one of the hardest religions to explain to someone in a concise way. Compared to other religions like Islam, Judaism, or Christianity, Hinduism does not have a set of rules or guidelines. There is no text to follow or one leader to believe in, so many view it as a philosophy rather than a religion. An analogy I found was that Hindus believe that with their many paths to reach the top of the mountain, every individual can follow a different path with the end goal being to reach the peak of the mountain. This approach does not mean that Hindus do not value set traditions or rituals, but there is the idea of everyone being on their own religious path.

Starting with the origin of Hinduism, its birthplace was in India. Although the exact dates are not clear, it is generally agreed that it originated from the Indus Valley Civilization, in modern-day Pakistan. This religion started with many sacred chants, the earliest of which are the Vedas, which are viewed as the supreme source of truth and are revered by many. Then came the Upanishads, which were highly philosophical and addressed one’s relationship to the divinities. There are also the Puranas, which are the sources from which Hindus understand their traditions and rituals. Hindus use these texts to help them understand their religion but not as a doctrine; they typically use sages, stories, or local traditions when practicing. This approach of all Hindus having a different path in religion has led to the religion developing a deeper tolerance for others.

In Hinduism, there are so many practices that it's impossible to record them all, but many popular ones are devotional singing or chanting, rituals at home and temples, going on a pilgrimage, fasting, and not eating or wearing certain things. Some main aspects of this religion are Karma, where bad deeds lead to the accumulation of bad karma and good deeds can offset the bad karma. One of the worst negative karmas to accumulate is violence. Ahimsa (non-violence) is one of the biggest aspects of Hinduism and leads to some of the worst rebirths possible, such as rebirth in hell. The karma total at the end decides what you are born as in your next life. This cycle of rebirth is also one of the important aspects of Hinduism; one must go through many cycles of rebirths to fully understand Moksha (liberation).

Overall, this is just a small introduction to developing a better understanding of Hinduism and connecting it to what I see at temples, at home, and around me.

The OM sign is one of the important symbols in Hinduism and to do a full ethnography study, it is important to understand symbols in a culture.