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Hinduism (/ˈhɪnduˌɪzəm/) is an umbrella term for a range of Indian religious and spiritual traditions (sampradayas) that are unified by adherence to the concept of dharma, a cosmic order maintained by its followers through rituals and righteous living, as expounded in the Vedas. The word Hindu is an exonym, and while Hinduism has been called the oldest religion in the world, it has also been described by the modern term Sanātana Dharma (lit. 'eternal dharma') emphasizing its eternal nature. Vaidika Dharma (lit. 'Vedic dharma') and Arya dharma are historical endonyms for Hinduism.

Hinduism entails diverse systems of thought, marked by a range of shared concepts that discuss theology, mythology, among other topics in textual sources. Hindu texts have been classified into Śruti (lit. 'heard') and Smṛti (lit. 'remembered'). The major Hindu scriptures are the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Puranas, the Mahabharata (including the Bhagavad Gita), the Ramayana, and the Agamas. Prominent themes in Hindu beliefs include the karma (action, intent and consequences), saṃsāra (the cycle of death and rebirth) and the four Puruṣārthas, proper goals or aims of human life, namely: dharma (ethics/duties), artha (prosperity/work), kama (desires/passions) and moksha (liberation/freedom from passions and ultimately saṃsāra). Hindu religious practices include devotion (bhakti), worship (puja), sacrificial rites (yajna), and meditation (dhyana) and yoga. Hinduism has no central doctrinal authority and many Hindus do not claim to belong to any denomination. However, scholarly studies notify four major denominations: Shaivism, Shaktism, Smartism, and Vaishnavism. The six Āstika schools of Hindu philosophy that recognise the authority of the Vedas are: Samkhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Mīmāṃsā, and Vedanta. (Full article...)

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Tantra (/ˈtʌntrə/; Sanskrit: तन्त्र, lit. 'expansion-device, salvation-spreader; loom, weave, warp') is an esoteric yogic tradition that developed on the Indian subcontinent beginning in the middle of the 1st millennium CE, first within Shaivism and later in Buddhism.

The term tantra, in the Indian traditions, also means any systematic broadly applicable "text, theory, system, method, instrument, technique or practice". A key feature of these traditions is the use of mantras, and thus they are commonly referred to as Mantramārga ("Path of Mantra") in Hinduism or Mantrayāna ("Mantra Vehicle") and Guhyamantra ("Secret Mantra") in Buddhism. (Full article...)
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Statue of Kartikeya at Batu Caves, Malaysia

Kartikeya (/kɑɾt̪ɪkejə/; IAST: Kārttikeya), also known as Skanda (/skən̪d̪ə/), Subrahmanya (/sʊbɾəɦməɲjə/, /ɕʊ-/), Shanmukha (/ɕɑnmʊkʰə/) or Muruga (/mʊɾʊgə/), is the Hindu god of war. He is generally described as the son of the deities Shiva and Parvati and the brother of Ganesha.

Kartikeya has been an important deity in the Indian subcontinent since ancient times. Mentions of Skanda in the Sanskrit literature data back to fifth century BCE and the mythology relating to Kartikeya became widespread in North India around the second century BCE. Archaeological evidence from the first century CE and earlier shows an association of his iconography with Agni, the Hindu god of fire, indicating that Kartikeya was a significant deity in early Hinduism. He is hailed as the "favoured god of the Tamils", and the tutelary deity of the Kurinji region in Sangam literature, whose cult gained popularity later. As per theologists, the Tamil deity of Muruga coalesced with the Vedic deity of Skanda over time. He is considered as the patron deity of Tamil language and literary works such as Tirumurukāṟṟuppaṭai by Nakkīraṉãr and Tiruppukal by Arunagirinathar are devoted to Muruga. (Full article...)
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Raghunath Temple complex

Raghunath Temple is a Hindu temple located in Jammu in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It consists of a complex of seven Hindu shrines. Raghunath Temple was constructed by the first Dogra ruler Maharaja Gulab Singh in the year 1835 and later his son Maharaja Ranbir Singh got it completed in the year 1860 during Dogra rule. The temple has many gods in its complex of shrines, but the presiding deity is Rama – also known as Raghunath, an Avatar of Vishnu.

All the spiral-shaped towers have gold plated spires. The niches in the walls of the shrines are decorated with 300 well-crafted icons of gods and goddesses including those of Surya and Shiva, but most are particularly related to the life stories of Rama and Krishna. The paintings in the 15 panels of the main shrine are based on themes from Ramayana, Mahabharata, and Bhagavad Gita. The temple premises include a school and a library that preserves over 6,000 manuscripts in many Indian languages, with a notable collection of Sarada script Sanskrit manuscripts. (Full article...)
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The word Bhagavan (Sanskrit: भगवान्, romanized: Bhagavān; Pali: Bhagavā), also spelt as Bhagwan (sometimes translated in English as "Lord", "God"), is an epithet within Indian religions used to denote figures of religious worship. In Hinduism it is used to signify a deity or an avatar, particularly for Krishna and Vishnu in Vaishnavism, Shiva in Shaivism and Durga or Adi Shakti in Shaktism. In Jainism the term refers to the Tirthankaras, and in Buddhism to the Buddha.

In many parts of India and South Asia, Bhagavan represents the concept of a universal God or Divine to Hindus who are spiritual and religious but do not worship a specific deity. (Full article...)
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In Hindu mythology, Keshin (Sanskrit: केशिन्, lit. 'the hairy one/long-haired' IAST: Keśin), also called Keshi (Sanskrit: केशी IAST: Keśī) is a horse-demon, killed by Krishna, an Avatara of Vishnu. The demon was dispatched by Krishna's evil uncle Kamsa, who was destined to die at Krishna's hands.

The tale of the slaying of Keshi is told in the Hindu scriptures of Bhagavata Purana, Vishnu Purana and Harivamsa. Krishna is often praised as Keshava - the slayer of Keshi - in scriptures. (Full article...)
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In Hinduism, Brahman (Sanskrit: ब्रह्मन्; IAST: Brahman) connotes the highest universal principle, the ultimate reality of the universe. In the Vedic Upanishads, Brahman constitutes the fundamental reality that transcends the duality of existence and non-existence. It serves as the absolute ground from which time, space, and natural law emerge. It represents an unchanging, eternal principle that exists beyond all boundaries and constraints. Because it transcends all limitation, Brahman ultimately defies complete description or categorization through language.

In major schools of Hindu philosophy, it is the non-physical, efficient, formal and final cause of all that exists. It is the pervasive, infinite, eternal truth, consciousness and bliss which does not change, yet is the cause of all changes. Brahman as a metaphysical concept refers to the single binding unity behind diversity in all that exists. (Full article...)
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ISKCON Temple in Vrindavan, Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, India

The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), commonly known as the Hare Krishna movement, is a religious organization that follows the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition of Hinduism. It was founded on 13 July 1966 in New York City by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. The organization's spiritual and administrative headquarters is located in Mayapur, West Bengal, India, and it claims a global membership of around one million people.

ISKCON teaches a form of panentheistic Hinduism rooted in the Bhagavad Gita, the Bhagavata Purana, and other scriptures, interpreted through the commentaries of its founder. Although commonly regarded as monotheistic by the general public, ISKCON theology emphasizes that the Supreme Being, Krishna, manifests in multiple forms while remaining the singular, ultimate reality. The movement is described as the largest and most influential branch of the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition, which originated in India in the early 16th century and expanded internationally during the late 20th century. (Full article...)
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19th–century photo of Babri Masjid

The Babri Masjid, a 16th-century mosque in the Indian city of Ayodhya, was destroyed on 6 December 1992 by a large group of activists of the Vishva Hindu Parishad and allied organisations. The mosque had been the subject of a lengthy socio-political dispute, and was targeted after a political rally organised by Hindu nationalist organisations turned violent.

In Hindu tradition, the city of Ayodhya is the birthplace of Rama. In the 16th century a Mughal commander, Mir Baqi, had built a mosque, known as the Babri Masjid at a site identified by some Hindus as Ram Janmabhoomi, or the birthplace of Rama. The Archaeological Survey of India states that the mosque was built on land where a non-Islamic structure had previously existed. In the 1980s, the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) began a campaign for the construction of a temple dedicated to Rama at the site, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as its political voice. Several rallies and marches were held as a part of this movement, including the Ram Rath Yatra led by L. K. Advani. (Full article...)
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Swaminarayan Akshardham in Delhi, India

Swaminarayan Akshardham is a Hindu temple and spiritual-cultural campus in Delhi, India. The temple is close to the border with Noida. Also referred to as Akshardham Temple or Akshardham Delhi, the complex displays millennia of traditional and modern Hindu culture, spirituality, and architecture. Inspired by Yogiji Maharaj and created by Pramukh Swami Maharaj, it was constructed by BAPS. It is the world's second-largest BAPS Hindu temple, following Akshardham, New Jersey, in the United States.

The temple was officially opened on 6 November 2005 by Pramukh Swami Maharaj in the presence of A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, Manmohan Singh, L.K Advani and B.L Joshi. The temple, at the centre of the complex, was built according to the Vastu shastra and Pancharatra shastra. (Full article...)
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Pitri Paksha rites being performed on the banks of the Hooghly River at Jagannath Ghat in Kolkata, 2012

Pitri Paksha (Sanskrit: पितृ पक्ष, lit. '"fortnight of the paternal ancestors"', IAST: Pitṛ pakṣa), also spelt Pitru Paksha, is a 16-lunar day period in the Hindu calendar when Hindus pay homage to their ancestors (Pitri), especially through food offerings. The period is also known as Pitarpas, Pitri Paksha/Pitr-Paksha, Pitri Pokkho, Sorah Shraddha ("sixteen shraddhas"), Kanagat, Jitiya, Mahalaya, Apara Paksha and akhadpak.

Pitri Paksha is considered by Hindus to be inauspicious, given the death rite performed during the ceremony, known as Shraddha or Tarpana. In southern and western India, it falls in the second paksha (fortnight) Hindu lunar month of Bhadrapada (September) and follows the fortnight immediately after Ganesh Utsav. It begins on the Pratipada (first day of the fortnight) ending with the no moon day known as Sarvapitri Amavasya, Pitri Amavasya, Peddala Amavasya or Mahalaya Amavasya (simply Mahalaya) Most years, the autumnal equinox falls within this period, i.e. the Sun transitions from the northern to the southern hemisphere during this period. In North India and Nepal, and cultures following the purnimanta calendar or the solar calendar, this period may correspond to the waning fortnight of the luni-solar month Ashvina, instead of Bhadrapada. (Full article...)

The following are images from various Hinduism-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Shaktism is a Goddess-centric tradition of Hinduism. From left: Parvati/Durga, Kali and Lakshmi (from Hindu denominations)
Image 2The ten avatars of Vishnu, (Clockwise, from top left) Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Vamana, Krishna, Kalki, Buddha, Parshurama, Rama and Narasimha, (in centre) Radha and Krishna. Painting currently in Victoria and Albert Museum. (from Hindu deities)
Image 3A new born's Namakarana ceremony. The grandmother is whispering the name into the baby's ear, while friends and family watch. (from Samskara (rite of passage))
Image 4Vaishnavism focuses on Vishnu or one of his avatars, such as his form as a human, lion, or boar. (from Hindu denominations)
Image 5A Tamil Hindu girl (center) in 1870 wearing a half-saree, flowers and jewelry from her Ritu Kala samskara rite of passage (from Samskara (rite of passage))
Image 6Indra is a Vedic era deity, found in south and southeast Asia. Above Indra is part of the seal of a Thailand state. (from Hindu deities)
Image 7Annaprashanam is the rite of passage where the baby is fed solid food for the first time. The ritual has regional names, such as Choroonu in Kerala. (from Samskara (rite of passage))
Image 8A rite of passage with yajna ceremony often marks a Hindu wedding. (from Samskara (rite of passage))
Image 9Goddess Durga and a pantheon of other gods and goddesses being worshipped during Durga Puja Festival in Kolkata. (from Hindu deities)
Image 10Ishvara is, along with Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma, one of the 17 deities commonly found in Indonesian Surya Majapahit Hindu arts and records. However, Ishvara represents different concepts in various Hindu philosophies. (from Hindu deities)
Image 11Upanayana samskara ceremony in progress. Typically, this ritual was for eight-year-olds in ancient India, but in the 1st millennium CE it became open to all ages. (from Samskara (rite of passage))
Image 12A baby's first haircut is called choulam samskara. (from Samskara (rite of passage))
Image 13Samskaras are, in one context, the diverse rites of passage of a human being from conception to cremation, signifying milestones in an individual's journey of life in Hinduism. Above is annaprashana samskara celebrating a baby's first taste of solid food. (from Samskara (rite of passage))
Image 14A Hindu girl after her Karnavedha rite of passage (ear piercing) (from Samskara (rite of passage))
Image 15Six Hinduism deities. Surya, Parvati, Hanuman, Lakshmi, Vishnu, and Indra. All of these statues came from India, except Vishnu (from the Thai-Cambodian border). Various eras. National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh (from Hindu deities)
Image 16A Hindu cremation rite in Nepal. The samskara above shows the body wrapped in saffron on a pyre. (from Samskara (rite of passage))
Image 17Shaivism focuses on Shiva (from Hindu denominations)

Land of religions, cradle of human race, birthplace of human speech, grandmother of legend, great grandmother of tradition. The land that all men desire to see and having seen once even by a glimpse, would not give that glimpse for the shows of the rest of the globe combined.

— Mark Twain (1845-1910) American author

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Sai Baba (sitting near Dhuni in Dwarkamai circa 1903)

Sai Baba of Shirdi (c. 1838–15 October 1918), also known as Shirdi Sai Baba, was an Indian spiritual master considered to be a saint, and revered by both Hindu and Muslim devotees during and after his lifetime.

According to accounts from his life, Sai Baba preached the importance of "realisation of the self" and criticised "love towards perishable things". His teachings concentrated on a moral code of love, forgiveness, helping others, charity, contentment, inner peace, and devotion to God and Guru. (Full article...)
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Sivaya Subramuniyaswami

Sivaya Subramuniyaswami (born Robert Hansen; January 5, 1927 – November 12, 2001) was an American Hindu religious leader known as Gurudeva by his followers. Subramuniyaswami was born in Oakland, California and adopted Hinduism as a young man. He was the 162nd head of the self-claimed Nandinatha Sampradaya's Kailasa Parampara and Guru at Kauai's Hindu Monastery which is a 382-acre (155 ha) temple-monastery complex on Hawaii's Garden Island.

In 1947, at the age of 20, he journeyed to India and Sri Lanka and in 1949, was initiated into sannyasa by the renowned siddha yogi and worshiper of Shiva, Jnanaguru Yogaswami of Jaffna, Sri Lanka who was regarded as one of the 20th century's remarkable mystics. In the 1970s he established a Hindu monastery in Kauai, Hawaii and founded the magazine Hinduism Today. In 1985, he created the festival of Pancha Ganapati as a Hindu alternative to December holidays like Christmas. He was one of Shaivism's Gurus, the founder and leader of the Shaiva Siddhanta Church. (Full article...)
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Official portrait, 2023

Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the member of parliament (MP) for Varanasi. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a right-wing Hindutva paramilitary volunteer organisation. He is the longest-serving prime minister outside the Indian National Congress.

Modi was born and raised in Vadnagar, Bombay State (present-day Gujarat), where he completed his secondary education. He was introduced to the RSS at the age of eight. Modi became a full-time worker for the RSS in Gujarat in 1971. The RSS assigned him to the BJP in 1985 and he rose through the party hierarchy, becoming general secretary in 1998. In 2001, Modi was appointed chief minister of Gujarat and elected to the legislative assembly soon after. His administration is considered complicit in the 2002 Gujarat riots, and has been criticised for its management of the crisis. According to official records, a little over 1,000 people were killed, three-quarters of whom were Muslim; independent sources estimated 2,000 deaths, mostly Muslim. A Special Investigation Team appointed by the Supreme Court of India in 2012 found no evidence to initiate prosecution proceedings against him. While his policies as chief minister were credited for encouraging economic growth, his administration was criticised for failing to significantly improve health, poverty and education indices in the state. (Full article...)
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Rambhadracharya in 2009

Jagadguru Ramanandacharya Swami Rambhadracharya (born Giridhar Mishra on 14 January 1950) is an Indian Hindu spiritual leader, educator, Sanskrit scholar, polyglot, poet, author, textual commentator, philosopher, composer, singer, playwright and Katha artist based in Chitrakoot, India. He is one of four incumbent Jagadguru Ramanandacharyas, and has held this title since 1988.

Rambhadracharya is the founder and head of Tulsi Peeth, a religious and social service institution in Chitrakoot named after Tulsidas. He is the founder and lifelong chancellor of the Jagadguru Rambhadracharya Handicapped University in Chitrakoot, which offers graduate and postgraduate courses exclusively to four types of disabled students. Rambhadracharya has been blind since the age of two months, had no formal education until the age of seventeen years, and has never used Braille or any other aid to learn or compose. (Full article...)
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Nisargadatta Maharaj (born Maruti Shivrampant Kambli; 17 April 1897 – 8 September 1981) was an Indian guru of nondualism, belonging to the Inchagiri Sampradaya, a lineage of teachers from the Navnath Sampradaya.

The publication in 1973 of I Am That, an English translation of his talks in Marathi by Maurice Frydman, brought him worldwide recognition and followers, especially from North America and Europe. (Full article...)
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Advaita Vedanta (/ʌdˈvaɪtə vɛˈdɑːntə/; Sanskrit: अद्वैत वेदान्त, IAST: Advaita Vedānta) is a Hindu tradition of Brahmanical textual exegesis and philosophy, and a monastic institutional tradition nominally related to the Daśanāmi Sampradaya and propagated by the Smarta tradition. Its core tenet is that jivatman, the individual experiencing self, is ultimately pure awareness mistakenly identified with body and the senses, and non-different ("na aparah") from Ātman/Brahman, the highest Self or Reality. The term Advaita literally means "non-secondness", but is usually rendered as "nonduality". This refers to the Oneness of Brahman, the only real Existent, and is often equated with monism.

Advaita Vedanta is a Hindu sādhanā, a path of spiritual discipline and experience. It states that moksha (liberation from 'suffering' and rebirth) is attained through knowledge of Brahman, recognizing the illusoriness of the phenomenal world and disidentification from body-mind and the notion of 'doership', and by acquiring vidyā (knowledge) of one's true identity as Atman/Brahman, self-luminous (svayam prakāśa) awareness or Witness-consciousness. This knowledge is acquired through Upanishadic statements such as tat tvam asi, "that['s how] you are," which destroy the ignorance (avidyā) regarding one's true identity by revealing that (jiv)Ātman is non-different from immortal Brahman. (Full article...)
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Neem Karoli Baba (Hindi: नीम करौली बाबा, romanized: nīm karaulī bābā) or Neeb Karori Baba (Hindi: नीब करौरी बाबा, romanized: nīb karaurī bābā) (born Laksman Narayan Sharma; c. 1900 – 11 September 1973), also known to his followers as Maharaj-ji, was a Hindu guru and a devotee of the Hindu deity Hanuman. (Full article...)

... that interfaith greetings in Indonesia include phrases from Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism?
... that Hindu religious leader Siddeshwar Swami declined the Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian honor?
... that the Deval Mosque was formerly a Hindu temple?

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↑ Holberg (2000), p. 316; Nicholson (2013), pp. 2–5; McDaniel (2007), pp. 52–53; Michaels (2004), p. 21.
↑ Flood (2003a), p. 9; Thomas (2012), p. 175; Bhattacharya (2006).

[FOOTNOTEHolberg2000316Nicholson20132–5McDaniel200752–53Michaels200421-1] Holberg (2000), p. 316; Nicholson (2013), pp. 2–5; McDaniel (2007), pp. 52–53; Michaels (2004), p. 21.

[FOOTNOTEFlood2003a9Thomas2012175Bhattacharya2006-2] Flood (2003a), p. 9; Thomas (2012), p. 175; Bhattacharya (2006).