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138-480: Attukal is a Hindu pilgrimage centre located on the banks of Killi river , in the capital city of Thiruvananthapuram , Kerala , India . It is situated about two kilometres to the south-east from the Padmanabhaswamy Temple . The Attukal Bhagavathy Temple, one of the ancient temples of South India, is popularly described as Sabarimala of women, as women form the major portion of devotees. The goddess of
276-489: A Hindu religious identity". Scholars state that Hindu, Buddhist and Jain identities are retrospectively-introduced modern constructions. Inscriptional evidence from the 8th century onwards, in regions such as South India, suggests that medieval era India, at both elite and folk religious practices level, likely had a "shared religious culture", and their collective identities were "multiple, layered and fuzzy". Even among Hinduism denominations such as Shaivism and Vaishnavism,
414-653: A common name for the country. Al-Biruni 's 11th-century text Tarikh Al-Hind , and the texts of the Delhi Sultanate period use the term 'Hindu', where it includes all non-Islamic people such as Buddhists, and retains the ambiguity of being "a region or a religion". The 'Hindu' community occurs as the amorphous 'Other' of the Muslim community in the court chronicles, according to the Indian historian Romila Thapar . The comparative religion scholar Wilfred Cantwell Smith notes that
552-523: A consequence, religious groups have an interest in being recognised as distinct from the Hindu majority in order to qualify as a "religious minority". Thus, the Supreme Court was forced to consider the question whether Jainism is part of Hinduism in 2005 and 2006. Starting after the 10th century and particularly after the 12th century Islamic invasion, states Sheldon Pollock , the political response fused with
690-576: A diversity of beliefs, and seems to oscillate between Hindus holding a centralist and pluralist religious views. In the texts of Delhi Sultanate era, states Sharma, the term Hindu remains ambiguous on whether it means people of a region or religion, giving the example of Ibn Battuta's explanation of the name "Hindu Kush" for a mountain range in Afghanistan. It was so called, wrote Ibn Battuta, because many Indian slaves died there of snow cold, as they were marched across that mountain range. The term Hindu there
828-576: A few introduced species . As the altitude further declines the Indus basin becomes overall quite slow-flowing as it passes through the Punjab Plain . Major carp become common, and chameleonfish ( Badis ), mullet ( Sicamugil ) and swamp eel ( Monopterus ) appear. In some upland lakes and tributaries of the Punjab region snow trout and mahseer are still common, but once the Indus basin reaches its lower plain
966-566: A fixed set of religious beliefs within Hinduism. One need not be religious in the minimal sense, states Julius Lipner , to be accepted as Hindu by Hindus, or to describe oneself as Hindu. Hindus subscribe to a diversity of ideas on spirituality and traditions, but have no ecclesiastical order, no unquestionable religious authorities, no governing body, nor a single founding prophet; Hindus can choose to be polytheistic, pantheistic, monotheistic, monistic, agnostic, atheistic or humanist. Because of
1104-537: A greater volume of water than the Indus itself before that point. An alternative reckoning begins the river around 300 km further upstream, at the confluence of the Sênggê Zangbo and Gar Tsangpo rivers, which drain the Nganglong Kangri and Gangdise Shan (Gang Rinpoche, Mt. Kailash) mountain ranges. The 2011 remeasurement suggested the source was a small lake northeast of Mount Kailash, rather than either of
1242-559: A major role in earlier cultures of the region, including the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation where depictions of fish were frequent. The Indus script has a commonly used fish sign, which in its various forms may simply have meant "fish", or referred to stars or gods. In the uppermost, highest part of the Indus River basin there are relatively few genera and species: Diptychus , Ptychobarbus , Schizopyge , Schizopygopsis and Schizothorax snowtrout, Triplophysa loaches, and
1380-628: A mountain spring and fed with glaciers and rivers in the Himalayan , Karakoram , and Hindu Kush ranges, the river supports the ecosystems of temperate forests , plains, and arid countryside. The northern part of the Indus Valley, with its tributaries, forms the Punjab region of South Asia, while the lower course of the river ends in a large delta in the southern Sindh province of Pakistan. The river has historically been important to many cultures of
1518-401: A reasonable construction of history. However, the existence of non-textual evidence such as cave temples separated by thousands of kilometers, as well as lists of medieval era pilgrimage sites, is evidence of a shared sacred geography and existence of a community that was self-aware of shared religious premises and landscape. Further, it is a norm in evolving cultures that there is a gap between
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#17330931110711656-430: A result of Western influence during its colonial history. Scholars such as Fleming and Eck state that the post-Epic era literature from the 1st millennium CE amply demonstrate that there was a historic concept of the Indian subcontinent as a sacred geography, where the sacredness was a shared set of religious ideas. For example, the twelve Jyotirlingas of Shaivism and fifty-one Shaktipithas of Shaktism are described in
1794-625: A sacred pilgrimage site is documented in the Varanasimahatmya text embedded inside the Skanda Purana , and the oldest versions of this text are dated to 6th to 8th-century CE. The idea of twelve sacred sites in Shiva Hindu tradition spread across the Indian subcontinent appears not only in the medieval era temples but also in copper plate inscriptions and temple seals discovered in different sites. According to Bhardwaj, non-Hindu texts such as
1932-747: A saint. [...] When Khusraw stopped at his residence, [Arjan] came out and had an interview with [Khusraw]. Giving him some elementary spiritual precepts picked up here and there, he made a mark with saffron on his forehead, which is called qashqa in the idiom of the Hindus and which they consider lucky. When this was reported to me, I realized how perfectly false he was and ordered him brought to me. I awarded his houses and dwellings and those of his children to Murtaza Khan, and I ordered his possessions and goods confiscated and him executed. Sikh scholar Pashaura Singh states, "in Persian writings, Sikhs were regarded as Hindu in
2070-581: A uniform civil code, where all citizens are subject to the same laws, everyone has equal civil rights, and individual rights do not depend on the individual's religion. In contrast, opponents of Hindu nationalists remark that eliminating religious law from India poses a threat to the cultural identity and religious rights of Muslims, and people of Islamic faith have a constitutional right to Islamic shariah -based personal laws. A specific law, contentious between Hindu nationalists and their opponents in India, relates to
2208-598: A wedding or when a baby is born or cremation rituals. Some Hindus go on pilgrimage to shared sites they consider spiritually significant, practice one or more forms of bhakti or puja , celebrate mythology and epics, major festivals, love and respect for guru and family, and other cultural traditions. A Hindu could: In the Constitution of India , the word "Hindu" has been used in some places to denote persons professing any of these religions: Hinduism , Jainism , Buddhism or Sikhism . This however has been challenged by
2346-557: Is "sindhu". In Sanskrit, its range of meanings includes: stream, river; Indus; flood; sea or ocean; region or country in the vicinity of the Indus, Sindh, people of Sindh." The modern name in Urdu is Sindh ( Urdu : سندھ ) or Daryā-i-Sindh ( Urdu : دریائے سندھ , lit. 'The River Sindh'), contrasting to the Province of Sindh ( Urdu : صوبہِ سندھ , romanized : Sūba-i-sindh ). The Ladakhis and Tibetans call
2484-469: Is a controversial political subject, with no consensus about what it means or implies in terms of the form of government and religious rights of the minorities. There are 1.2 billion Hindus worldwide (15% of world's population), with about 95% of them being concentrated in India alone. Along with Christians (31.5%), Muslims (23.2%) and Buddhists (7.1%), Hindus are one of the four major religious groups of
2622-502: Is a fertile region and often called the "breadbasket" of the country; the damage and toll of the floods on the local agrarian economy was said to be extensive. At least 1.7 million acres (690,000 ha; 2,700 sq mi) of arable land were inundated. The flooding followed the previous year's floods, which devastated a large part of the country. Unprecedented torrential monsoon rains caused severe flooding in 16 districts of Sindh. In Pakistan currently there are six barrages on
2760-464: Is a term used to describe the culture and identity of Hindus and Hinduism , including the historic Vedic people . Hindu culture can be intensively seen in the form of art , architecture , history , diet , clothing , astrology and other forms. The culture of India and Hinduism is deeply influenced and assimilated with each other. With the Indianisation of southeast Asia and Greater India ,
2898-651: Is ambivalent and could mean geographical region or religion. The term Hindu appears in the texts from the Mughal Empire era. Jahangir , for example, called the Sikh Guru Arjan a Hindu: There was a Hindu named Arjan in Gobindwal on the banks of the Beas River. Pretending to be a spiritual guide, he had won over as devotees many simple-minded Indians and even some ignorant, stupid Muslims by broadcasting his claims to be
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#17330931110713036-474: Is an organic relation of Sikhs to Hindus, states Zaehner, both in religious thought and their communities, and virtually all Sikhs' ancestors were Hindus. Marriages between Sikhs and Hindus, particularly among Khatris , were frequent. Some Hindu families brought up a son as a Sikh, and some Hindus view Sikhism as a tradition within Hinduism, even though the Sikh faith is a distinct religion. Julius Lipner states that
3174-401: Is derived from the Indus River. In ancient times, "India" initially referred to those regions immediately along the east bank of the Indus, where are Punjab and Sindh now but by 300 BC, Greek writers including Herodotus and Megasthenes were applying the term to the entire subcontinent that extends much farther eastward. The lower basin of the Indus forms a natural boundary between
3312-631: Is documented in Islamic literature such as those relating to 8th century Muhammad bin-Qasim , 11th century Mahmud of Ghazni , the Persian traveler Al Biruni, the 14th century Islamic army invasion led by Timur, and various Sunni Islamic rulers of the Delhi Sultanate and Mughal Empire. There were occasional exceptions such as Akbar who stopped the persecution of Hindus, and occasional severe persecution such as under Aurangzeb , who destroyed temples, forcibly converted non-Muslims to Islam and banned
3450-652: Is especially critical since rainfall is meagre in the lower Indus valley. Irrigation canals were first built by the people of the Indus Valley civilisation , and later by the engineers of the Kushan Empire and the Mughal Empire . Modern irrigation was introduced by the British East India Company in 1850 – the construction of modern canals accompanied with the restoration of old canals. The British supervised
3588-461: Is mostly confined to women folk even though men can also observe the rituals. On the same day evening, there will be a procession from the temple to Manacaud Sree Dharma Sastha Temple accompanied by Kuthiyottam boys, and various artists performing different kinds of folk art forms which makes the procession so colorful. The enormous crowd which gathers in Thiruvananthapuram on this auspicious day
3726-408: Is prone to moderate to severe flooding. In July 2010, following abnormally heavy monsoon rains, the Indus River rose above its banks and started flooding. The rain continued for the next two months, devastating large areas of Pakistan. In Sindh , the Indus burst its banks near Sukkur on 8 August, submerging the village of Mor Khan Jatoi. In early August, the heaviest flooding moved southward along
3864-453: Is protected from river flooding by constructing around 600 km long levees . The right bank side is also leveed from Guddu barrage to Lake Manchar . In response to the levees construction, the river has been aggrading rapidly over the last 20 years leading to breaches upstream of barrages and inundation of large areas. Tarbela Dam in Pakistan is constructed on the Indus River, while
4002-489: Is reminiscent of the Kumbhamela Festival of North India. Hindu Traditional Hindus ( Hindustani: [ˈɦɪndu] ; / ˈ h ɪ n d uː z / ; also known as Sanātanīs ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism , also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma . Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for people living in
4140-447: Is the "largest contiguous irrigation system developed over the past 140 years" anywhere in the world. This has reduced the flow of water and by 2018, the average annual flow of water below the Kotri barrage was 33 billion cubic metres (43 × 10 ^ cu yd), and annual amount of silt discharged was estimated at 100 million tonnes (98 × 10 ^ long tons). As a result,
4278-554: Is this Rama to be described.. who freed Varanasi from the mleccha (barbarian, Turk Muslim) horde, and built there a golden temple of Sarngadhara". Pollock notes that the Yadava king Ramacandra is described as a devotee of deity Shiva (Shaivism), yet his political achievements and temple construction sponsorship in Varanasi, far from his kingdom's location in the Deccan region, is described in
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4416-530: The 1819 Rann of Kutch earthquake . The Induan Age at the start of the Triassic Period of geological time is named for the Indus region. Accounts of the Indus valley from the times of Alexander's campaign indicate a healthy forest cover in the region. The Mughal Emperor Babur writes of encountering rhinoceroses along its bank in his memoirs (the Baburnama ). Extensive deforestation and human interference in
4554-433: The 2010 Pakistan floods were considered "good news" for the ecosystem and population of the river delta as they brought much-needed fresh water. Any further utilization of the river basin water is not economically feasible. Vegetation and wildlife of the Indus delta are threatened by the reduced inflow of fresh water, along with extensive deforestation, industrial pollution and global warming . Damming has also isolated
4692-487: The Hindu Sabhas (Hindu associations), and ultimately a Hindu-identity driven nationalism in the 1920s. The colonial era Hindu revivalism and mobilisation, along with Hindu nationalism, states Peter van der Veer, was primarily a reaction to and competition with Muslim separatism and Muslim nationalism. The successes of each side fed the fears of the other, leading to the growth of Hindu nationalism and Muslim nationalism in
4830-517: The Indian subcontinent . It is assumed that the term "Hindu" traces back to Avestan scripture Vendidad which refers to land of seven rivers as Hapta Hendu which itself is a cognate to Sanskrit term Sapta Sindhuḥ (This term Sapta Sindhuḥ is mentioned in RigVeda that refers to a North western Indian region of seven rivers and as an India whole). The Greek cognates of the same terms are " Indus " (for
4968-682: The Iranian Plateau and the Indian subcontinent ; this region embraces all or parts of the Pakistani provinces Balochistan , Khyber Pakhtunkhwa , Punjab and Sindh and the countries Afghanistan and India. The first West Eurasian empire to annex the Indus Valley was the Persian Empire , during the reign of Darius the Great . During his reign, the Greek explorer Scylax of Caryanda was commissioned to explore
5106-647: The Jhelum River to Ropar on the upper Sutlej. The coastal settlements extended from Sutkagan Dor at the Pakistan- Iran border to Kutch in modern Gujarat , India. There is an Indus site on the Amu Darya at Shortughai in northern Afghanistan, and the Indus site Alamgirpur at the Hindon River is located only 28 km (17 mi) from Delhi. As of now, over 1,052 cities and settlements have been found, mainly in
5244-666: The Nanga Parbat massif . It flows swiftly across Hazara and is dammed at the Tarbela Reservoir . The Kabul River joins it near Attock . The remainder of its route to the sea is in the plains of the Punjab and Sindh, where the flow of the river becomes slow and highly braided. It is joined by the Panjnad at Mithankot . Beyond this confluence, the river, at one time, was named the Satnad River ( sat = "seven", nadī = "river"), as
5382-536: The Taunsa Barrage near Dera Ghazi Khan which also produces 100,000 kilowatts of electricity. The Kotri Barrage near Hyderabad is 915 metres (3,000 ft) long and provides additional water supplies for Karachi. The extensive linking of tributaries with the Indus has helped spread water resources to the valley of Peshawar , in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa . The extensive irrigation and dam projects provide
5520-578: The United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom . These together accounted for 99% of the world's Hindu population, and the remaining nations of the world combined had about 6 million Hindus as of 2010 . The word Hindu is an exonym . This word Hindu is derived from the Indo-Aryan and Sanskrit word Sindhu , which means "a large body of water", covering "river, ocean". It was used as
5658-813: The Upanishads . The Puranas and the Itihasa (mainly Ramayana and the Mahabharata ) are enduring traditions among Indonesian Hindus, expressed in community dances and shadow puppet ( wayang ) performances. As in India, Indonesian Hindus recognise four paths of spirituality, calling it Catur Marga . Similarly, like Hindus in India, Balinese Hindus believe that there are four proper goals of human life, calling it Catur Purusartha – dharma (pursuit of moral and ethical living), artha (pursuit of wealth and creative activity), kama (pursuit of joy and love) and moksha (pursuit of self-knowledge and liberation). Hindu culture
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5796-399: The "lived and historical realities" of a religious tradition and the emergence of related "textual authorities". The tradition and temples likely existed well before the medieval era Hindu manuscripts appeared that describe them and the sacred geography. This, states Fleming, is apparent given the sophistication of the architecture and the sacred sites along with the variance in the versions of
5934-583: The 17th-century Bhakta Mala text using the phrase "Hindu dharma ". Scholar Arvind Sharma notes that the term "Hindus" was used in the 'Brahmanabad settlement' which Muhammad ibn Qasim made with non-Muslims after the Arab invasion of northwestern Sindh region of India, in 712 CE. The term 'Hindu' meant people who were non-Muslims, and it included Buddhists of the region. In the 11th-century text of Al Biruni, Hindus are referred to as "religious antagonists" to Islam, as those who believe in rebirth, presents them to hold
6072-487: The 1909 The Imperial Gazetteer of India gave it as "just over 1,800 miles". A shorter figure of 2,880 km (1,790 mi) has been widely used in modern sources, as has the one of 3,180 km (1,980 mi). The modern Encyclopedia Britannica was originally published in 1999 with the shorter measurement, but was updated in 2015 to use the longer measurement. Both lengths are commonly found in modern publications; in some cases, both measurements can be found within
6210-767: The 1920s, as a reaction to the Islamic Khilafat Movement wherein Indian Muslims championed and took the cause of the Turkish Ottoman sultan as the Caliph of all Muslims, at the end of the World War I . Hindus viewed this development as one of divided loyalties of Indian Muslim population, of pan-Islamic hegemony, and questioned whether Indian Muslims were a part of an inclusive anti-colonial Indian nationalism. The Hindu nationalism ideology that emerged, states Jeffrelot,
6348-574: The 19th century as a response to British colonialism by Indian nationalists and neo-Hinduism gurus. Jaffrelot states that the efforts of Christian missionaries and Islamic proselytizers, during the British colonial era, each of whom tried to gain new converts to their own religion, by stereotyping and stigmatising Hindus to an identity of being inferior and superstitious, contributed to Hindus re-asserting their spiritual heritage and counter cross examining Islam and Christianity, forming organisations such as
6486-708: The 50 largest rivers in the world in terms of average annual flow . Its left-bank tributary in Ladakh is the Zanskar River , and its left-bank tributary in the plains is the Panjnad River which is formed by the successive confluences of the five Punjab rivers, namely the Chenab , Jhelum , Ravi , Beas , and Sutlej rivers. Its principal right-bank tributaries are the Shyok , Gilgit , Kabul , Kurram , and Gomal rivers. Beginning in
6624-509: The 7th-century CE Chinese text Records on the Western Regions by the Buddhist scholar Xuanzang . Xuanzang uses the transliterated term In-tu whose "connotation overflows in the religious" according to Arvind Sharma . While Xuanzang suggested that the term refers to the country named after the moon, another Buddhist scholar I-tsing contradicted the conclusion saying that In-tu was not
6762-471: The European merchants and colonists began to refer to the followers of Indian religions collectively as Hindus. Other prominent mentions of 'Hindu' include the epigraphical inscriptions from Andhra Pradesh kingdoms who battled military expansion of Muslim dynasties in the 14th century, where the word 'Hindu' partly implies a religious identity in contrast to 'Turks' or Islamic religious identity. The term Hindu
6900-541: The Himalayas and entrenched itself while they were rising. The Indus River feeds the Indus submarine fan , which is the second largest sediment body on Earth. It consists of around 5 million cubic kilometres of material eroded from the mountains. Studies of the sediment in the modern river indicate that the Karakoram Mountains in northern Pakistan and India are the single most important source of material, with
7038-523: The Himalayas providing the next largest contribution, mostly via the large rivers of the Punjab (Jhelum, Ravi, Chenab, Beas and Sutlej). Analysis of sediments from the Arabian Sea has demonstrated that before five million years ago the Indus was not connected to these Punjab rivers which instead flowed east into the Ganga and were captured after that time. Earlier work showed that sand and silt from western Tibet
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#17330931110717176-731: The Hindu identities, states Leslie Orr, lacked "firm definitions and clear boundaries". Overlaps in Jain-Hindu identities have included Jains worshipping Hindu deities, intermarriages between Jains and Hindus, and medieval era Jain temples featuring Hindu religious icons and sculpture. Beyond India, on Java island of Indonesia , historical records attest to marriages between Hindus and Buddhists, medieval era temple architecture and sculptures that simultaneously incorporate Hindu and Buddhist themes, where Hinduism and Buddhism merged and functioned as "two separate paths within one overall system", according to Ann Kenney and other scholars. Similarly, there
7314-630: The Hindu identity and religious response to Islamic invasion and wars developed in different kingdoms, such as wars between Islamic Sultanates and the Vijayanagara kingdom, and Islamic raids on the kingdoms in Tamil Nadu . These wars were described not just using the mythical story of Rama from Ramayana, states Chattopadhyaya, the medieval records used a wide range of religious symbolism and myths that are now considered as part of Hindu literature. This emergence of religious with political terminology began with
7452-470: The Hindu-majority post-British India. After the separation of India and Pakistan in 1947, the Hindu nationalism movement developed the concept of Hindutva in second half of the 20th century. The Hindu nationalism movement has sought to reform Indian laws, that critics say attempts to impose Hindu values on India's Islamic minority. Gerald Larson states, for example, that Hindu nationalists have sought
7590-754: The Hindus and intensely scrutinized them, but did not interrogate and avoided reporting the practices and religion of Mughal and Arabs in South Asia", and often relied on Muslim scholars to characterise Hindus. In contemporary era, the term Hindus are individuals who identify with one or more aspects of Hinduism , whether they are practising or non-practicing or Laissez-faire . The term does not include those who identify with other Indian religions such as Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism or various animist tribal religions found in India such as Sarnaism . The term Hindu, in contemporary parlance, includes people who accept themselves as culturally or ethnically Hindu rather than with
7728-497: The Indian subcontinent. In the 20th century, the sense of religious nationalism grew in India, states van der Veer, but only Muslim nationalism succeeded with the formation of the West and East Pakistan (later split into Pakistan and Bangladesh), as "an Islamic state" upon independence. Religious riots and social trauma followed as millions of Hindus, Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs moved out of the newly created Islamic states and resettled into
7866-451: The Indic religious culture and doctrines. Temples dedicated to deity Rama were built from north to south India, and textual records as well as hagiographic inscriptions began comparing the Hindu epic of Ramayana to regional kings and their response to Islamic attacks. The Yadava king of Devagiri named Ramacandra , for example states Pollock, is described in a 13th-century record as, "How
8004-413: The Indus River "could very well precipitate World War III." Over the years factories on the banks of the Indus River have increased levels of water pollution in the river and the atmosphere around it. High levels of pollutants in the river have led to the deaths of endangered Indus river dolphin. The Sindh Environmental Protection Agency has ordered polluting factories around the river to shut down under
8142-672: The Indus River and its two tributaries the Jhelum River and the Chenab River independently of upstream control by India. The Indus Basin Project consisted primarily of the construction of two main dams, the Mangla Dam built on the Jhelum River and the Tarbela Dam constructed on the Indus River, together with their subsidiary dams. The Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority undertook
8280-445: The Indus River basin: the Eurasian otter in the northeastern highland sections and the smooth-coated otter elsewhere in the river basin. The smooth-coated otters in the Indus River represent a subspecies found nowhere else, the Sindh otter ( Lutrogale perspicillata sindica ). The Indus River basin has high diversity, being the home of more than 180 freshwater fish species, including 22 which are found nowhere else. Fish also played
8418-643: The Indus River from severely affected northern regions toward western Punjab , where at least 1,400,000 acres (570,000 ha) of cropland was destroyed, and the southern province of Sindh. As of September 2010 , over two thousand people had died and over a million homes had been destroyed since the flooding began. The 2011 Sindh floods began during the Pakistani monsoon season in mid-August 2011, resulting from heavy monsoon rains in Sindh, eastern Balochistan, and southern Punjab. The floods caused considerable damage; an estimated 434 civilians were killed, with 5.3 million people and 1,524,773 homes affected. Sindh
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#17330931110718556-458: The Indus River. It is a subspecies of the South Asian river dolphin . The Indus river dolphin formerly also occurred in the tributaries of the Indus river. According to the World Wildlife Fund it is one of the most threatened cetaceans with only about 1,816 still existing. It is threatened by habitat degradation from the construction of dams and canals, entanglement in fishing gear, and industrial water pollution. There are two otter species in
8694-426: The Indus river. Most scholars believe that settlements of Gandhara grave culture of the early Indo-Aryans flourished in Gandhara from 1700 BC to 600 BC, when Mohenjo-daro and Harappa had already been abandoned. The Rigveda describes several rivers , including one named "Sindhu". The Rigvedic "Sindhu" is thought to be the present-day Indus River. It is attested 176 times in its text, 94 times in
8832-509: The Indus: Guddu Barrage , Sukkur Barrage , Kotri Barrage (also called Ghulam Muhammad barrage), Taunsa Barrage , Chashma Barrage and Jinnah Barrage . Another new barrage called " Sindh Barrage " is planned as a terminal barrage on the Indus River. There are some bridges on River Indus, such as Dadu Moro Bridge, Larkana Khairpur Indus River Bridge, Thatta-Sujawal bridge, Jhirk-Mula Katiar bridge and recently planned Kandhkot-Ghotki bridge. The entire left bank of Indus river in Sind province
8970-478: The Malayalam month, the world-famous Attukal Pongala Mahotsavam takes place. The major part of the city itself at about 8 kilometre radius around the temple premises, where people of all caste, creed and religion, gather in open fields, roads, commercial institutions, premises of Government offices etc. emerges as a consecrated ground for observing Pongala rituals for more than 2.5 million women devotees assembling from different parts of Kerala and outside. The ceremony
9108-459: The Pakistan Environmental Protection Act, 1997. Death of the Indus river dolphin has also been attributed to fishermen using poison to kill fish and scooping them up. As a result, the government banned fishing from Guddu Barrage to Sukkur . The Indus is second among a group of ten rivers responsible for about 90% of all the plastic that reaches the oceans. The Yangtze is the only river contributing more plastic. Frequently, Indus River
9246-515: The Puranic literature. According to Diana L. Eck and other Indologists such as André Wink, Muslim invaders were aware of Hindu sacred geography such as Mathura, Ujjain, and Varanasi by the 11th century. These sites became a target of their serial attacks in the centuries that followed. The Hindus have been persecuted during the medieval and modern era. The medieval persecution included waves of plunder, killing, destruction of temples and enslavement by Turk-Mongol Muslim armies from central Asia. This
9384-405: The Rann of Kutch during its floods breaching flood banks . The major cities of the Indus Valley Civilisation , such as Harappa and Mohenjo-daro , date back to around 3300 BC, and represent some of the largest human habitations of the ancient world. The Indus Valley Civilisation extended from across northeast Afghanistan to Pakistan and northwest India , with an upward reach from east of
9522-502: The River Indus" from Achaemenian Old Persian "hindu," denoting an eastern province of the Achaemenid empire ( Persian language hind India), and Avestan hiṇdu , həṇdu "river," (natural) frontier; with same Proto Indo-Iranian language -root as Sanskrit sindhu (river), specifically the River Indus; hence also the region of the Indus, the province Sindh (which also developed into Hellenistic Greek Σίνθος ("the River Indus"). This river's traditional name in Sanskrit and Tibetan
9660-470: The Ror dynasty of Sauvīra . The Indus River came into the knowledge of the Western world early in the classical period , when King Darius of Persia sent his Greek subject Scylax of Caryanda to explore the river, c. 515 BC . Etymologically, English language word "Indus" comes from Late Latin Indus (1598), specifically a use of classical Latin Indus (inhabitant of India, Indian) from ancient Greek Ἰνδός "inhabitant of India, Indian,
9798-611: The Sikhs and by neo-Buddhists who were formerly Hindus. According to Sheen and Boyle, Jains have not objected to being covered by personal laws termed under 'Hindu', but Indian courts have acknowledged that Jainism is a distinct religion. The Republic of India is in the peculiar situation that the Supreme Court of India has repeatedly been called upon to define "Hinduism" because the Constitution of India , while it prohibits "discrimination of any citizen" on grounds of religion in article 15, article 30 foresees special rights for "All minorities, whether based on religion or language". As
9936-480: The Sindhu river, therefore some assumptions that medieval Persian authors considered Hindu as derogatory is not accepted by practicing Hindus themselves as those references are much later to references used in pre-Islamic Persian sources, early Arab and Indian sources, all of them had positive connotation only as they either referred to region or followers of Hinduism. The historical development of Hindu self-identity within
10074-533: The Yavanas [Muslims], The Kali age now deserves deepest congratulations for being at the zenith of its power, gone is the sacred learning, hidden is refinement, hushed is the voice of Dharma . The historiographic writings in Telugu language from the 13th- and 14th-century Kakatiya dynasty period presents a similar "alien other (Turk)" and "self-identity (Hindu)" contrast. Chattopadhyaya, and other scholars, state that
10212-561: The basis for Pakistan's large production of crops such as cotton, sugarcane and wheat. The dams also generate electricity for heavy industries and urban centres. The Indus River is sacred to Hindus. The Sindhu Darshan Festival is held on every Guru Purnima on the banks of the Indus. The ethnicities of the Indus Valley (Pakistan and Northwest India) have a greater amount of ANI (or West Eurasian) admixture than other South Asians, including inputs from Western Steppe Herders , with evidence of more sustained and multi-layered migrations from
10350-1450: The catfish Glyptosternon reticulatum . Going downstream these are soon joined by the golden mahseer Tor putitora (alternatively T. macrolepis , although it often is regarded as a synonym of T. putitora ) and Schistura loaches. Downriver from around Thakot , Tarbela , the Kabul –Indus river confluence, Attock Khurd and Peshawar the diversity rises strongly, including many cyprinids ( Amblypharyngodon , Aspidoparia , Barilius , Chela , Cirrhinus , Crossocheilus , Cyprinion , Danio , Devario , Esomus , Garra , Labeo , Naziritor , Osteobrama , Pethia , Puntius , Rasbora , Salmophasia , Securicula and Systomus ), true loaches ( Botia and Lepidocephalus ), stone loaches ( Acanthocobitis and Nemacheilus ), ailiid catfish ( Clupisoma ), bagridae catfish ( Batasio , Mystus , Rita and Sperata ), airsac catfish ( Heteropneustes ), schilbid catfish ( Eutropiichthys ), silurid catfish ( Ompok and Wallago ), sisorid catfish ( Bagarius , Gagata , Glyptothorax and Sisor ), gouramis ( Trichogaster ), nandid leaffish ( Nandus ), snakeheads ( Channa ), spiny eel ( Macrognathus and Mastacembelus ), knifefish ( Notopterus ), glassfish ( Chanda and Parambassis ), clupeids ( Gudusia ), needlefish ( Xenentodon ) and gobies ( Glossogobius ), as well as
10488-526: The celebration of Hindu festivals such as Holi and Diwali . Other recorded persecution of Hindus include those under the reign of 18th century Tipu Sultan in south India, and during the colonial era. In the modern era, religious persecution of Hindus have been reported outside India in Pakistan and Bangladesh . Christophe Jaffrelot states that modern Hindu nationalism was born in Maharashtra , in
10626-422: The construction of one of the most complex irrigation networks in the world. The Guddu Barrage is 1,350 m (4,430 ft) long – irrigating Sukkur , Jacobabad , Larkana and Kalat . The Sukkur Barrage serves over 20,000 km (7,700 sq mi). After Pakistan came into existence, a water control treaty signed between India and Pakistan in 1960 guaranteed that Pakistan would receive water from
10764-571: The construction of the Chashma-Jhelum link canal – linking the waters of the Indus and Jhelum rivers – extending water supplies to the regions of Bahawalpur and Multan . Pakistan constructed the Tarbela Dam near Rawalpindi – standing 2,743 metres (9,000 ft) long and 143 metres (470 ft) high, with an 80-kilometre (50 mi) long reservoir. It supports the Chashma Barrage near Dera Ismail Khan for irrigation use and flood control and
10902-611: The course of the Indus. It was crossed by the invading armies of Alexander . Still, after his Macedonians conquered the west bank—joining it to the Hellenic world, they elected to retreat along the southern course of the river, ending Alexander's Asian campaign. Alexander's admiral Nearchus set out from the Indus Delta to explore the Persian Gulf , until reaching the Tigris . The Indus Valley
11040-585: The culture has also influenced a long region and other religions people of that area. All Indian religions , including Buddhism , Jainism and Sikhism are deeply influenced and soft-powered by Hinduism . Indus River The Indus ( / ˈ ɪ n d ə s / IN -dəs ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans- Himalayan river of South and Central Asia . The 3,180 km (1,980 mi) river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet , flows northwest through
11178-431: The custom of distinguishing between Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, and Sikhs is a modern phenomena, but one that is a convenient abstraction. Distinguishing Indian traditions is a fairly recent practice, states Lipner, and is the result of "not only Western preconceptions about the nature of religion in general and of religion in India in particular, but also with the political awareness that has arisen in India" in its people and
11316-459: The delta population of Indus River dolphins from those further upstream. Large-scale diversion of the river's water for irrigation has raised far-reaching issues. Sediment clogging from poor maintenance of canals has affected agricultural production and vegetation on numerous occasions. Irrigation itself is increasing soil salinization, reducing crop yields and in some cases rendering farmland useless for cultivation. The Tibetan Plateau contains
11454-454: The disputed region of Kashmir , bends sharply to the left after the Nanga Parbat massif , and flows south-by-southwest through Pakistan , before emptying into the Arabian Sea near the port city of Karachi . The river has a total drainage area of circa 1,120,000 km (430,000 sq mi). Its estimated annual flow is around 175 km /a (5,500 m /s), making it one of
11592-472: The early medieval era Puranas as pilgrimage sites around a theme. This sacred geography and Shaiva temples with same iconography, shared themes, motifs and embedded legends are found across India, from the Himalayas to hills of South India, from Ellora Caves to Varanasi by about the middle of 1st millennium. Shakti temples, dated to a few centuries later, are verifiable across the subcontinent. Varanasi as
11730-455: The ecology of the Shivalik Hills has led to a marked deterioration in vegetation and growing conditions. The Indus valley regions are arid with poor vegetation. Agriculture is sustained largely due to irrigation works. The Indus river and its watershed have a rich biodiversity. It is home to around 25 amphibian species. The Indus river dolphin ( Platanista indicus minor ) is found only in
11868-534: The first Muslim invasion of Sindh in the 8th century CE, and intensified 13th century onwards. The 14th-century Sanskrit text, Madhuravijayam , a memoir written by Gangadevi , the wife of Vijayanagara prince, for example describes the consequences of war using religious terms, I very much lament for what happened to the groves in Madhura , The coconut trees have all been cut and in their place are to be seen, rows of iron spikes with human skulls dangling at
12006-477: The five rivers are Jhelum , Chenab , Ravi , Beas and Sutlej , all of which finally flow into the Indus. The Indus also supports many heavy industries and provides the main supply of potable water in Pakistan. The total length of the river varies in different sources. The length used in this article is 3,180 km (1,980 mi), taken from the Himalayan Climate and Water Atlas (2015). Historically,
12144-517: The flows of the Indus could be severely, severely affected by glacier melt as a consequence of climate change ," and reduced by perhaps as much as 50 per cent. "Now what does that mean to a population that lives in a desert [where], without the river, there would be no life? I don't know the answer to that question," he says. "But we need to be concerned about that. Deeply, deeply concerned." U.S. diplomat Richard Holbrooke said, shortly before he died in 2010, that he believed that falling water levels in
12282-501: The former group is absent and the latter are rare. Many of the species of the middle sections of the Indus basin are also present in the lower. Notable examples of genera that are present in the lower plain but generally not elsewhere in the Indus River basin are the Aphanius pupfish, Aplocheilus killifish, palla fish ( Tenualosa ilisha ), catla ( Labeo catla ), rohu ( Labeo rohita ) and Cirrhinus mrigala . The lowermost part of
12420-529: The general region of the Ghaggar-Hakra River and its tributaries. Among the settlements were the major urban centres of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro, as well as Lothal , Dholavira , Ganeriwala , and Rakhigarhi . Only 40 Indus Valley sites have been discovered on the Indus and its tributaries. However, it is notable that majority of the Indus script seals and inscribed objects discovered were found at sites along
12558-486: The highest percentage of Hindus (in decreasing order) are Nepal , India , Mauritius , Fiji , Guyana , Bhutan , Suriname , Trinidad and Tobago , Qatar , Sri Lanka , Kuwait , Bangladesh , Réunion , Malaysia , and Singapore . The fertility rate, that is children per woman, for Hindus is 2.4, which is less than the world average of 2.5. Pew Research projects that there will be 1.4 billion Hindus by 2050. In more ancient times, Hindu kingdoms arose and spread
12696-598: The historical records in Vaishnavism terms of Rama, a deity Vishnu avatar. Pollock presents many such examples and suggests an emerging Hindu political identity that was grounded in the Hindu religious text of Ramayana, one that has continued into the modern times, and suggests that this historic process began with the arrival of Islam in India. Brajadulal Chattopadhyaya has questioned the Pollock theory and presented textual and inscriptional evidence. According to Chattopadhyaya,
12834-476: The influential Asiatick Researches founded in the 18th century, later called The Asiatic Society , initially identified just two religions in India – Islam, and Hinduism. These orientalists included all Indian religions such as Buddhism as a subgroup of Hinduism in the 18th century. These texts called followers of Islam as Mohamedans , and all others as Hindus . The text, by the early 19th century, began dividing Hindus into separate groups, for chronology studies of
12972-486: The legal age of marriage for girls. Hindu nationalists seek that the legal age for marriage be eighteen that is universally applied to all girls regardless of their religion and that marriages be registered with local government to verify the age of marriage. Muslim clerics consider this proposal as unacceptable because under the shariah-derived personal law, a Muslim girl can be married at any age after she reaches puberty. Hindu nationalism in India, states Katharine Adeney,
13110-664: The local Indian population, in a religious or cultural sense, is unclear. Competing theories state that Hindu identity developed in the British colonial era , or that it may have developed post-8th century CE after the Muslim invasions and medieval Hindu–Muslim wars . A sense of Hindu identity and the term Hindu appears in some texts dated between the 13th and 18th century in Sanskrit and Bengali . The 14th- and 18th-century Indian poets such as Vidyapati , Kabir , Tulsidas and Eknath used
13248-509: The memoirs of Chinese Buddhist and Persian Muslim travellers attest to the existence and significance of the pilgrimage to sacred geography among Hindus by later 1st millennium CE. According to Fleming, those who question whether the term Hindu and Hinduism are a modern construction in a religious context present their arguments based on some texts that have survived into the modern era, either of Islamic courts or of literature published by Western missionaries or colonial-era Indologists aiming for
13386-415: The mid-19th century, colonial orientalist texts further distinguished Hindus from Buddhists , Sikhs and Jains , but the colonial laws continued to consider all of them to be within the scope of the term Hindu until about mid-20th century. Scholars state that the custom of distinguishing between Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs is a modern phenomenon. At approximately 1.2 billion, Hindus are
13524-399: The military and political campaign during the medieval era wars in Deccan peninsula of India, and in the north India, were no longer a quest for sovereignty, they embodied a political and religious animosity against the "otherness of Islam", and this began the historical process of Hindu identity formation. Andrew Nicholson, in his review of scholarship on Hindu identity history, states that
13662-659: The name of the Indus River and also referred to its tributaries. The actual term 'hindu' first occurs, states Gavin Flood, as "a Persian geographical term for the people who lived beyond the river Indus (Sanskrit: Sindhu )", more specifically in the 5th-century BCE, DNa inscription of Darius I . The Punjab region , called Sapta Sindhu in the Vedas, is called Hapta Hindu in Zend Avesta . The 6th-century BCE inscription of Darius I mentions
13800-431: The phrase Hindu dharma (Hinduism) and contrasted it with Turaka dharma ( Islam ). The Christian friar Sebastiao Manrique used the term 'Hindu' in a religious context in 1649. In the 18th century, European merchants and colonists began to refer to the followers of Indian religions collectively as Hindus , in contrast to Mohamedans for groups such as Turks, Mughals and Arabs , who were adherents of Islam. By
13938-501: The plural, and most often used in the generic sense of "river". In the Rigveda, notably in the later hymns, the meaning of the word is narrowed to refer to the Indus river in particular; for example, in the list of rivers mentioned in the hymn of Nadistuti sukta . The Rigvedic hymns apply a feminine gender to all the rivers mentioned therein, except for the Brahmaputra . The word "India"
14076-511: The points, In the highways which were once charming with anklets sound of beautiful women, are now heard ear-piercing noises of Brahmins being dragged, bound in iron-fetters, The waters of Tambraparni , which were once white with sandal paste, are now flowing red with the blood of cows slaughtered by miscreants, Earth is no longer the producer of wealth, nor does Indra give timely rains, The God of death takes his undue toll of what are left lives if undestroyed by
14214-433: The province of Hi[n]dush , referring to northwestern India. The people of India were referred to as Hinduvān and hindavī was used as the adjective for Indian language in the 8th century text Chachnama . According to D. N. Jha , the term 'Hindu' in these ancient records is an ethno-geographical term and did not refer to a religion. Among the earliest known records of 'Hindu' with connotations of religion may be in
14352-550: The region. The 3rd millennium BC saw the rise of Indus Valley Civilisation , a major urban civilization of the Bronze Age. During the 2nd millennium BC, the Punjab region was mentioned in the Rigveda hymns as Sapta Sindhu and in the Avesta religious texts as Hapta Həndu (both terms meaning " seven rivers "). Early historical kingdoms that arose in the Indus Valley include Gandhāra , and
14490-511: The religion and traditions across Southeast Asia, particularly Thailand , Nepal , Burma , Malaysia , Indonesia , Cambodia , Laos , Philippines , and what is now central Vietnam . Over 3 million Hindus are found in Bali Indonesia, a culture whose origins trace back to ideas brought by Hindu traders to Indonesian islands in the 1st millennium CE. Their sacred texts are also the Vedas and
14628-449: The religions have drawn their curved swords;" however, the date of this text is unclear and considered by most scholars to be more recent. In Islamic literature, 'Abd al-Malik Isami 's Persian work, Futuhu's-salatin , composed in the Deccan under Bahmani rule in 1350, uses the word ' hindi' to mean Indian in the ethno-geographical sense and the word ' hindu' to mean 'Hindu' in
14766-461: The river Senge Tsangpo (སེང་གེ་གཙང་པོ།), Baltis call it Gemtsuh and Tsuh-Fo , Pashtuns call it Nilab , Sher Darya and Abbasin , while Sindhis call it Sindhu , Mehran , Purali and Samundar . The Indus River provides key water resources for Pakistan's economy – especially the breadbasket of Punjab province , which accounts for most of the nation's agricultural production, and Sindh. The word Punjab means "land of five rivers" and
14904-412: The river and its delta are home to freshwater fish, but also several brackish and marine species. This includes pomfret and prawns . The large delta has been recognized by conservationists as an important ecological region. Here, the river turns into many marshes, streams and creeks and meets the sea at shallow levels. Palla fish ( Tenualosa ilisha ) of the river is a delicacy for people living along
15042-453: The river is also determined by the seasons – it diminishes greatly in the winter while flooding its banks in the monsoon months from July to September. There is also evidence of a steady shift in the course of the river since prehistoric times – it deviated westwards from flowing into the Rann of Kutch and adjoining Banni grasslands after the 1816 earthquake. As of 2011 , Indus water flows in to
15180-510: The river is the Sênggê Kanbab ( Sênggê Zangbo ) or "Lion's Mouth", a perennial spring not far from the sacred Mount Kailash , marked by a long low line of Tibetan chortens . There are several other tributaries nearby, which may form a longer stream than Sênggê Kanbab, but unlike the Sênggê Kanbab, are all dependent on snowmelt . The Zanskar River , which flows into the Indus in Ladakh, has
15318-612: The river now carried the waters of the Kabul River, the Indus River and the five Punjab rivers. Passing by Jamshoro , it ends in a large delta to the South of Thatta in the Sindh province of Pakistan. The Indus is one of the few rivers in the world to exhibit a tidal bore . The Indus system is largely fed by the snow and glaciers of the Himalayas , Karakoram and the Hindu Kush ranges. The flow of
15456-623: The river) and " India " (for the land of the river). Likewise Hebrew cognate hōd-dū refers to India mentioned in Hebrew Bible ( Esther 1:1 ). The term " Hindu " also implied a geographic, ethnic or cultural identifier for people living in the Indian subcontinent around or beyond the Sindhu (Indus) River . By the 16th century CE, the term began to refer to residents of the subcontinent who were not Turkic or Muslims . Since ancient times, Hindu has been used to refer to people inhibiting region beyond
15594-436: The river. The population of fish in the river is moderately high, with Sukkur , Thatta , and Kotri being the major fishing centres – all in the lower Sindh course. As a result, damming and irrigation have made fish farming an important economic activity. The Indus is the most important supplier of water resources to the Punjab and Sindh plains – it forms the backbone of agriculture and food production in Pakistan. The river
15732-475: The same work. An extended figure of circa 3,600 km (2,200 mi) was announced by a Chinese research group in 2011, based on a comprehensive remeasurement from satellite imagery, and a ground expedition to identify an alternative source point, but detailed analysis has not yet been published. The ultimate source of the Indus is in Tibet , but there is some debate about the exact source. The traditional source of
15870-473: The sense of a follower of the Hindu religion". The poet Vidyapati 's Kirtilata (1380) uses the term Hindu in the sense of a religion, it contrasts the cultures of Hindus and Turks (Muslims) in a city and concludes "The Hindus and the Turks live close together; Each makes fun of the other's religion ( dhamme )." One of the earliest uses of word 'Hindu' in a religious context, in a European language (Spanish),
16008-443: The sense of non-Muslim Indians". However, scholars like Robert Fraser and Mary Hammond opine that Sikhism began initially as a militant sect of Hinduism and it got formally separated from Hinduism only in the 20th century. During the colonial era, the term Hindu had connotations of native religions of India, that is religions other than Christianity and Islam. In early colonial era Anglo-Hindu laws and British India court system,
16146-549: The surface. In November 2011, satellite images showed that the Indus river had re-entered India and was feeding the Great Rann of Kutch , Little Rann of Kutch and a lake near Ahmedabad known as Nal Sarovar . Heavy rains had left the river basin along with the Lake Manchar , Lake Hemal and Kalri Lake (all in modern-day Pakistan) inundated. This happened two centuries after the Indus river shifted its course westwards following
16284-542: The temple of Attukal is worshipped as the Supreme Mother, creator, preserver, and destroyer, of all beings. According to regional legend , the goddess Attukal Bhagavathy is the deified form of Kannagi , the heroine of the epic Cilappatikaram , written by Ilango Adigal , the Tamil poet. The story goes that after the destruction of the ancient city of Madurai , Kannagi left the city and reached Kerala via Kanyakumari , and on
16422-470: The term 'Hindu' retained its geographical reference initially: 'Indian', 'indigenous, local', virtually 'native'. Slowly, the Indian groups themselves started using the term, differentiating themselves and their "traditional ways" from those of the invaders. The text Prithviraj Raso , by Chand Bardai , about the 1192 CE defeat of Prithviraj Chauhan at the hands of Muhammad Ghori , is full of references to "Hindus" and "Turks", and at one stage, says "both
16560-408: The term Hindu referred to people of all Indian religions as well as two non-Indian religions: Judaism and Zoroastrianism. In the 20th century, personal laws were formulated for Hindus, and the term 'Hindu' in these colonial 'Hindu laws' applied to Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs in addition to denominational Hindus. Beyond the stipulations of British colonial law, European orientalists and particularly
16698-525: The two points previously used. The Indus then flows northwest through Ladakh (Indian-administered Kashmir) and Baltistan and Gilgit (Pakistan-administered Kashmir), just south of the Karakoram range. The Shyok , Shigar and Gilgit rivers carry glacial waters into the main river. It gradually bends to the south and descends into the Punjab plains at Kalabagh , Pakistan. The Indus passes gigantic gorges 4,500–5,200 metres (15,000–17,000 ft) deep near
16836-505: The various beliefs. Among the earliest terms to emerge were Seeks and their College (later spelled Sikhs by Charles Wilkins), Boudhism (later spelled Buddhism), and in the 9th volume of Asiatick Researches report on religions in India, the term Jainism received notice. According to Pennington, the terms Hindu and Hinduism were thus constructed for colonial studies of India. The various sub-divisions and separation of subgroup terms were assumed to be result of "communal conflict", and Hindu
16974-451: The vernacular literature of Bhakti movement sants from 15th to 17th century, such as Kabir , Anantadas, Eknath, Vidyapati, suggests that distinct religious identities, between Hindus and Turks (Muslims), had formed during these centuries. The poetry of this period contrasts Hindu and Islamic identities, states Nicholson, and the literature vilifies the Muslims coupled with a "distinct sense of
17112-458: The way to Kodungalloor , took a sojourn at Attukal. She is venerated by devotees at the site as a mother goddess, believed to be able to relieve them of their distress and offer them protection. The Pongala Mahotsavam is the most important festival of Attukal Bhagavathy Temple. This festival at Attukal has been entered into the Guinness book of world records as the largest congregation of women in
17250-472: The west. Originally, the delta used to receive almost all of the water from the Indus River, which has an annual flow of approximately 180 billion cubic metres (240 × 10 ^ cu yd), and is accompanied by 400 million tonnes (390 × 10 ^ long tons) of silt. Since the 1940s, dams, barrages and irrigation works have been constructed on the river. The Indus Basin Irrigation System
17388-424: The wide range of traditions and ideas covered by the term Hinduism, arriving at a comprehensive definition is difficult. The religion "defies our desire to define and categorize it". A Hindu may, by his or her choice, draw upon ideas of other Indian or non-Indian religious thought as a resource, follow or evolve his or her personal beliefs, and still identify as a Hindu. In 1995, Chief Justice P. B. Gajendragadkar
17526-472: The world's third-largest religious group after Christians and Muslims. The vast majority of Hindus, approximately 966 million (94.3% of the global Hindu population), live in India , according to the 2011 Indian census. After India, the next nine countries with the largest Hindu populations are, in decreasing order: Nepal , Bangladesh , Indonesia , Pakistan , Sri Lanka , the United States , Malaysia ,
17664-635: The world's third-largest store of ice. Qin Dahe, the former head of the China Meteorological Administration, said the recent fast pace of melting and warmer temperatures will be good for agriculture and tourism in the short term, but issued a strong warning: Temperatures are rising four times faster than elsewhere in China, and the Tibetan glaciers are retreating at a higher speed than in any other part of
17802-560: The world. Most Hindus are found in Asian countries. The top twenty-five countries with the most Hindu residents and citizens (in decreasing order) are India , Nepal , Bangladesh , Indonesia , Pakistan , Sri Lanka , United States , Malaysia , Myanmar , United Kingdom , Mauritius , South Africa , United Arab Emirates , Canada , Australia , Saudi Arabia , Trinidad and Tobago , Singapore , Fiji , Qatar , Kuwait , Guyana , Bhutan , Oman and Yemen . The top fifteen countries with
17940-613: The world. The offering of Pongala is a special temple practice prevalent in the southern part of Kerala and some parts of Tamil Nadu . It is a ten-day programme commencing on the Karthika star of the Malayalam month of Makaram-Kumbham (February–March) and closing with the sacrificial offering known as Kuruthitharpanam at night. On the ninth day, ie on the Pooram Star of the Makaram-Kumbham in
18078-460: The world... In the short term, this will cause lakes to expand and bring floods and mudflows... In the long run, the glaciers are vital lifelines of the Indus River. Once they vanish, water supplies in Pakistan will be in peril. "There is insufficient data to say what will happen to the Indus," says David Grey, the World Bank's senior water advisor in South Asia. "But we all have very nasty fears that
18216-623: Was codified by Savarkar while he was a political prisoner of the British colonial authorities. Chris Bayly traces the roots of Hindu nationalism to the Hindu identity and political independence achieved by the Maratha confederacy , that overthrew the Islamic Mughal empire in large parts of India, allowing Hindus the freedom to pursue any of their diverse religious beliefs and restored Hindu holy places such as Varanasi. A few scholars view Hindu mobilisation and consequent nationalism to have emerged in
18354-664: Was constructed by these orientalists to imply people who adhered to "ancient default oppressive religious substratum of India", states Pennington. Followers of other Indian religions so identified were later referred Buddhists, Sikhs or Jains and distinguished from Hindus, in an antagonistic two-dimensional manner, with Hindus and Hinduism stereotyped as irrational traditional and others as rational reform religions. However, these mid-19th-century reports offered no indication of doctrinal or ritual differences between Hindu and Buddhist, or other newly constructed religious identities. These colonial studies, states Pennigton, "puzzled endlessly about
18492-454: Was later dominated by the Mauryan and Kushan Empires , Indo-Greek Kingdoms , Indo-Scythians and Hepthalites . Over several centuries Muslim armies of Muhammad ibn al-Qasim , Mahmud of Ghazni , Muhammad of Ghor , Timur and Babur crossed the river to invade Sindh and Punjab , providing a gateway to the Indian subcontinent. Indus is an antecedent river , meaning that it existed before
18630-435: Was later used occasionally in some Sanskrit texts such as the later Rajataranginis of Kashmir (Hinduka, c. 1450 ) and some 16th- to 18th-century Bengali Gaudiya Vaishnava texts, including Chaitanya Charitamrita and Chaitanya Bhagavata . These texts used it to contrast Hindus from Muslims who are called Yavanas (foreigners) or Mlecchas (barbarians), with the 16th-century Chaitanya Charitamrita text and
18768-442: Was quoted in an Indian Supreme Court ruling: Although Hinduism contains a broad range of philosophies, Hindus share philosophical concepts, such as but not limiting to dharma , karma , kama , artha , moksha and samsara , even if each subscribes to a diversity of views. Hindus also have shared texts such as the Vedas with embedded Upanishads , and common ritual grammar ( Sanskara (rite of passage) ) such as rituals during
18906-550: Was reaching the Arabian Sea by 45 million years ago, implying the existence of an ancient Indus River by that time. The delta of this proto-Indus river has subsequently been found in the Katawaz Basin , on the Afghan-Pakistan border . In the Nanga Parbat region, the massive amounts of erosion due to the Indus river following the capture and rerouting through that area are thought to bring middle and lower crustal rocks to
19044-407: Was the publication in 1649 by Sebastio Manrique . In the Indian historian DN Jha 's essay "Looking for a Hindu identity" , he writes: "No Indians described themselves as Hindus before the fourteenth century" and that "The British borrowed the word 'Hindu' from India, gave it a new meaning and significance, [and] reimported it into India as a reified phenomenon called Hinduism." In the 18th century,
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