Hindu traditions

Topics represented

Religion (62) · Hindu traditions (62) · Temples and pilgrimage (14) · Bhakti (9) · Śaivismo (8) · Vaiṣṇavismo (7) · Living heritage (6) · Politics and nationalism (5) · Law and state (4) · Épicas y memoria (4) · Śaktismo (4) · Védico y brahmánico (4)

Records and sources

Ordered by start date. Long lives and processes may begin before the period you want to study.

1. c. 2600 BCE–c. 1900 BCE

   Indus civilization as an earlier context

   The urban Indus civilization predates Vedic traditions; a direct continuity with later Hinduisms is unproven.

2. c. 1900 BCE–c. 800 BCE

   Late Harappan and Indo-Gangetic cultures

   Late Harappan transformation and Indo-Aryan expansion were historical processes, not a religious founding.

3. c. 1500 BCE–c. 1000 BCE

   Composition and transmission of the Rigveda

   Vedic hymns were composed and orally transmitted, providing principal textual evidence for early ritual contexts.

4. c. 1000 BCE–c. 700 BCE

   Later Vedic ritual development

   Brahmanas and ritual texts elaborate sacrifice and priestly authority, not a uniform practice.

5. c. 800 BCE–c. 300 BCE

   Upanishads: speculation and transmission

   The Upanishads developed debates about brahman, atman, knowledge, and liberation over centuries.

6. c. 600 BCE–c. 300

   Dharmashastra and sutra literature

   Normative, philosophical, and technical genres prescribe ideals, not automatically lived social conduct.

7. c. 600 BCE–c. 500 BCE

   Śramaṇa milieu and new traditions

   Buddhisms and Jainisms emerged in critical dialogue with Brahmanical traditions and must not be absorbed into this layer.

8. c. 600 BCE–c. 200

   Dharmashastra and dharmasutra traditions

   Dharmasutras and Dharmashastras articulate duties, ritual, family, inheritance, proof, and sanctions from roughly 600 BCE to 200 CE. They are normative genres of schools and commentators, not uniform state legislation or a direct description of all South Asian social practice.

9. c. 400 BCE–c. 300

   Arthashastra textual tradition

   The Arthashastra’s composition and layering are dated broadly from the fourth century BCE to the third century CE. The treatise examines government, administration, taxation, and procedure; it cannot safely be assigned to one person, date, or policy actually applied.

10. c. 300 BCE–c. 200

    Oral formation of Sanskrit epics

    The epics circulated orally and were layered over centuries; neither dates nor versions are singular.

11. c. 200 BCE–c. 200

    Layering of the Bhagavad Gita

    The Gita articulates karma, jnana, and bhakti; it is represented with a composition range, not a revelation date.

12. c. 200 BCE–c. 200

    Early Vaishnava devotions

    Vāsudeva/Krishna and Vishnu cults appear in epigraphic and artistic sources; they are one family of traditions.

13. c. 1–c. 400

    Early Shaiva traditions

    Forms of Shiva worship and ritual corpora consolidated in different regional settings.

14. c. 200–c. 600

    Puranic corpora and devotional theologies

    The Puranas formed and were recast over a long period, transmitting deity narratives and pilgrimage.

15. c. 320–c. 550

    Plural patronage in the Gupta period

    Vaishnava and Shaiva production coexisted with Buddhist and Jain patronage; avoid totalizing “golden age” labels.

16. c. 400–c. 600

    Early surviving structural temples

    Sanchi, Nachna, Bhitargaon, and Deogarh document early structural temple forms with distinct histories.

17. c. 500

    Deogarh Dashavatara Temple

    Deogarh is a material landmark of Vaishnava iconography and early architecture.

18. c. 550

    Shaiva complex at Elephanta

    Elephanta preserves a monumental program linked to Shiva and sectarian imagery.

19. c. 550–c. 1300

    Development of Tantric traditions

    Shaiva, Shakta, Vaishnava, Buddhist, and Jain tantric currents formed distinct networks; Tantra is not one practice.

20. c. 600–c. 900

    Alvar poets and Tamil devotion

    Alvar hymns are central to Tamil Vaishnava bhakti; individual chronologies vary.

21. c. 600–c. 900

    Nayanar poets and Shaiva devotion

    Nayanars consolidated Tamil Shaiva singing, pilgrimage, and memory networks; bhakti was not uniform.

22. c. 600–c. 800

    Pallava temples of Tamil Nadu

    Pallava patronage advanced rock-cut and structural architecture in dialogue with local devotions.

23. c. 600–c. 700

    Sambor Prei Kuk and Harihara cults

    In Cambodia, complexes show Harihara/Shaiva convergences with animist and Buddhist traditions.

24. c. 750

    Shankara and Advaita Vedanta

    Commentaries attributed to Shankara are decisive for Advaita; dates and biography require caution.

25. 756–773

    Kailasa Temple at Ellora

    Kailasa expresses Rashtrakuta patronage and a monumental Shaiva program without representing all regional practice.

26. c. 800–c. 1100

    Kashmir Shaiva schools

    Kashmir intellectual and ritual traditions developed nondual Shaiva theologies, including those associated with Abhinavagupta.

27. 850–1279

    Chola patronage and temple networks

    Chola rule supported temple networks and Shaiva/Vaishnava practices in the south without erasing local difference.

28. 1010

    Consecration of Brihadisvara, Thanjavur

    Rajaraja I’s temple documents links among Chola patronage, Shiva, inscription, and ritual economy.

29. c. 1017–c. 1137

    Ramanuja and Vishishtadvaita

    Ramanuja articulated an influential Vaishnava Vedanta and southern devotional networks; dates are conventional.

30. c. 1100–c. 1150

    Angkor Wat as a Vaishnava sanctuary

    Angkor Wat was built in a Khmer setting where Hindu traditions intertwined with later Buddhist transformations.