Hindu denominations
[4][5][15] These deity-centered denominations feature a synthesis of various philosophies such as Samkhya, Yoga and Vedanta, as well as shared spiritual concepts such as moksha, dharma, karma, samsara, ethical precepts such as ahimsa, texts (Upanishads, Puranas, Mahabharata, Agamas), ritual grammar and rites of passage.
[19] These are teaching traditions with autonomous practices and monastic centers, with a guru lineage, with ideas developed and transmitted, redefined and reviewed by each successive generation of followers.
[22] The denominations of Hinduism, states Julius J. Lipner, are unlike those found in major religions of the world, because Hindu denominations are fuzzy with individuals revering gods and goddesses polycentrically, with many Shaiva and Vaishnava adherents recognizing Sri (Lakshmi), Parvati, Saraswati and other aspects of the goddess Devi.
Similarly, Shakta Hindus revere Shiva and goddesses such as Parvati (such as Durga, Radha, Sita and others) and Saraswati important in Shaiva and Vaishnava traditions.
The major living Vaishnava sampradayas include:[27][31] Minor and regional Vaishnavite schools and the principal acharyas connected with them are:[31] Shaivas or Shaivites are those who primarily worship Shiva as the supreme god, both immanent and transcendent.
Saivists are more attracted to asceticism than devotees of other Hindu sects and may be found wandering India with ashen faces, performing self-purification rituals.
[30] The major schools of Shaivism include:[5] Other branches: Shaktas worship the Mother Goddess as Shakti, in different forms.
[29] Animal sacrifice of cockerels, goats and to a lesser extent water buffaloes is practiced by Shakta devotees, mainly at temples of goddesses such as Bhavani or Kali.
[47] The Sringeri Sharada Peetham in Karnataka, believed by its members to have been founded by Shankara, is still the centre of the Smarta sect for its followers.
[48] Halbfass states that, although traditions such as Shaivism and Vaishnavism may be regarded as "self-contained religious constellations",[49] there is a degree of interaction and reference between the "theoreticians and literary representatives"[49] of each tradition which indicates the presence of "a wider sense of identity, a sense of coherence in a shared context and of inclusion in a common framework and horizon".
[49] It is common to find Hindus revering Shiva, Vishnu and Shakti, and celebrating festivals related to them at different times of the year.
[9] The key concepts and practises of the four major denominations of Hinduism can be compared as below: Karma, Dharma Dharmic Karma, champions householder life||[72][73] The Suryaites or Sauras are followers of a Hindu denomination that started in Vedic tradition, and worship Surya as the main visible form of the Saguna Brahman.
The Saura tradition was influential in South Asia, particularly in the west, north and other regions, with numerous Surya idols and temples built between 800 and 1000 CE.
[76] During the iconoclasm of Islamic invasions and Hindu–Muslim wars, the temples dedicated to Sun-god were among those desecrated, images smashed and the resident priests of Saura tradition were killed, states André Wink.
[77][78] The Surya tradition of Hinduism declined in the 12th and 13th century CE and today remains as a very small movement except in Bihar / Jharkhand and Eastern Uttar Pradesh.
[citation needed] Sun worship has continued to be a dominant practice in Bihar / Jharkhand and Eastern Uttar Pradesh in the form of Chhath Puja which is considered the primary festival of importance in these regions.
[citation needed] Hinduism dominated the island of Java and Sumatra until the late 16th century, when a vast majority of the population converted to Islam.
[citation needed] Kaumaram is a sect of Hindus, especially found in South India and Sri Lanka where Kartikeya is worshipped as the Supreme God.
Main traditions linked with Dattatreya Sampradaya are: The Sant Mat was a group of reformer poet-sants and their adherents within Hinduism during the 14th–17th centuries who had desire for religious pluralism and non-ritualistic spirituality.
[80] Due to Kabir's affiliation with Vaishnavite Ramanandi Sampradaya and certain aspects of the creed, the Sant Mat is sometimes seen as part of Vaishnavism.
[citation needed] According to local belief, a Gram deoti or village deity resides in the sarna, where sacrifice is offered twice a year.
[125] Scholars are divided as to whether to call Radha Soami a 1) Sikh-derived or 2) Hindu–Sikh-synthesed or 3) independent version of the medieval Sant Mat as new universal religion.
[137] Hindu philosophy is traditionally divided into six āstika (Sanskrit: आस्तिक "orthodox") schools of thought,[138] or darśanam (दर्शनम्, "view"), which accept the Vedas as the supreme revealed scriptures.
With the disappearance of Vaisheshika and Mimamsa, it was obsolete by the later Middle Ages and modern times, when the various sub-schools of Vedanta began to rise to prominence as the main divisions of religious philosophy, as follows:[140][141] Nyaya survived into the 17th century as Navya Nyaya "Neo-Nyaya", while Samkhya gradually lost its status as an independent school, its tenets absorbed into Yoga and Vedanta.
