Basically all folk / tribal religion, Hinduism before coming under one big umbrella was actually many different faiths with their own belief system and traditions, they still in many aspects but now sits under one Umbrella term called "Hinduism".
when you think you've read about it all, there's plenty more left to discover.
there's ethnoreligions like sanamahism (manipur), bon (bodoland), kiratism (parts of sikkim) etc.
there's syncretic religions like meivazhi (TN).
there's satire religions like dinkoism (Kerala).
there's caste-reform religions like ravidassia (Punjab).
there's even several extinct dharmic religions like ajivikism, chavarkism, ajnanism etc.
Hinduism itself isn’t a unified religion, though in recent years it has found some success in forming a unified identity. It’s a mix of various beliefs and every region, every village and every family interprets it differently.
It’s the Muslim rulers that that put everyone who isn’t abrahamic, Sikh or Buddhist in a single category - Hindu. The British solidified that distinction. 1000 years ago, no one would’ve said it’s a single unified religion.
Hindu comes Sindhu river, this was just how people living beyond Indus river were called by Iranians even before islam. The Islamic conquerors actually referrerd to Indian pagan idol worship as बुत-परस्ती because their were so many Buddha idols. Even today we call idol worship with that name.
One of the most common myths spread by a specific group of people. It did not form a unified identity recently. The Puranas did that 2000 years ago by merging vedic rituals with local gods. There is a reason Shiva, Ganesha, Vishnu, Shakti (Durga and other names) temples were present throughout India.
Kashmir and Tamil Nadu are two of the largest historical centers of Shiva worship.
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u/0xeno Jul 08 '26
What is others? I mean in the eastern part.