Tuesday, April 2, 2019

Unearthing Hinduism

I'm writing this after a breathtaking visit to Arizona's Grand Canyon. To many Native American tribes the Grand Canyon is a sacred place: site of numerous origin myths from the Havasupai to the Zuni; hushed repose of the Hopi dead. If I were forced to choose a religion, that’s the kind of religion I could go for. The Grand Canyon confers statures on a religion, outclassing the petty smallness of the Abrahamics, the three squabbling cults which, through historical accident, still afflict the world. Richard Dawkins, The Science In The Soul

Since I'm versed in the old beliefs, myths, and religions of the ancient Tunisia, in addition to my fondness for ancient pagan temples of the antiquities, I can only agree with Richard Dawkins every time I visit a place in Asia where the old beliefs are still alive. India, Nepal, the Island of Bali, and some parts of Asia bravely resisted the spread of Islam and Christianity into their lands and preserved the oldest religions and cults. For these peoples and the rest of the ancient world the land and the nature were the origins of myths, custom and traditions, and laws. Bringing  a new cult, pantheons, and tradition weren't considered a replacement of the existing ones. Both new comers and indigenous assimilated their pantheons into the encountered new ones; Roman used to adopt the gods of the conquered lands: ISIS (not the Islamic state haha) is Egyptian, Saturn looks like Semitic Baal and Ceres is Greek.    

Roughly 95% of world’s Hindus live in India and Nepal. That’s natural! Hinduism is a compilation of traditions and philosophies practiced in India, or the land beyond the Indus valley. This term was first used by Greeks and Persians to describe the peoples that used to live beyond Indus river, it flows through actual Pakistan. The term "Hindu" became familiar  in the 18th and 19th centuries when British scholars started using it to describe distinctive Indian practices. The term excludes Muslims, Christians, and Sikhs. 

In the beginning of the first millennium, Hindu traders introduced their gods and beliefs to Southeast Asia the same way Phoenician traders had introduced their gods to North Africa 10 centuries earlier. Southeast Asian Hinduism, like its North African counterparts after the arrival of the Phoenicians from actual Lebanon, is a syncretism between local beliefs and traditions that had existed before the arrival of Hindu traders from the Indian Sub-continent.  

Like all synchronized religions, Southeast Asia has its own version of Hinduism: same gods but  different names and why not stories. It reminds us of ancient Greeks, Romans, and Phoenicians when they introduce their gods to other Mediterranean peoples: same function, features but different names and stories. As matter of fact, Greek historians used to assimilate the gods of the different civilizations into theirs: the Greek god Zeus became Jupiter, the Phoenician God Eshmun became the Greek Aesculapius, and so on.

I witnessed Southeastern Hinduism when I visited Malaysia and Indonesia. Despite being Muslim majority countries with 60% and 95% respectively, Malaysia and Indonesia have an important Hindu community. In Malaysia the Hindu community is made of Indian expats, while in Indonesia Hindus are indigenous.


The most famous Hindu site in Malaysia is The Batu Caves in the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur. It was there where I started encountering the oldest religious practices on earth; more than 5000 years old, older than Judaism based on archaeological record. The site hosts the tallest statue of the lord Murugan, the Hindu God of war. By the way, it was easy to recognize that he is a god of war since he holds a spear like his peers Mars and Ares of the Roman and the Greek mythology. 

Finally, I can't hide my fondness for the Island of Bali in Indonesia. Its street processions drive me crazy: this is how many modern painters, without witnessing a Hindu procession, imagined ancient gods and goddesses processions in the ancient world. 
Lord Hanuman, The Hindu Monkey God

Hanuman Temple. Batu Caves

Balinese Hinduism

Balinese Hinduism

Balinese Hinduism

Balinese Hinduism

Ganesha, Hindu Elephant god. Batu Caves

Lord Murugan, Hindu God of War. 43m high


Balinese Hinduism



Balinese Hinduism

Balinese Hinduism

Balinese Hinduism

Balinse Hinduism

No comments:

Post a Comment