Culture Region
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Hinduism is practiced all over the world but has a heavy concentration in India. It has roughly 900 million followers today. It teaches that that all reality is a unity; the entire universe is one divine entity. There are three primary beings; Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preservor of the creations, and Shiva the destroyer. It divides social structure into 5 rigid and distinct social classes. Icons include the lotus flower, statues of the various gods, and the veena. _
Diffusion
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Hinduism was founded over 2000 years ago, its founder cannot be traced to a single founder. Because it cannot be traced to a single founder its history is widely unknown. There is no one leader but all the communities have a guru or sage. It can be traced through civilizations such as the Indus River Valley Civilzations and the Aryans. Through the different civilizations different sects were formed like the Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism, which are the 4 main sects that exist today. Hinduism spread through warfare when the Aryans invaded.(expansion diffusion). Also through British merchants and warefare it spread to Great Britian.( relocation diffusion). _
Religious Ecology
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Hinudism has a high respect for nature because verything posseses a subtle divine prescence. Hindus believe in preservation of nature and to let nature run its course. Hindus are also called to be vegetarians and benefit from medicinal uses of herbs and plants. _
Culture Integration
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Hindus view globalizationas a threat to the Hindu way of life. Athough India and many Hindus look up to powerhouses in the west such as the UK, and deem the same things acceptable as their "big brother". Many Hindus go on a pilgrimage to Kumbh Mela ad major holy cities but they are not required to go on a pilgrimage. Hinduism has had a affect on politics because they are religiously tolerant and democracy was succesfully spread to India through Britian. _
Cultural Landscapes
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_Structures in Hinduism include the temple, statues of the different gods, and sacred texts. Sacred places include the temple and major holy cities such as Puri. The main sacred space is nature