Hindu Heritage

Background

Hinduism is among the oldest continuously practised religious and cultural traditions in the world, encompassing a wide spectrum of philosophical schools, devotional movements, ritual practices, regional customs, languages of liturgy and literary corpora. Any article framed as "Hindu Heritage" sits at the intersection of religious studies, history, art history, archaeology, anthropology and cultural policy. The term may evoke ancient textual traditions such as the Vedic corpus, the Itihasa-Purana literature, the Dharmashastra writings, and the works of various Acharyas and Bhakti poets; it may also evoke material heritage such as temple architecture, sculpture, iconography, manuscripts, ritual objects and intangible heritage such as music, dance, oral traditions, calendrical festivals and pilgrimage practices.

Significance

An encyclopaedic treatment of Hindu heritage is potentially of broad interest to readers seeking an accessible introduction to the subject, as well as to specialists looking for a structured entry point into more detailed articles. The significance of the topic, in general terms, lies in its scale and diversity: traditions associated with Hinduism have shaped languages, performing arts, philosophical vocabularies, legal traditions, scientific and medical writings, and architectural styles across South Asia and, through diaspora communities, in many parts of the world. The topic is also significant because it is contested: scholars, practitioners and commentators offer differing accounts of origins, continuities, transformations and boundaries.