A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India |for UPSC | Civil Services Exam | State Administrative exams | Stone Age to the 12th Century | by Upinder Singh, 2nd Edition

Looking at the History of Religions beyond the Framework of ‘isms’

In the realms of religious doctrines and practices, the period c. 200 BCE to 300 CE reflects several continuities with the earlier centuries, but also some striking new developments. One of the most important of these was the beginning of new devotional practices within Buddhism and Jainism and the emergence of what can be termed early Hinduism or Puranic Hinduism. New forms of worship were accompanied by new liturgies and mythologies. Religious teachers, saints, gods, and goddesses were worshipped or venerated in the form of images within the context of religious shrines. A shrine is basically a demarcated sacred space, and such demarcations must have existed in much earlier ...