Research Gateway

Abstract

The present paper, based on research review related to ancient Indian history attempted to highlight the movements for religious ritual reformation. The Harappan people of the Indus Valley Civilisation which lasted from 3300 to 1300 BCE predated the Vedic religion (Sanghvi, 2013). The late Vedic period ranged from ninth BCE to sixth BCE. It has been stressed by many Historians that the classical Hinduism emanated from Vedic period underwent a movement of the Shramanic tradition. The Shramanic tradition, in spite of being parallel to the Vedic tradition, was different from the Vedic tradition. Two main philosophical branches of Astika and Nastika were introduced in the sixth century BCE as the part of Shramanic movement. Many Vedic elements and orthodox rituals were challenged and were lost during this Shramanic movement (Michaels (2004). orthodoxy of the rituals was challenged. may have been influenced by Some Upanishadic ideas were challenged by Buddhism by discarding the orthodox tendencies and rejecting avenues of salvation (Upadhyaya, 1998). The Puranic Period from 200 BCE to 500 CE as well as early medieval period from 500 CE to 1100 CE introduced the configurations of Hinduism, especially bhakti and Shaivism, Shaktism, Vaishnavism, Smarta, and smaller groups like the conservative Shrauta.