Religion is certainly a matter of faith with individuals or communities and it is not necessarily theistic. A religion may not only lay down a code of ethical rules for its followers to accept, it might prescribe rituals and observances, ceremonies and modes of worship which are regarded as integral parts of religion. The meaning and scope of the word "Hindu" occurring in Hindu Religious legislations about its meaning or what is meant by the term "Hindu" occurring in the different legislations. In a judicial exposition in the M. Muraleedharan Nair case of the term ‘Hindu’ by the Kerala High Court, to the effect that only those persons who believe in idol worship are Hindus, leaves the impression by implication that those not believing in idol worship are outside the fold of Hinduism. In contrast to this judicial pronouncement, political statements of certain nationalist leaders tend to expand the scope of the term ‘Hindu’ when they say that all Indians including Muslims, Christians, Jews and Parsis are also Hindus. In the wake of these developments, a close look at the existing legal literature on the subject seems to be an interesting study. This paper therefore envisages a cursory but analytical and critical study of the subject in the light of juristic textual, judicial and legislative materials.