Question 1: Explain with examples what historians mean by the integration of cults.
Answer:
During the period of the 10th Century to the 17th Century, an important trend noticed in the religious life in India is the worship of God in many forms. Many God and Goddesses appear in the scultures and texts but they are various forms of the original deities only. These original deities are Vishnu, Shiva, and Goddesses Durga, Lakshmi and Parvati. Historians have noticed the two marked trends in the socio-religious life of those days. The first was dissemination of the Brahminical ideas. The Brahminical texts were reproduced in simple Sanskrit. They were now made available to women and shudras, who did not have access to Brahminical literature by and large. The second was the Brahmins who were working on the beliefs and practices. It was a process of
evolution, wherein traditional classical traditions were getting new shapes continuously as they were being impacted by the traditions of common people
throughout the land. Now let us look at the two of the following examples.
1.A very good example of the above description is the temple of Jagannatha at Puri in Orissa. The temple is of Lord Jagannatha who is another form of Vishnu only. The word Jagannatha means one who owns the world.
2.There were many local gods; their statues were often created by wood and stones by tribals. Even families began to have Kul Devata. The Goddeses were also created in wood and stone. They all were in various forms only often of Vishnu.
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