Re: Hinduism ?
there’s been a lot of changes in hinduism. the vedic version has gods that have gradually crept out of significance. ideas like moksha, karma, etc are elements of dravidian faith. it is hard to say which is the real hinduism because the term “hindu” came much later after the religion of the land evolved. on a simplistic scale, one could say the vedic ritualistic brand of hinduism was pushed by the “brahmanas” while the more earthy and ascetical side was the realm of the “shramanas ” (which included even brahmins like chaanakya).
if one follows the stories of the jain teerthankaras or the buddha, centuries before jesus christ, one would be amazed at the kind of movements that existed amongst the shramanas of the time, a lot of which is preserved in the pali canons of theravada buddhism (amazing how the best ideas from india are now preserved mostly outside india). if not for the likes of shankaracharya, the fabric of india’s biggest religion would have been vastly different.
THIS
i mentioned in some other thread,most of the southern part of india had buddhism and jainism,it was ADI shankaracharya (malayali) bhakti movement started to convert them back to hinduism
there are many buddhist relics found here Amaravati same goes about mention of jainism in sangam period…