Stretching back over five thousand years, Hinduism didn’t spring up overnight but grew like a vast banyan tree, its roots tangled in the ancient cities of the Indus Valley (circa 3300–1300 BCE). Seals and pottery from Harappa and Mohenjo-daro whisper of rituals and symbols that later found a place in the Vedas, those earliest hymns composed by wandering sages around 1500 BCE.

With no single founder steering the ship, Hinduism is more of a tapestry woven over millennia. The Aryan migrations brought Sanskrit chants and the Rig Veda, laying down frameworks of ritual, sacrifice and devotion. Yet the real magic happened when philosophical questions—“Who am I?” and “What lies beyond this life?”—sparked the Upanishads (roughly 800–500 BCE). These mystical texts peeled back layers of existence, planting seeds for karma (actions), dharma (ethical duty) and moksha (liberation).

On the other side of the coin, the rise of Buddhism and Jainism in that same era nudged Hindu thought toward introspection and nonviolence. Temple worship, bhakti (devotion) movements and epic tales like the Mahabharata and Ramayana added vibrant color, sing-song storytelling and lived spirituality.

Fast-forward to today: yoga classes filling studios from New York to New Delhi, corporate mindfulness apps drawing on ancient pranayama breaths, and world leaders at COP28 nodding toward dharma as an ecological compass. The Sanatana Dharma—“eternal path”—carries a timeless message: life’s more than skin-deep, and every act ripples beyond what meets the eye.

Far from being fossilized history, the origin of Hinduism remains a living, breathing journey. Its beginnings in river valleys and forest hermitages continue to inspire a billion hearts, weaving questions of purpose, ethics and freedom into the very fabric of modern life.