Vedic+Religion

The Vedic religion is the oldest known religion in India for which written documents exist. It takes its name from the several sacred texts known as the Vedas, which were writtien between 15th and 5th century B.C. It was the starting point of the Hindu tradition. Traditional Vedism is a polytheistic sacraficial religion that difered greatly from its successor Hinduism. It involved ritual ceremonies were the Brahman priests would say the sacred hyms of the Rigveda and sacrifice animals to the gods and drink a sacred intoxicating liqiour called soma. Several of the gods included Agni, the sacred fire that would carry the offerings to the Vedic pantheon, as well as Indra, the war-like god, and Varuna, the god of moral law codes. The sacrifices to the gods was done in hopes of being rewarded with many cattle, good health, riches, and other such benefits. When the Vedic religion became Hinduism in the 6th to 2nd century B.C., the Veda texts were carried over into the new religion and became the most sacred writings in Hinduism.

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/624479/Vedic-religion#tab=active~checked%2Citems~checked&title=Vedic%20religion%20--%20Britannica%20Online%20Encyclopedia

Agni, God of fire Image from : http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agni

Created by Ian Worthington, 9/3/08