Thread by @indicfaith

Zeus is a story in books. Odin is cosplay at comic-cons. The Mayan gods are museum artifacts. Today,they are MYTHOLOGIES -DEAD FAITHS
But Shiva is still worshipped. Durga is still celebrated

Why did Hinduism survive when every other ancient faith was erased?
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All across the world, indigenous civilizations had their own gods, rituals, and ways of life. From the Americas to Europe to Africa, colonialism, industrialization & organized proselytization erased them.

But one ancient faith survived: Hinduism.
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The Great Erasure:
Colonialism + Conquest + Conversion.

Rome crushed European paganism

Christianity replaced Greek & Norse gods

Islam replaced tribal & African deities

Spanish wiped out Mayan & Inca gods

But in India… Dharma lived.
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Pre-Bronze Age Civilizations – Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Greek, Norse, Celtic, Native American, African tribal faiths… all once had thriving traditions.

Today? Either completely extinct or surviving only as “mythology” in textbooks.
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Why did they vanish?

Colonialism & conquest (Spanish in Americas, British in Africa, Romans in Europe)

Conversion campaigns (Christianity & Islam absorbed or replaced them)

Loss of indigenous languages (rituals can’t survive without mother tongues)
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Centralized priesthood destroyed = faith collapsed

Temples burned = gods forgotten

Language erased = rituals lost

Colonizers outlawed native traditions

They reduced gods to “legends.”
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Hinduism stood apart. Despite centuries of Islamic conquest, Mughal oppression, Portuguese Inquisition in Goa, and 200 years of British colonial rule, Sanatana Dharma refused to die.

It remained a living civilization, not reduced to "mythology."
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Why Hinduism survived when others didn’t?

Decentralized: No Pope, no single book → impossible to wipe out.

Deeply rooted in daily life: Rituals tied to family, food, festivals, seasons.

Sacred geography: Rivers, mountains, forests → entire land became divine.
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Every family a temple, every village a shrine
Oral traditions + Sanskrit + regional languages preserved rituals

Other civilizations localized their gods (Zeus → Olympus, Odin → Scandinavia). Once their temples fell, their gods faded.

But in India: every village has a Devi/Devata. Even if one temple falls, another thrives.
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Even colonizers admitted this resilience. British officials complained:
“We destroy their temples, yet their gods appear in trees, rocks, rivers, and in the hearts of the people.”

That’s why Hinduism was never uprooted.
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Today, Hinduism is the oldest surviving indigenous faith of humanity, still practiced by over a billion people.

While Greek gods are museum pieces and Mayan rituals are reconstructed for tourists, Sanatana Dharma remains a living, breathing tradition.
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The survival of Hinduism is not an accident. It is proof of civilizational continuity—the unbroken chain of dharma from Rigveda to Ramayana to today’s puja rooms.
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Every diya lit, every mantra chanted, every festival celebrated is resistance against the fate that befell other ancient faiths.

Hindus did not just survive. We endured. We continue. We thrive.
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