A much later phenomenon in Hindu history, though ironically claimed to be of antiquity.
Category: Hindu History
Was Gautam Buddha an Avatāra of Viṣṇu or a different person from a similar Avatāra of Viṣṇu?
Bhakti movement is the most influential turning point in Indian History, whose impact still affects the Indian Civilization to this day.
Avatāravāda, i.e. the doctorine of incarnation.
No other religious group uses it as extensively as the as the Vaiṣṇavas. In Vaiṣṇavism almost everyone is an incarnation of either Viṣṇu or some other god, sent by Viṣṇu. And other than that it has a long history of appropriating rivalling religious figures as incarnations into its canon.
How old is the term Hindu? Was it given by the Mughal Invaders or is it more archaic than most people assume it to be??