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Created page with "'''Shaivism''' is a sect of Hinduism, most popular in India, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. Followers of Shaivism are known as Shaivas, or Shaivites.<ref name="demographics">Menachery..."
'''Shaivism''' is a sect of [[Hinduism]], most popular in India, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. Followers of Shaivism are known as Shaivas, or Shaivites.<ref name="demographics">Menachery, George, and Ignatius Hirudayam. ''Canonical Books of Saivism and Vaishnavism in Tamil and Sanskrit''. Vol. 3. Print.</ref> It is known in [[Sanskrit]] as शैव पंथ. The main belief of Shaivism is that [[Shiva]], is the creator of all, destroyer, preserver and lord of all existance.
It is also the oldest form of Hinduism today.<ref name="history">Flood, Gavin. An Introduction to Hinduism. Cambrige: Cambridge UP, 1996. Print.</ref>
The ''[[Shvetashvatara Upanishad]]''<ref name="history" /> is the earliest textual exposition of a systematic philosophy of Shaivism.<ref>Śvetāśvatara Upanishad as a systematic philosophy of Shaivism see: ''Harvnb, Chakravarti'' 1994 pg 9.</ref> The [[Shiva Rahasya Purana]], an [[Upapurana]], is an important scriptual text.
==Schools of Shaivism==
Shaivism has many different schools reflecting both regional and temporal variations and differences in philosophy. Shaivism has literature that includes texts from multiple philosophical schools, including non-dualist, dualist, and non-dual-with-dualism perspectives. They can be further broken down to Vedic/Puranic, or Non-puranic schools.
==Popularity==
Shaivism is one of the more popular forms of Hinduism, the others being [[Vaishnavism]], and [[Shaktism]]. It is the most popular form of Hinduism in Nepal, and the 3rd most popular in India.<ref name="demographics" />
==References==
{{reflist}}
It is also the oldest form of Hinduism today.<ref name="history">Flood, Gavin. An Introduction to Hinduism. Cambrige: Cambridge UP, 1996. Print.</ref>
The ''[[Shvetashvatara Upanishad]]''<ref name="history" /> is the earliest textual exposition of a systematic philosophy of Shaivism.<ref>Śvetāśvatara Upanishad as a systematic philosophy of Shaivism see: ''Harvnb, Chakravarti'' 1994 pg 9.</ref> The [[Shiva Rahasya Purana]], an [[Upapurana]], is an important scriptual text.
==Schools of Shaivism==
Shaivism has many different schools reflecting both regional and temporal variations and differences in philosophy. Shaivism has literature that includes texts from multiple philosophical schools, including non-dualist, dualist, and non-dual-with-dualism perspectives. They can be further broken down to Vedic/Puranic, or Non-puranic schools.
==Popularity==
Shaivism is one of the more popular forms of Hinduism, the others being [[Vaishnavism]], and [[Shaktism]]. It is the most popular form of Hinduism in Nepal, and the 3rd most popular in India.<ref name="demographics" />
==References==
{{reflist}}