Home›Hinduism›Parent DenominationBrowse ByParent DenominationThis page groups denominations by the older denomination they split off from. Wikipedia describes the Druze faith as having "developed out of Isma'ilism" before separating entirely, a pattern that also plays out at the smaller scale of one denomination splitting from another. Browsing by parent denomination lets a visitor trace a denomination back to the body it broke away from.FactsLearn MoreParent DenominationSourcesComments (0)Reader Challenges (0)FactsOverviewWhat Defines This GroupingWell-attestedThe sampradayas and philosophical schools of Hinduism, distinguished by which form of the divine is taken as supreme and by the path emphasised - devotion, knowledge, action or disciplined practice. Hinduism has no founder, no creed and no governing body. 2OriginsOrigin of the NameWell-attestedSampradaya means what is handed down: the Indian term names a lineage of transmission from teacher to disciple, which denomination translates only loosely. 3DirectoryCategoryWell-attestedDenominations 1Learn MoreThe traditions within Hinduism This group holds the major sects and philosophical traditions within Hinduism, which is less a single church than a family of related traditions sharing common texts, deities and practices. Its principal streams are defined chiefly by which form of the divine they place at the centre. The browser will find Vaishnavism (devotion to Vishnu and his avatars), Shaivism (devotion to Shiva), Shaktism (devotion to the Goddess), and Smartism, along with the philosophical schools such as Advaita Vedanta. The entries describe each tradition's chosen deity, texts and characteristic practice.Parent DenominationFilter Results3 entriesAdherents TodayAllThe International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), the tradition's largest global organization, reports about one million congregational members worldwide and roughly 10,000 formally initiated temple members, per a Religion Media Centre factsheet; Gaudiya Vaishnavism as a whole has no single worldwide census, since adherence continues through many additional maths, temples and gurus outside ISKCON. (1)Basis of the Membership FigureAllChurch-Reported Rolls (1)Defining Doctrinal PositionAllAchintya bhedabheda: inconceivable oneness and difference (1)Shiva as the supreme reality (1)The Goddess as the supreme reality (1)Doctrinal Position DetailAllAchintya bheda abheda: inconceivable simultaneous oneness and difference between God and the soul (1)FounderAllChaitanya Mahaprabhu, 1486 to 1534 (1)No founder. (2)GovernanceAllAuthority in a living teacher and their succession (2)Authority in monastic seats (mathas) and their heads (1)No central authority (2)Key TextAllThe Bhagavata Purana and the Chaitanya Charitamrita, its principal hagiographical and theological text. (1)Liturgical LanguageAllSanskrit (3)The vernacular (2)Membership Figure As OfAll2019-01-01 (1)Membership Over TimeAllISKCON, Gaudiya Vaishnavism's largest global organization, reports about one million congregational members worldwide alongside roughly 10,000 formally initiated temple members, a two-tier structure dating to a shift toward congregational membership in the 1990s. (1)OrdinationAllAuthority conferred by initiation rather than by ordination (2)Office passes by descent (2)Restricted to men (1)Origin PeriodAllThe tantric and Siddhanta schools form in the middle of the first millennium CE (1)Origin Period End YearAll600 (1)900 (1)1534 (1)Origin Period Start YearAll800 BCE (1)400 (1)1486 (1)Place of OriginAllBengal, in the early sixteenth century. (1)The Indian subcontinent, with major centres in Bengal, Assam and the Tamil country (1)The Indian subcontinent, with Shaiva Siddhanta in the Tamil country and Trika Shaivism in Kashmir (1)Practice StatusAllShaktism's devotional worship of the Goddess is publicly documented and widely practised, but its Tantric current includes ritual practices traditionally transmitted only from a qualified guru to an initiated disciple, and some of that material is deliberately not set out in publicly available texts. (1)Separation or DivergenceAllA devotional and philosophical orientation within Hinduism, with several distinct scholastic traditions (1)A devotional orientation within Hinduism, overlapping in practice with Shaivism (1)No schism (2)Status TodayAllLiving tradition, practised today (3)Traditional CountAllTen Mahavidyas, the ten great wisdoms (1)BrowseCompareGaudiya VaishnavismParent Denomination1 entryShaivismParent Denomination3 entriesShaktismParent Denomination1 entrySources1. Divinity Atlas Directory Taxonomy, First Edition Category Treetier 12. An Introduction to Hinduismtier 1Gavin Flood, Cambridge University Press, 1996View the Source3. Encyclopedia of Hinduismtier 1Denise Cush, Catherine Robinson and Michael York (eds.), Routledge, 2008s.v. sampradayaView the SourceDivinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptionstier 1Comments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.