> Hindus worship Brahman ultimately. This is not entirely true. Hinduism is a religion spanning almost 5000 years of continuous belief, and is the last direct

> Hindus worship Brahman ultimately. This is not entirely true. Hinduism is a religion spanning almost 5000 years of continuous belief, and is the last direct descendant of the Proto-Indo-European mythos and beliefs system. As such, it is extremely complex, and it escapes attempts (especially by Western, Christocentric authors) to easily classify it. Vaiṣṇavas believe Viṣṇu is the ultimate being; Śaivas replace him with Śiva. The Brahman-is-everything belief is closer to the Advaita and Smarta traditions, developed by Ādi Śaṅkara in the 8th century CE. There are the Aghoris, who believe extreme ascetism will lead them closer to Śiva; there exist Hindus who are also Jains, an arguably nāstika ('heterodox') tradition. Furthermore, it is equally fair to argue that many Hindus do worship the idols (or mūrtis) themselves, which are generally considered extremely holy anyway. Although it has descended from PIE religion, Hinduism has undergone much syncretism after its arrival in the Indian subcontinent, perhaps first with the Indus Valley religion, and then with the myriad animist and fetishist beliefs of the various Indian tribes throughout the subcontinent, and therefore the lingering idolatry. Every village has a kuladevatā, a 'clan god'. These have been syncretised with popular worship of the more major Hindu deities. 4000 years ago, Vedic nature deities closer to the Greco-Roman-Norse-Anglo-Saxon-Slavic equivalents were more popular. These include Indra, Váruṇa, Vāyu, Savitṛ, Agni, Sóma etc. After approximately 500 BCE, they were generally replaced by the Trimūrti, their consorts, and their issue, including Gaṇeśa, Pārvatī, Sarasvatī, Lakṣmī, etc. These gods don't really have equivalents in pre-Christian European religions, as they developed through the synthesis of the various scriptures. Hinduism doesn't even have a single prophet, or religious figure; it has not one but at least seven ṛṣis. It has four Vedas, dozens of Purāṇas, two epics that are individually orders of magnitude longer than any Homerian tragedy. Dravidian Hinduism, being almost equally as old, has developed almost independently of the rest of the subcontinent, with its own set of beliefs, cultures, and even architecture. Ergo, Hinduism does not fit into neat categories developed with a Judeo-Christian perspective. Heck, Christians have made it easy for themselves; even their own religion developed out of a polytheistic nature-god religion. The Judeo-Christian god Yahweh is just one deity out of an entire pantheon that more or less went out of fashion after Judaism, including Astarte, Ishtar, Asherah, Baal, El, etc.