- Kernosovskiy and related images show shrauta kuNDa-s, praNIta-like pAtra & sruva or darvi; along with ithyphallic deity with weapons. Proto-shrauta fire-ritual, deity cults (even atimArga) and idol worship existed in parallel from ancient times.
- Invasion state (from MT):
- The front end of the wave was led by IA speakers with a hotraka “indra-para” religious core. At their rear were the ancestors of the Kalasha & probably Brokpa (
drokpa). - On the steppe, just behind the first wave was an IA group with a distinct religious approach – Adhvaryava & viShNu-focal with some rudra-focal elements scattered in their midst.
- A more rudra-focal group lay on the steppes in the borderland with the Ir.
- The front end of the wave was led by IA speakers with a hotraka “indra-para” religious core. At their rear were the ancestors of the Kalasha & probably Brokpa (
- Prājāpatya tradition rose as well, leading to Aindra decline..
- Core saMhitA-s were compiled in the kuru-pAnchAla realm; followed by the brAhmaNa-s and then the sUtra-s. Ritual was standardized, with Adhvaryava domination - leading to the emergence of pAncharAtra from SYV and vaikhAnasa from KYV.
- vedAnga-s blossomed.
- shikShA, kalpa, ChandaH, vyAkaraNa, jyotiSha took off.
- “On the mīmāṃsā front, the development of the Śaunakīya tradition was limited and formulaic after the Bṛhaddevatā and Nirukta. Instead, daivimīmāṃsā was overtaken by tendencies that had a more Kautsa structure even if not explicitly so.” (MT)
- “Unanchored” brahmavāda (i.e., philosophy of brahman that gets increasingly decoupled from the ancestral pantheon) arose.
- nAstika counter-religions emerged - jaina, bauddha ..
- “Unanchored sāṃkhyā resulted in philosophical developments (otherwise very parallel to the yavana ones) that increasingly lost touch with the foundational layer of the religion.” (MT)
- yoga and sectarian proto-Agamas developed on sAnkhya and some brahmavāda foundations. Temples.
- prameya-centric vaisheShika school emerged off sAnkhya foundations. pramANa-centric nyAya developed as well; strengthened by competition with the nAstika-s.
- Sectarian ritual traditions, being more welcoming of non-Arya-s, grew in popularity, overshadowing the shrauta orthodoxy.
- Off brahmavAda rooted in brahma-sUtras (in some cases with sectarian Agama-s and purANa-s), various vedAntic schools developed.
- Agama-based systems overcame orthodox opposition (“Vedaviruddham”) - based on writings and practices of shrautin-s who also adhered to Agama-s.
- With severe decline in royal patronage, shrauta tradition declined further. (Mostly vedAntic) maTha-s stepped into the vacuum and lapped up remaining smArta-s.
- With repeated invasions, brAhmaNa-dominance of religion weakened to the point where baba-isms, increasingly detached from old and new shAstra-s, bloomed - some of counter-religious nature.
- Post European invasion and the scientific revolution, some hindu-s reexamined the history of their religion and its sister branches (including platonism).