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... Siva’s sons are Ganesha, the patron of wisdom and the bestower of a good beginning on any undertaking, and Skanda (Karttikeya), the god of war.Sivaism has a multitude of sects (Lingayats, Shaktas, Smartas) and is practiced throughout India. The sacred literature of Sivaism consists mainly of Sivaist puranas and agamas written in the early Middle Ages.

... into being (Gosain, Jogi, and Lingayats), as well as castes based on assimilated large ethnic communities of tribes. Hindus regard all non-Hindus as “extra-caste,” but groups of “nonbelievers” living in a Hindu environment (for example, Christians, Sikhs, and Muslims) are accorded the de facto status of castes. Remnants of the caste system have also been ...