A priestess of the Saraswati Arcology, on Elora. Note the delta-v forehead tattoo, received by those blessed in the incandescent wake of a fusion drive.

Eloran Hinduism is a branch of Hinduism that developed on the eponymous planet, following its settlement. With two hundred million followers, it is one of the most prominent religions of the interstellar age, and the first religion in the Traverse. As with Terran Hinduism, Eloran Hinduism, by definition, is less of a coherent religion and more of an umbrella denomination used for various traditions, some of which contradict each other. Though it finds its roots in the religious heritage of the first Hindi settlers of the Traverse, Eloran Hinduism evolved into a complex syncretism of not only Hindu traditions, but also Yoruba, Yazidi, Islamic, Sikh and Christian deities, rituals and theological elements. It is not, however, just a loose patchwork of practices; sixty years of continuous human presence in the Traverse have allowed Eloran Hinduism to coalesce into a coherent cult, with a strong sense of unity among its followers — forged not necessarily in the worship of the same deities, save for Saraswati, but in a shared geographical and material existence.

Eloran Hinduism strictly refuses the caste system, in the image of the interstellar Hindi community, and in that regard may be considered non-Vedic (i.e heretical or divergent) by more orthodox undercurrents. It is heavily influenced by the constituent syndicalist-environmentalist ideology of the Eloran Ekumen, and puts a great emphasis on one's relationship to the global biosphere. Eloran Hindus are strict vegetarians, and include harmony with the ecosystem (which goes further than basic notions of environmentalism and verses into a form of pantheist acknowledgement of the divine unity of the natural world) in their dharmic virtues. Eloran Hinduism also considers the contemplation of complex lifeforms as one of the noblest forms of kama (or pleasure, aesthetic enjoyment of life) and sees the liberation from samsara as unity with the natural world.

It would, however, be a mistake to consider Eloran Hinduism as a religion dedicated to a simple life among the trees and flowers on a paradise world. The main deity in Eloran Hinduism is Saraswati, considered the goddess of knowledge, science, and understanding. Central to her worship is the concept of Delta-V, not just as the scientific notion, but as a primordial impulse, which is often associated to dhī, or divine intuition; it is the prime mover that propels individuals and civilisations forwards. Saraswati is thus is known under many names ; she is the Mother of Impulse, worshipped in the burning embrace of fusion drives. She is the Machine of the Storm, serene in the eye of Eloran hurricanes. She is the Sword in Azure, mother of the geometry drive, openers of folds in the world. Her seat of power is the Saraswati Arcology on Elora, the tallest temple in the world, towering five kilometres above the shallow ocean, engineered to cut through hurricanes like a carbon blade in water. Her hymns salute the departure of interstellar spaceships and the return of weary travellers, while her sacred symbols adorn orbital furnaces and hidden forest paths alike.

Many a minor deity in Eloran Hinduism exists as an aspect of Saraswati. One of the most notable is the Great Peacock, syncretised from the supreme Yazidi angel. Its wings are akin to the radiator arrays of a fusion spaceship, reflecting human souls into the void and carrying them in the cycles of samsara.

Illustration for Starmoth by Tiucoo.