What are the cultural and societal influences that have made Hinduism vital to the region in which it originated?
I understand that you may not be able to answer this question....i just do not understand what the question is looking for.
Hinduism is a unique religion. It does not have as much of a strict belief system as what we are used to in the West. Hinduism developed by incorporating a lot of different beliefs and customs of the region it grew up in.
A great resource is the response Writeacher wrote on this page:
http://www.jiskha.com/display.cgi?id=1168209131
Matt