India is diverse in every way and its religions and beliefs confirm this. It is currently the country with the most living religions in the world. Religion here is lived and breathed in every corner and in the most everyday activities. At every step you find some building for religious worship, you hear chants of various origins, the most everyday landscape is full of religious symbols and you constantly come across the faithful who remind you that the gods are among us.
In this article I take you through the impact of religion in India and give you an introduction to each of the religions.
Religions and their believers in India
Let's start from the beginning to understand religion in India. India according to its Constitution is a secular country. There is no official religion, all enjoy the same rights and the truth is that they live together in harmony most of the time.
From the population of India 99.6% are believers. In terms of both total numbers and percentage of population, it is the country with the largest number of believers (multiple faiths) in the world.
Hinduism is the religion with the most followers with 80%, followed by Islam with 14%, Christianity with 2.5%, Sikhism with 1.7%, Buddhism with 0.7% and Jainism with 0.4%. The remaining 0.7% corresponds to other religious minorities present in the country or those who have no religious beliefs.
The states with the largest Muslim populations are Assam, West Bengal and Kerala. Christianity is mostly represented in Nagaland, Mizoram, Goa, Arunachal Pradesh and Kerala. The largest congregation of Sikhs is in Punjab, Haryana and Uttarakhand. Buddhism, being a rather neglected religion in India has its majority of believers in Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram. Hinduism, due to its number of followers, is present in all corners of the Indian geography, with Mizoram, Nagaland and Meghalaya being the states with the least number of followers of this religion. Each state of the country has a combination of beliefs and unique historical past that condition and shape the current traditions, as well as the cuisine and set the tone in the day to day life of the place.
Religions with origins in India
Four religions originated in India (called dharmic religions) as well as several philosophical movements that have had a great impact on history and the world. The religions that were born in the most spiritual country in the world are the Hinduism and the 3 dogmas that derived from it later: Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism.
Major religions in India
Hinduism
Hinduism is the religion in India with the largest number of believers and the largest number of the third most practiced religion in the world. Within Hinduism, there are different aspects, traditions and schools. There are pantheist, polytheist and henotheist groups (who believe in only one God) such as the followers of Shiva or Vishnu.
A very characteristic feature of Hinduism is that it is considered by many to be a philosophy or way of life rather than a religion. They do not have a unique Sacred book, they believe in reincarnation and Karma. The Trimurti is formed by the 3 main gods, Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma, but they consider that any object or person can become the essence of God, a fact which explains the existence of a pantheon of Hindu gods totaling more than 320 million deities.
In Hinduism there are castes. Actually, castes find their origin in this religion and it is worth mentioning that in its beginnings there was no intention of discrimination. The caste system was a way of classifying society into 5 different groups depending on their work in society.
Hindu celebrations, rites and festivals are famous all over the world for its vibrant colors, mysticism and meaning. Some of the most popular festivals are Diwali, Holi, Dussehra, Onam, Navratri,, Kumbh Mela...
Islam
In India, there are about 152 million Muslims, being islam the second most followed religion in the country. In addition India is the country with the third largest Muslim community (Indonesia ranks first and Pakistan second).
Islam entered India with the Arab conquerors and traders and later in a more massive way with the rule of the Mughal Empire. This religion is monotheistic, with the figure of Allah and its Holy Book is the Koran.
The pillars of this religion are daily prayer at auspicious hours, pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in a lifetime and the celebration of Ramadan with its fasting.
Their religious buildings are the Mosques and in India there are Mosques of great religious and architectural value like Jama Masjid in Old Delhi, built during the time of the Mughal Empire.
Sikhism
It is the fourth most adhered religion in India and the ninth in the world. It is a monotheistic religion and they are fervent followers of the scriptures of their holy book (Guru Granth Sahib). His holy city or place of pilgrimage is Amritsar. where the Golden Temple is located. In New Delhi there is a very important Gurudwara as well, the Gurudwara Bangla Sahib.
Sikhs follow the tradition of always carrying these items with them, which they call "the 5 K":
- Kesh: long hair, never cut their hair
- Khanga: they always carry a wooden comb to gather their hair.
- Kara: always wear their metal bracelet
- Kirpan: the dagger always accompanies him and symbolizes power and freedom of spirit, morality and self-respect.
- Kacha: its underwear is always made of cotton
Jainism
Believers in Jainism are governed by the following principles "non-violence" and it should be noted that this religion throughout history has never been involved in any armed conflict. Moreover, with strictly vegetarian and practice detachment from material things (they are against possessions). They attain spiritual liberation through meditation and an austere life.. There are about 4 million believers in India.
It is a non-theistic religion and its prophet is Mahavira. They believe in reincarnation and Karma but do not accept the caste system.
Christianity
Currently, there are some 26 million Christians in India. This religion entered the country with the British, French and Portuguese colonizers. This creed is monotheistic, they believe in their only God Jesus and their Sacred book is the Bible.
The persistence and growth of this religion in Indian lands has in large part much to do with Christian missionaries during the European colonial era. There were Catholic missions from Portugal and also British, Danish and Dutch Protestant missionaries.
In India today, quite a few Christians have adopted religious traditions from other dogmas in the country creating a fusion of beliefs not connected to Christianity. Many believe in reincarnation and Karma.
Buddhism
Buddhism right now is a minority religion in India, despite being its place of origin but it is the fifth religion with the most believers in the world. Buddhism is widespread in China, Japan, Core, Sri Lanka and Bhutan. India is home to 3 of the 4 sacred places for Buddhists: Sarnath, where Siddhartha Gautama gave his first sermon, Bodhgaya where he got the illumination and Kushinagar where he passed away. The fourth city is in Nepal, in particular in Lumbini where Siddhartha Gautama was born. S.G. became a Buddha, which means the "enlightened one".
The axis of Buddhism is based on the Dharma, a way of understanding the universe and how to achieve happiness through mind control. This doctrine has no God (non-theistic) and is considered a way of life. Believers follow the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama (known as Buddha). His teachings are centered on "the middle way", a technique that seeks balance and avoids extremes in all areas of life.
Also believe in reincarnation and Karma as well as Hinduism, the religion from which it derives. Importantly, it does not accept the caste system.
Bahahism
This doctrine also known as Bahai faith, considers and preaches that there is only one universal God that has had different forms according to the time or historical moment and that we must follow the steps of the last version of this god that adapts to our days.
The main concept of this faith is humanity as a single race and world unification in one society.
Worldwide there are 8 "Bahai Houses of Worship" and one of them being the famous Lotus Temple in New Delhi in India.
Zoroastrianism
In India, this religion is also known as faith Parsi and is based on the teachings of its founder Zarathustra. Originated in Persia and this dogma was born as a reform of the religion practiced by the tribes of Turkestan.
Currently, Zoroastrianism is a minority belief in India, but it is still alive and can also be found in Iran, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
I hope that with this article about the religions in India you have learned a little more about the diversity of beliefs in this country. Below you have the comment box if you want to write me :) I'll read your comments!
Bibliography: India Population by Religion 2024 | Religion in India and its states (findeasy.in)
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