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Religion in India ranks among the world's most ancient and varied. The Indian subcontinent spawned the Dharmic religions, which compose one of the world's three major schools of religion. Vedic religion gave rise to what is now the oldest extant and third-largest religion, Hinduism; almost 900 million of its one billion adherents live in the Republic of India. The other major Dharmic religions, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism, each have millions of Indian followers. The Abrahamic religions of Islam and Christianity, spread by missionary activity and conquest over many centuries, are the two largest non-native religions.

More than four-fifths of Indians practice Hinduism. Islam, practised by around one-sixth of the population, is the most prevalent minority religion. Christianity and Sikhism are each practised by around 2% of Indians. About 1.1% practise Buddhism and 0.4% practise Jainism. Zoroastrianism and Judaism have a centuries-long history in India; each has several thousand Indian adherents.

More than nine-tenths of Indians state that religion plays a key role in their lives. Though inter-religious marriages are generally taboo, Indians are generally tolerant of other religions and retain a secular outlook. Inter-community clashes have never found widespread support in the social mainstream, and it is generally perceived that its causes are political rather than ideological in nature. India's religious diversity extends to the highest levels of government; the Prime Minister of India is a Sikh, the President of India is a Hindu, and the chairperson of the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) is a Christian. The Constitution of India declares the nation to be a secular republic that must uphold the right of citizens to freely worship and propagate any religion or faith.

History

Evidence attesting to prehistoric religion in the Indian subcontinent derives from scattered Mesolithic rock paintings depicting dances and rituals. Neolithic pastoralists inhabiting the Indus River Valley buried their dead in a manner suggestive of spiritual practices that incorporated notions of an afterlife and belief in magic. Other South Asian Stone Age sites, such as the Bhimbetka rock shelters in central Madhya Pradesh and the Kupgal petroglyphs of eastern Karnataka, contain rock art portraying religious rites and evidence of possible ritualised music.

The Harappan people of the Indus Valley Civilisation, which lasted from 3300–1700 BCE and was centered around the Indus and Ghaggar-Hakra river valleys, may have worshiped an important mother goddess symbolising fertility. Excavations of Indus Valley Civilisation sites show seals with animals and "fire‑altars", indicating rituals associated with fire. A linga-yoni of a type similar to that which is now worshiped by Hindus has also been found.

Hinduism's origins include cultural elements of the Indus Valley Civilisation, the Vedic religion of the Indo-Aryans, and other Indian civilisations. The oldest surviving text of Hinduism is the Rigveda, produced during the Vedic period and dated to 1700–1100 BCE. During the Epic and Puranic periods, the earliest versions of the epic poems Ramayana and Mahabharata were written roughly from 500–100 BCE, although these were orally transmitted for centuries prior to this period.

After 200 CE, several schools of thought were formally codified in Indian philosophy, including Samkhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Purva-Mimamsa and Vedanta. Hinduism, otherwise a highly theistic religion, hosted atheistic schools; the thoroughly materialistic and anti-religious philosophical Carvaka school that originated in India around the 6th century BCE is probably the most explicitly atheistic school of Indian philosophy. Carvaka is classified as a nastika ("heterodox") system; it is not included among the six schools of Hinduism generally regarded as orthodox. It is noteworthy as evidence of a materialistic movement within Hinduism. Our understanding of Carvaka philosophy is fragmentary, based largely on criticism of the ideas by other schools, and it is no longer a living tradition. Other Indian philosophies generally regarded as atheistic include Classical Samkhya and Purva Mimamsa.

Buddhism and Jainism adapted elements of Hinduism into their beliefs. Jainism's founder, Mahavira (599–527 BC, though possibly 549–477 BC), stressed five vows, including ahimsa (non-violence) and asteya (non-stealing). The historical Gautama Buddha, who founded Buddhism, was born to the Shakya clan just before Magadha (which lasted from 546–324 BCE) rose to power. His family was native to the plains of Lumbini, in what is now southern Nepal. The Sakyas claimed to be avatars of Vishnu. Indian Buddhism peaked during the reign of Asoka the Great of the Mauryan Empire, who patronised Buddhist teachings and unified the Indian subcontinent in the 3rd century BCE. He sent missionaries abroad, allowing Buddhism to spread across Asia. Indian Buddhism declined following the loss of royal patronage offered by the Kushan Empire and such kingdoms as Magadha and Kosala.

Between 400 BCE and 1000 CE, Hinduism expanded as the decline of Buddhism in India continued. Buddhism subsequently became effectively extinct in India. Though Islam came to India in the early 7th century with the advent of Arab traders, it started to become a major religion during the Muslim conquest in the Indian subcontinent. Islam's spread in India mostly took place under the Delhi Sultanate (1206–1526) and the Mughal Empire, greatly aided by the mystic Sufi tradition. Although historical evidence suggests the presence of Christianity in India since the first century, it became popular following European colonisation and Protestant missionary efforts.

Communalism has played a key role in shaping the religious history of modern India. British India was partitioned along religious lines into two states—the Muslim-majority Dominion of Pakistan (comprising what is now the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the People's Republic of Bangladesh) and the Hindu-majority Union of India (later the Republic of India). The 1947 Partition of India inaugurated rioting among Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs in Punjab, Bengal, Delhi, and other parts of India; 500,000 died as a result of the violence. The twelve million refugees that moved between the newly founded nations of India and Pakistan composed one of the largest mass migrations in modern history. Since its independence, India has periodically witnessed large-scale violence sparked by underlying tensions between sections of its majority Hindu and minority Muslim communities. The Republic of India is secular; though it is often considered a Hindu holy land (punyabhumi), its government recognises no official religion. In recent decades, communal tensions and religion-based politics have become more prominent.

Demographics

Hinduism is the largest religion in India; its 828 million adherents compose 80.4% of the population. The term Hindu, originally a geographical description, derives from the Sanskrit, Sindhu, (the historical appellation for the Indus River), and refers to a person from the land of the river Sindhu. Islam is a monotheistic religion centred around the belief in one God and following the example of Muhammad. It is the largest minority religion in India. As of 2007, India is home to 147 million Muslims, the world's third-largest Muslim population after those in Indonesia (210 million) and Pakistan (166 million); they compose 13.4% of the population. Muslims represent the majority in Jammu and Kashmir and Lakshadweep, and high concentrations in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Assam, and Kerala.Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).

Christianity is a monotheistic religion centred on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in the New Testament; it is the third largest religion of India, making up 2.3% of the population. Christianity is prevalent in North-East India, Goa and Kerala. Buddhism is a dharmic, nontheistic religion and philosophy. Buddhists form majority populations in the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh, and the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir and a large minority (40%) in Sikkim. Around 12 million Buddhists live in India.

Jainism is a nontheistic dharmic religion and philosophical system originating in Iron Age India. Jains compose 0.4% (around 4.2 million) of India's population, and are concentrated in the states of Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan. Sikhism began in sixteenth century North India with the teachings of Nanak and nine successive human gurus. As of 2001, there were 19.2 million Sikhs in India. Punjab is the spiritual home of Sikhs, and is the only state in India where Sikhs form a majority. There are also significant populations of Sikhs in neighbouring New Delhi and Haryana.

As of the census of 2001, Parsis (followers of Zoroastrianism in India) represent approximately 0.006% of the total population of India, with relatively high concentrations in and around the city of Mumbai. There are several tribal religions in India, such as Donyi-Polo and Mahima. About 2.2 million people in India follow the Bahá'í Faith, thus forming the largest community of Bahá'ís in the world. The Bahá'ís originated from the Babi sect when the prophecy of Bahá'í was satisfied. Ayyavazhi, prevalent in South India, is officially considered a Hindu sect, and its followers are counted as Hindus in the census. A very minor community of Indian Jews is present in Kerala and Maharashtra. Up to 2% of Indians are estimated to be atheists; Around 0.07% of the people did not state their religion in the 2001 census.

Statistics

The following is a breakdown of India's religious communities:

Religions of India

Characteristics of religious groups

Law

The preamble to the Constitution of India proclaimed India a "sovereign socialist secular democratic republic". The word secular was inserted into the Preamble by the Forty-second Amendment Act of 1976. It mandates equal treatment and tolerance of all religions. India does not have an official state religion; it enshrines the right to practice, preach, and propagate any religion. No religious instruction is imparted in government-supported schools. In S. R. Bommai vs. Union of India, the Supreme Court of India held that secularism was an integral tenet of the Constitution.

The right to freedom of religion is a fundamental right according to the Indian Constitution. The Constitution also recommends establishment of a uniform civil code for its citizens as a Directive Principle. However this has not been implemented until now. The Supreme Court has stated that the enactment of a uniform civil code all at once may be counterproductive to the unity of the nation, and only a gradual progressive change should be brought about (Pannalal Bansilal v State of Andhra Pradesh, 1996). In Maharishi Avadesh v Union of India (1994) the Supreme Court dismissed a petition seeking a writ of mandamus against the government to introduce a common civil code, and thus laid the responsibility of its introduction on the legislature.

Religious communities continue to be governed by their own personal laws. Apart from Muslims, designated religious codes apply to Hindus, Christians, Zoroastrians, and Jews; for legal purposes, Buddhists and Sikhs are classified as Hindus and are subject to Hindu personal law. Civil laws for Muslims are based on Sharia law. The Code of Criminal Procedure is uniformly applied to all Indian citizens.

Aspects

Religion plays a major role in the Indian way of life. Rituals, worship, and other religious activities are very prominent in an individual's daily life; it is also a principal organiser of social life. The degree of religiosity varies among individuals; in recent decades, religious orthodoxy and observances have become less common in Indian society, particularly among young urban-dwellers.

Rituals

The vast majority of Indians engage in religious rituals on a daily basis. Most Hindus observe religious rituals at home. However, observation of rituals greatly vary among regions, villages, and individuals. Devout Hindus perform daily chores such as worshiping at the dawn after bathing (usually at a family shrine, and typically includes lighting a lamp and offering foodstuffs before the images of deities), recitation from religious scripts, singing hymns in praise of gods etc. A notable feature in religious ritual is the division between purity and pollution. Religious acts presuppose some degree of impurity or defilement for the practitioner, which must be overcome or neutralised before or during ritual procedures. Purification, usually with water, is thus a typical feature of most religious action. Other characteristics include a belief in the efficacy of sacrifice and concept of merit, gained through the performance of charity or good works, that will accumulate over time and reduce sufferings in the next world. Devout Muslims offer five daily prayers at specific times of the day, indicated by adhan (call to prayer) from the local mosques. Before offering prayers, they must ritually clean themselves by performing wudu, which involves washing parts of the body that are generally exposed to dirt or dust. A recent study by the Sachar Committee found that 3-4% of Muslim children study in madrasas (Islamic schools).

Dietary habits are significantly influenced by religion. Almost one-third of Indians practise vegetarianism; it came to prominence during the rule of Ashoka, a promoter of Buddhism. Vegetarianism is much less common among Muslim and Christians. Jainism requires monks and laity, from all its sects and traditions, to be vegetarian. Hinduism bars beef consumption, while Islam bars pork.

Ceremonies

Occasions like birth, marriage, and death involve what are often elaborate sets of religious customs. In Hinduism, major life-cycle rituals include annaprashan (a baby's first intake of solid food), upanayanam ("sacred thread ceremony" undergone by upper-caste youths), and shraadh (paying homage to a deceased individual). For most people in India, the betrothal of the young couple and the exact date and time of the wedding are matters decided by the parents in consultation with astrologers. Major Hindu religious ceremonies of the past, including sati (ritual self-immolation by widows) and Thuggee robbery (coupled with ritualised murder), were outlawed by the Charter Act of 1813, enacted during the hundred-year period when the British East India Company ruled India; the introduction of British morals foreshadowed future social legislation that substantially reconfigured Indian religious practices.

Muslims practice a series of life-cycle rituals that differ from those of Hindus, Jains, and Buddhists. Several rituals mark the first days of life—including whispering call to prayer, first bath, and shaving of the head. Religious instruction begins early. Male circumcision usually takes place after birth; in some families, it may be delayed until after the onset of puberty. Marriage requires a payment by the husband to the wife and the solemnisation of a marital contract in a social gathering. On the third day after burial of the dead, friends and relatives gather to console the bereaved, read and recite the Quran, and pray for the soul of the deceased. Indian Islam is distinguished by the emphasis it places on shrines commemorating great Sufi saints.

Pilgrimages

India hosts numerous pilgrimage sites belonging to many religions. Hindus worldwide recognise several Indian holy cities, including Allahabad, Haridwar, Varanasi, and Vrindavan. Notable temple cities include Puri, which hosts a major Vaishnava Jagannath temple and Rath Yatra celebration; Tirumala - Tirupati, home to the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple; and Katra, home to the Vaishno Devi temple. The Himalayan towns of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri, and Yamunotri compose the Char Dham (four abodes) pilgrimage circuit. The Kumbh Mela (the "pitcher festival") is one of the holiest of Hindu pilgrimages that is held every four years; the location is rotated among Allahabad, Haridwar, Nashik, and Ujjain.

Among the Eight Great Places of Buddhism, seven are in India. Bodh Gaya, Sarnath and Kushinagar are the places where important events in the life of Gautama Buddha took place. Sanchi hosts a Buddhist stupa erected by the emperor Ashoka. Several Tibetan Buddhist sites in the Himalayan foothills of India have been built, such as Rumtek Monastery and Dharamsala. For Muslims, the Dargah Shareef of Khwaza Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer is a major pilgrimage site. Other Islamic pilgrimages include those to the Tomb of Sheikh Salim Chishti in Fatehpur Sikri, Jama Masjid in Delhi, and to Haji Ali Dargah in Mumbai. Dilwara Temples in Mount Abu, Palitana, Pavapuri, Girnar and Shravanabelagola are notable pilgrimage sites (tirtha) in Jainism.

The Golden Temple in Amritsar is the most sacred shrine of Sikhism, while the Thalaimaippathi at Swamithope is the leading pilgrim center for Ayyavazhi's. Lotus Temple in Delhi is a prominent house of worship of the Bahá'í faith.

Festivals

Religious festivals are widely observed and hold great importance for Indians. In keeping with India's secular governance, no religious festival has been accorded the status of a national holiday. Diwali, Ganesh Chaturthi, Holi, Durga puja, Ugadi, Dussehra, and Sankranthi/Pongal are the most popular Hindu festivals in India. Among Muslims, the Islamic Eid festivals of Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Adha are the most celebrated. Christmas, Buddha Jayanti, and Guru Nanak's Birthday are key holidays among the remaining religious groups. A number of festivals are common to most parts of India, and many states and regions have local festivals depending on prevalent religious and linguistic demographics. For example, fairs and festivities associated with specific temples or Dargahs associated with Sufi masters are common.

Muharram is a unique festival in the sense that it is not celebrated; it is a mournful commemoration of the death of Muhammad's grandson Imam Husain in 680 CE. A taziya, which is a bamboo replica of Husain's tomb, is paraded through the city. Muharram is observed with great passion in Lucknow, the centre of Indian Shia Islam.

Sectarianism

Politics

Religious ideology, particularly that expressed by the Hindutva movement, has strongly influenced Indian politics in the last quarter of the 20th century. Many of the elements underlying India's casteism and communalism originated during the rule of the British Raj, particularly after the late 19th century; the authorities and others often politicised religion. The Indian Councils Act of 1909 (widely known as the Morley-Minto Reforms Act), which established separate Hindu and Muslim electorates for the Imperial Legislature and provincial councils, was particularly divisive. It was blamed for increasing tensions between the two communities. Due to the high degree of oppression faced by the lower castes, the Constitution of India included provisions for affirmative action for certain sections of Indian society. Growing disenchantment with the Hindu caste system has led thousands of Dalits (also referred to as "Untouchables") to embrace Buddhism and Christianity in recent decades. In response, many states ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) introduced laws that made them more difficult; they assert that such conversions are often forced or allured. The BJP, a Hindu nationalist party, gained widespread media attention after its leaders associated themselves with the Ram Janmabhoomi movement and other prominent issues.

A well known accusation that Indian political parties make for their rivals is that they play vote bank politics, meaning give political support to issues for the sole purpose of gaining the votes of members of a particular community. Both the Congress Party and the BJP have been accused of exploiting the people by indulging in vote bank politics. The Shah Bano case, a divorce lawsuit, generated much controversy when the Congress was accused of appeasing the Muslim orthodoxy by bringing in a parliamentary amendment to negate the Supreme Court's decision. There have been allegations that sensing an consolidation of Hindu votes against the Congress, its Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, ordered the opening of locks in the Ram Temple at Ayodhya to appease the Hindus. After the 2002 Gujarat violence, there were allegations of political parties indulging in vote bank politics. During an election campaign in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP released an inflammatory CD targeting Muslims. This was condemned by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) as playing the worst kind of vote bank politics. Caste-based politics is also important in India; caste-based discrimination and the reservation system continue to be major issues that are hotly debated.

Education

Several political parties have been accused of using their political power to manipulate educational content in a revisionist manner. During the Janata Party government (1977–1979), the government was accused of being too sympathetic to the Muslim viewpoint. In 2002, the BJP-led NDA government tried to change the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) school textbooks through a new National Curriculum Framework. The changes promoted Hindutva national mysticism, which conformed to a narrow sectarian and Hindu chauvinist ideology; some media referred to it as the "saffronisation" of textbooks, saffron being the colour of BJP flag. The next government, formed by the UPA and led by the Congress Party, pledged to de-saffronise textbooks. Hindu groups alleged that the UPA promoted Marxist and pro-Muslim biases in school curricula.

Conflicts

Communal conflicts have periodically plagued India since it became independent in 1947. The roots of such strife lie largely in the underlying tensions between sections of its majority Hindu and minority Muslim communities, which emerged under the Raj and during the bloody Partition of India. Such conflict also stems from the competing ideologies of Hindu nationalism versus Islamic fundamentalism and Islamism; both are prevalent in parts of the Hindu and Muslim populations. Alongside other major Indian independence leaders, Mahatma Gandhi and his shanti sainiks ("peace soldiers") worked to quell early outbreaks of religious conflict in Bengal, including riots in Calcutta (now in West Bengal) and Noakhali District (in modern-day Bangladesh) that accompanied Muhammad Ali Jinnah's Direct Action Day, which was launched on 16 August 1946. These conflicts, waged largely with rocks and knives and accompanied by widespread looting and arson, were crude affairs. Explosives and firearms, which are rarely found in India, were far less likely to be used.

Major post-independence communal conflicts include the 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots, which followed the storming of the Harimandir Sahib by the Indian Army; heavy artillery, tanks, and helicopters were employed against the Sikh separatists hiding inside, causing heavy damage to Sikhism's holiest shrine. Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, who sought independence for the proposed Sikh theocracy of Khalistan, was killed by Indian troops during the assault; in total, the assault caused the deaths of up to 3,000 soldiers, militants, and civilians. This triggered Indira Gandhi's assassination by her outraged Sikh bodyguards on 31 October 1984, which set off a four-day period during which Sikhs were massacred; some estimates state that more than 4,000 were killed. Other incidents include the 1992 Bombay Riots that followed the demolition of the Babri Mosque as a result of the Ayodhya debate, and the 2002 Gujarat violence that followed the Godhra Train Burning—in the latter, more than 2,000 Muslims were killed. Terrorist activities such as the 2005 Ram Janmabhoomi attack in Ayodhya, the 2006 Varanasi bombings, the 2006 Jama Masjid explosions, and the 11 July 2006 Mumbai Train Bombings are often blamed on communalism. Lesser incidents plague many towns and villages; representative was the killing of five people in Mau, Uttar Pradesh during Hindu-Muslim rioting, which was triggered by the proposed celebration of a Hindu festival.

Notes

•  α: The data exclude the Mao-Maram, Paomata, and Purul subdivisions of Manipur's Senapati district.
  
•  β: The data are "unadjusted" (without excluding Assam and Jammu and Kashmir); the 1981 census was not conducted in Assam and the 1991 census was not conducted in Jammu and Kashmir.
  
•  γ: Oberlies (1998, p. 155) gives an estimate of 1100 BCE for the youngest hymns in book ten. Estimates for a terminus post quem of the earliest hymns are far more uncertain. Oberlies (p. 158), based on "cumulative evidence", sets a wide range of 1700–1100 BCE. The EIEC (s.v. Indo-Iranian languages, p. 306) gives a range of 1500–1000 BCE. It is certain that the hymns post-date Indo-Iranian separation of ca. 2000 BCE. It cannot be ruled out that archaic elements of the Rigveda go back to only a few generations after this time, but philological estimates tend to date the bulk of the text to the latter half of the second millennium.
  
•  Δ: According to the most conservative estimates given by Symonds (1950, p. 74), half a million people perished and twelve million became homeless.
  
•  ε: Statistic describes resident Indian nationals up to six years in age.
  

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54. Upadhyay R (26 February 2000). "Opposition in India: in search of genuine issues". South Asia Analysis Group. Retrieved 2007-06-03. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
55. Shepard 1987, pp. 45–46 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFShepard1987 (help).
56. ^ Nichols, B (2003). "The Politics of Assassination: Case Studies and Analysis" (PDF). Australasian Political Studies Association Conference.
57. ^ Human Rights Watch 2006, p. 265 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFHuman_Rights_Watch2006 (help).

External links

Statistics

• "Census of India 2001: Data on religion". Government of India (Office of the Registrar General). Retrieved 2007-05-28.

Constitution and law

• "Constitution of India". Government of India (Ministry of Law and Justice). Retrieved 2007-05-28.

Reports

• "International Religious Freedom Report 2006: India". United States Department of State. Retrieved 2007-05-28.

• Religion
• Religion in India