Religion of India
In India, religion is a way of life. It is an integral part
of the entire Indian tradition. For the majority
of Indians, religion permeates every aspect of life, from common-place daily
chores to education and politics. Secular India is home to Hinduism, Islam,
Christianity, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and other innumerable religious
traditions. Hinduism is the dominant faith, practiced by over 80% of the
population. Besides Hindus, Muslims are the most prominent religious group and
are an integral part of Indian society. In fact India has the second largest
population of Muslims in the world after Indonesia.
Common practices have crept into most religious faiths in
India and many of the festivals that mark each year with music, dance and
feasting are shared by all communities. Each has its own pilgrimage sites,
heroes, legends and even culinary specialties, mingling in a unique diversity
that is the very pulse of society.
Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Parsis are the major
religious communities of India. Jains and Parsis are numerically
insignificant but they are important in other ways. According to the 1991
Religious Census there are 672.6 m Hindus, 95.2 m Muslims, . 18.9 m Christians,
16.3 m Sikhs, 6.3 m Buddhists and 3.4 m Jains in India.
The population of all the 6 major religions (Hinduism, lslam.Christisnity,
Sikhism, Buddhism and Jainism of India has increased but Jains have increased
only marginally - by 4.42%. Gujarat, Karnataka, Madnya Pradesh, Maharashtra,
Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh together account for almost 90% of the Jains. The
population of Jains declined in nine States and one Union Territory (excluding
Assam and Jammu and Kashmir).
The decadal population (between 1981- 1991)increase was 156.8 m.Out of this
124.8 m are Hindus, 23.4 m Muslims, 2.6 m Christians, 1.7 m Buddhists, 1.3 m
Sikhs and 0.2 m Jains. Again, the rates of increase of each of these communities
are Hindus (22.78%), Muslims (32.76%), Christians (16.89%), Buddhists (35.98%)
Sikhs (25.48%) and Jains (4.42%). Of the 665.3 million people in India in
1981(Assam not included), Hindus accounted for the largest community with 549.8
m illion members.
Other communities were divided as follows:
Muslims: 75.5 m., Christians: 16.1 m, Sikhs: 13.1 m, Buddhists: 4.7 m, Jains:
3.2 m. Other Religions: 2,766,285, Religions not stated: 60,217. The data of the
1981 census offers some other statistics also of interest to religious
sociologists. The
Appendix of the Household Population gives 183 subdivisions that are grouped
together in the general statistics as "other religions and persuasions."
Of these, 71,630areZoroastriansand 5618, Jews.
There are 25,416 "Adivasis" by religion and there are 1,367 "tribals" (in
Nagaland), 119 "animists", and 25,985 whose religion is simply "Non-Christian"
(in Manipur, Meghalaya and Nagaland), together with 796 "pagans" in the same
three States, and 1,215 "Meathans" in Manipur.
Some other tribals have given their specific tribal identity as their religions:
as for example, the census has the record of 484 Oraons, 32,252 Santals, 1,481
Garos, 6,975 Gonds, 4,133 Hos, 148,437 Khasis, 1,160 Mundas, 1,296 Nagas.
Nirankaris, numbering 3382, of apparently Hindu following, have entered
themselves under geographical
or caste terms like Agarwal, Bengali, Gujarati, Maharashtrian, Marathi, Marwari,
Malayalee, Tamilian and Teluguite.
Perhaps of more interest is that a total of 29,086 persons corresponding to
5,117 households consider themselves as "atheists" (pre dominantly in rural
areas of Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur and Bihar). There are
816 humanists ("manab dharma"), half of them in Maharashtra.
Census of 1981 gives some othe r
interest ing data too.
The total fertility rate in India (excluding Assam) is 3.9 in rural areas, 2.8
in urban areas, and 3.6 for total area.
it may be noted that fertility is higher among Muslims, followed by Buddhists,
Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Christians.
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