Demographics
See also: Hinduism in India, Islam in India, Christianity in India, History of Buddhism in India, Sikhism in India, Jainism in India, History of the Jews in India, Parsi people, Bahá'í Faith in India, Tribal religions in India, and Irreligion in India
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Hinduism is an ancient religion (although Hinduism is diverse, with monotheism, henotheism, polytheism, panentheism, pantheism, monism, atheism, agnosticism, and gnosticism being represented), and Hinduism is also the largest religious grouping in India; its 828 million adherents (2001) compose 80.5% 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. According to the 2001 census, India is home to 138 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 Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Assam, and Kerala., There has been no particular census conducted in India with regards to sects, but sources suggest the largest denomination is Sunni Islam with a substantial minority of Shiite Muslims. Indian sources like Times of India and DNA reported Indian Shiite population in mid-2005–2006 between 25% and 31% of entire Muslim population of India, which accounts them in numbers between 40 to 50 million of a total of 157 million.
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. St. Thomas is credited with introduction of Christianity in India. He arrived in Malabar in AD 52. Christians comprise a majority in Nagaland, Mizoram, and Meghalaya and have significant populations 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 8 million Buddhists live in India, about 0.8% of the population.
Jainism is a non-theistic Dharmic religion and philosophical system originating in Iron Age India. Jains though compose 0.4% (around 4.2 million) of India's population, they are the most richest, highly educated religion in whole of India. They are mainly concentrated in the states of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Punjab, Orissa, Tamil Nadu. Although Jainism is usually believed to be atheistic/non-theistic, Paul Dundas writes, "While Jainism is, as we have seen, atheist in the limited sense of rejection of a creator god and the possibility of the intervention of such a being in human affairs, it nonetheless must be regarded as a theist religion in the more profound sense that it accepts the existence of a divine principle, the parmatman, often in fact referred to as 'God' (e.g. ParPr 114-16), existing in potential state within all beings".
Paul Dundas writes that most British judges of the 19th century "had no doubts about the independent nature and origin of Jainism". In 1847, one judge wrote that religious minorities like Jains, Parsis, and Sikhs "Had nothing or next to nothing in common with brahmanical worship". Another judge noted in 1874 that Jains could not be subject to Hindu law because "the term Hindoos means persons within the purview of the shastras, which shastras are at the bottom of Hindu law. If a person is out of that purview, Hindoo law cannot be applied to him" with relatively high concentrations in and around the city of Mumbai. Parsis number around 61,000 in India with high concentrations in Mumbai according to 2001 census. There are several tribal religions in India, such as Donyi-Polo. Santhal is also one of the many tribal religions followed by the Santhal people who number around 4 million but only around 23,645 follow the religion. About 2.2 million people in India follow the Bahá'í Faith, thus forming the largest community of Bahá'ís in the world.
Judaism is also present in India, a monotheistic religion from the Levant. There is today a very small community of Indian Jews. There were more Jews in India historically, including the Cochin Jews of Kerala, the Bene Israel of Maharashtra, and the Baghdadi Jews near Mumbai. In addition, since independence two primarily proselyte Indian Jewish communities in India: the Bnei Menashe of Mizoram and Manipur, and the Bene Ephraim, also called Telugu Jews. Of the approximately 95,000 Jews of Indian origin, fewer than 20,000 remain in India. Some parts of India are especially popular with Israelis, swelling local Jewish populations seasonally.
Around 0.07% of the people did not state their religion in the 2001 census.
Ravidassia, a religion started by a saint of 15th century Guru Ravidass has grown by his spiritual belief and lessons of universal brotherhood, tolerance, message of love your neighbour. He is by far the most revered among the scheduled castes, especially dalits of Northwest and Central India. Today their population stood at around 16.2% of India's total population. Most of them are found in Norther Indian states and among them in Punjab. Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh has been treated as religious home to the lakhs of devotees of Ravidassia Religion and deserves to be one of the place visited by Ravidassias during the Guru Ravidas Jayanti in February from all over the world.
Read more about this topic: Religion In India