Religions in India, History & Origin of Religions in India

India is a land of different cultures and religions. Many religions have taken birth on this land, many of them are still existing.

As a part of both law and custom, religious tolerance hold an important place as all Indians associate themselves with a particular religion. The message of Brotherhood, love and harmony is expressed by all the religions in India.

Religion is an integral part of entire legacy in India which is known for its religious diversity. There are some major religion in India which plays a central and definitive role in the life of most of its people-

•    Hinduism
•    Buddhism
•    Jainism
•    Islam
•    Sikhism
•    Christianity
•    Zoroastrianism
•    Judaism

Hinduism

Hinduism is the oldest religion in the world after Christianity and Islam. A vast majority of people follow Hinduism, which is considered to be the most dominant religion in India.

The Hindu religion originated in Indian sub continent itself and the presence of this religion in the pre-historic era has been proved by the remains found during the excavations of Mohenjodaro. Read more

Buddhism

Buddhist era was of importance and historic consequences for Buddhism in India. The philosophy of Buddhism is based on the teachings of Lord Buddha.

Buddhism began to decline in its reach in India. Buddhism further weakened when various Muslim conquerors tried to destroy monasteries and spread the influence of Islam. Read More

Islamic

Islam with almost 14% of the total population, is the second most practiced religion in India. Islam came to India in the 7th century with the advent of Arab Traders, although it was during the rise of Delhi Sultanate and Mughal Empire that Islam actually grew in India.

India's Muslim population is the world's third largest and account for world's largest Muslim minority population. Read more

Jainism

Jainism form less than 1 percent of population in India. This religion fall under Shramana thought, while Hinduism under Vedic thought. Jainism is famous as community traders with the maximum population resides in Gujarat and Rajasthan.

Sikhism

Sikhism is comparatively a new and fresh religion to India established by Guru Nanak Dev, with he population of 2 percent. The word Sikh means a disciple, which is a essential path of discipleship. During the formative years the followers of Sikhism tried to abolish some of the practices like sati, caste system and untouchability from India. Read more

Zoroastrianism

The Parsis and the Iranis represent the two major categories of Zoroastrian communities. The only evidence of their arrival in India is a poem “ Story of Sajan” by Parsi priest in Sanskrit. Although the poem gives a clear picture of their settlement in India, but the actual time when they arrived is still a mystery.Read more

Judaism

Among the many Non Dharmic religions (those not believing in several incarnations and reincarnations of God and human being) arriving in India, Judaism was the first ones. Its followers are known as Jews. Basically they belongs to three different communities, Cochini, Baghdadi and Bene Isarael. Read more

Christianity

Christianity is one of the prominent religion of India. Christianity was to introduced in India by Thomas the Apostle,who visited Kerala in 52 AD. Currently Christianity is the third largest religion in India, after Hinduism and Islam, constituting around 2.3% of total Indian population. Read More

Religions in India