Religions of India

The faiths practised in India: origins, followers (Census 2011), texts, festivals and places of worship.

Religions in India

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India is a secular republic where every person is free to profess, practise and propagate religion. It is home to Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, Jews, Bahá'ís and many tribal faiths.

India is the birthplace of four major religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism) and has for centuries been home to Islam, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Judaism and the Bahá'í Faith, as well as many indigenous and tribal faiths.

A secular republic

The Preamble to the Constitution describes India as a "sovereign socialist secular democratic republic". The words "socialist" and "secular" were added by the Constitution (Forty-second Amendment) Act, 1976. The State has no official religion and treats all religions equally.

Freedom of religion (Articles 25–28)

Article 25: freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practise and propagate religion, subject to public order, morality and health.

Article 26: freedom of every religious denomination to manage its own religious affairs and institutions.

Article 27: no person can be compelled to pay taxes whose proceeds are used to promote any particular religion.

Article 28: no religious instruction in educational institutions wholly maintained out of State funds.

Articles 29 and 30 further protect the cultural and educational rights of minorities, including their right to establish and run educational institutions.

Notified minorities

Under the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992, the Central Government has notified six religious communities as minorities: Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Parsis (Zoroastrians) and Jains. The first five were notified in 1993; Jains were added in 2014. The Ministry of Minority Affairs runs schemes for these communities.

Religion in Census 2011

Hindus: 96,62,57,353 (966,257,353), 79.80%

Muslims: 17,22,45,158 (172,245,158), 14.23%

Christians: 2,78,19,588 (27,819,588), 2.30%

Sikhs: 2,08,33,116 (20,833,116), 1.72%

Buddhists: 84,42,972 (8,442,972), 0.70%

Jains: 44,51,753 (4,451,753), 0.37%

Other religions and persuasions: 79,37,734 (7,937,734), 0.66%

Religion not stated: 28,67,303 (2,867,303), 0.24%

Total population: 121,08,54,977 (1,210,854,977)

"Other religions and persuasions" includes Zoroastrians, Jews, Bahá'ís and followers of tribal faiths such as Sarna, Donyi-Polo and Sanamahi, which the Census did not count as separate categories in its main tables.

Sources

Hinduism
हिंदू धर्म
India's largest religion, followed by about four in five Indians. Also called Sanatana Dharma, it has no single founder and draws on the Vedas, Upanishads, epics and Puranas.
79.80% of Indians (2011)Arose in the Indian subcontinent; its roots go back to the Vedic period (2nd millennium BCE, scholarly estimate) and earlier traditions
Islam
इस्लाम
India's second-largest religion. Islam reached the Malabar coast with Arab traders in its early centuries and India today has one of the largest Muslim populations in the world.
14.23% of Indians (2011)Founded in Arabia in the 7th century CE; reached the west coast of India with Arab traders, and spread further from the 8th century onwards
Christianity
ईसाई धर्म
One of India's oldest faith communities, with Syrian Christians in Kerala tracing their church to St Thomas the Apostle, and large communities in the North-East, Goa and the south.
2.30% of Indians (2011)Founded in West Asia in the 1st century CE. By tradition St Thomas the Apostle reached Kerala in the 1st century; later churches came with Portuguese and other European missions from the 16th century
Sikhism
सिख धर्म
A faith founded by Guru Nanak in Punjab, built on devotion to one God, honest work, sharing and the equality of all people.
1.72% of Indians (2011)Founded by Guru Nanak Dev (1469–1539) in Punjab and shaped by the ten Sikh Gurus; Guru Gobind Singh created the Khalsa in 1699
Buddhism
बौद्ध धर्म
The path taught by Gautama Buddha, who attained enlightenment at Bodh Gaya. From India it spread across Asia; in India it is followed widely in Maharashtra, the Himalayan regions and the North-East.
0.70% of Indians (2011)Founded in the Ganga plain by Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, around the 6th–5th century BCE (scholarly estimate). In 1956 Dr B. R. Ambedkar embraced Buddhism at Nagpur with a very large number of followers
Jainism
जैन धर्म
An ancient Indian faith of non-violence and self-discipline, taught by the 24 Tirthankaras, the last of whom was Vardhamana Mahavira.
0.37% of Indians (2011)Arose in India; Vardhamana Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankara, taught in the Ganga plain around the 6th–5th century BCE (scholarly estimate). Jains revere Rishabhanatha as the first Tirthankara
Zoroastrianism (Parsis)
पारसी धर्म
The faith of the Parsis and Iranis, who came to India from Persia. A small community that has made notable contributions to India's industry, science, philanthropy and public life.
Founded in ancient Iran by the prophet Zarathushtra. Parsi tradition, recorded in the Qissa-i Sanjan, tells of Zoroastrians from Persia landing at Sanjan in Gujarat; the date is uncertain. Irani Zoroastrians came later, mainly in the 19th and 20th centuries
Judaism
यहूदी धर्म
India's small Jewish communities, the Cochin Jews of Kerala, the Bene Israel of the Konkan coast, the Baghdadi Jews of Mumbai and Kolkata and the Bnei Menashe of Manipur and Mizoram, are among the oldest and most distinctive Jewish communities in Asia.
Arose in ancient Israel. Cochin Jews trace their presence in Kerala to ancient times; the Bene Israel, by community tradition, descend from Jews shipwrecked on the Konkan coast; Baghdadi Jews settled in Mumbai and Kolkata in the 18th and 19th centuries
Bahá'í Faith
बहाई धर्म
A faith founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, teaching the oneness of God, religion and humanity. Its Lotus Temple in New Delhi is one of India's best-known buildings.
Founded in Persia in the 19th century by Bahá'u'lláh, following the Báb; Bahá'í teachers reached India in the 19th century
Indigenous and tribal faiths
जनजातीय और देशज आस्थाएँ
Many of India's tribal communities follow their own nature-centred faiths, such as Sarna in central and eastern India, Donyi-Polo in Arunachal Pradesh, Sanamahi in Manipur and Niam Khasi in Meghalaya.
Ancient indigenous traditions of India's tribal communities, passed down orally through generations

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