Religions in India
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.
| Origin | India is the birthplace of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism and home to many other faiths |
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Sacred texts
- See the Scriptures section
Main festivals
- Festivals of every faith are celebrated across India; many are gazetted holidays
Underlined names open their own page.
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.