Religions

India is called the land of diversity because the country does not have just one religion.
Major Religions of India:
Hinduism (the majority religion) -82%
Islam (largest minority religion) -12%
Sikhism  -2%
Christianity  -2.5%
Buddhism -0.7%
Jainism -0.5%
Zoroastrianism -0.001%
Judaism -0.0005%
Baha'i Faith (small amount of the population)

In India, people of different cultures and religions live in harmony together.  Festivals are celebrated in honor of the harmony that is seen throughout India.  All religions in India share the same message, love and brotherhood.  Each celebration is shares the same amount of emotion to bring everyone together.  Hindus celebrate festivals like Diwali, Holi, Bihu, Ganesh Chaturthi, Durga Puja, and many, many more. 

About 80 percent of Indians are Hindus.  Hinduism is one of the most ancient religions in the world with a vast majority of different Gods and Goddesses.  Hindus believe and practice the principles of the Vedas and the Upanishads. Their place of worship is known as Temple (Devasthanam or Mandir in Hindi).





Buddhism and Jainism developed after Hinduism.  In India's population, 0.5% are Jains and and about 0.7% are Buddhists. Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism are seen as the molders of India's philosophy. Buddhists believe in the ideas of Samsara, Karma and Rebirth, and practice the teachings of Buddha. Jains follow the principles of ahimsa (nonviolence), aparigraha (non-possessiveness) and anekantavad (non-absolutism). Sikhism was introduced in Indian in the 15th century and only about 2% of the population are Sikh.  The Sikhs follow a book called Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book.  The book contains the collection of writings of the Guru.  











There were many other attempts to making new religions in India, but they did not always work out.  For example, Moghul emperor, Akbar, tried to create a new religion, Din-E-Elahi, but did not succeed. There are also other Indian philosophies where the believers identify themselves as another separate religion.  However, they do not get recognized as a religion.  There are tribal communities who want to be recognized as a separate religion from Hinduism.  They went as far as trying to remodel Hinduism to fit the modern time period.