Christmas, a christian holiday, is a national holiday in India. Ramadan, a muslim festival, is a national holiday in India. Buddha's birthday is a holiday celebrated across most of India. And not to mention, many festivals related to Hindu gods and mythology. It is not uncommon in India to hear from your home the temple bells, church bells, and the call for prayer from the nearby mosque every day. And it is also not uncommon to stand on a street and see a temple, mosque, and a church on the same street. India by it's constitution is a secular country, where it mandates equal treatment of all religions. India does not have an official state religion.
But, Religion like everything else in India is a very complicated, colourful, and diverse topic. Evidence has been found that religious and spiritual practices have been in existence in Indian region since the pre-historic period. The inclusion of many religions and the complexity and depth of religion and spirituality into everyday life, even to this day, shows in the way people pray, celebrate, and live their lives. A short blog will not give a full picture of the complexity of religion in India, but this is a small effort of ours to open a small window into how religions and spirituality in India evolved over centuries.
To give a brief statistical overview, India has a total population of 1.32 billion people (2016), and is approximately 17% of the world population. Indian region is the birthplace of four major religions in existence today, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Jainism. As per the 2011 census, here are the percentages of people associated with various major religions in India - Hinduism 79.8% (1.05 billion), Islam 14.2% (187 million), Christianity 2.3% (30.36 million), Sikhism 1.7% (22.4 million), Buddhism 0.7% (9.2 million), Jainism 0.4% (5.3 million), and 0.7% of people (9.2 million)) are from other religions, and the rest are unspecified. India has the largest population in the world of people adhering to Zaroastrianism (Parsis and Iranis) and Baha'i faith, even though these religions are not native to India.
Let's go back into history a bit to see how the current religious and spiritual practices developed in India.
Based on the Mesolithic rock paintings discovered in Indian subcontinent, it is believed that some form of spiritual practices and rituals existed in India since the pre-historic period. The rock art at Bhimbetka rock shelters, some of which are as old as 30,000 years old, showed the religious rites and spiritual practices that incorporated notions of an afterlife, and possible ritualistic music.
Later, evidence was found from Indus Valley Civilization. The evidence of religious practices were found from 5500 BCE. It was a very highly developed civilization in ancient India. The evidence suggests that this civilization had social conditions possibly superior to the contemporary Babylonians and Egyptians. Farming settlements began around 4000 BCE, first signs of urbanization around 3000 BCE and dozens of towns established between 2500 and 2000 BCE. This civilization receives considerable recognition, especially from the point of identifying deities and religious practices of Indian religions that later developed in the area. Since the fact that the Indus script remains undeciphered, the conclusions are partly speculative and largely based on a retrospective view from a much later Hindu perspective. Interpretation by John Marshall (1931) of the archaeological evidence found the existence of a great male god and a mother goddess, deification of animals and plants, symbolic representation of the phallus (linga) and vulva (yoni).
Another religion that existed in south India before the 1750 BCE and in some form exists even today in south India, is the Dravidian religion. Dravidian people in the current India, primarily reside in four states in South India -- Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka. Some theories suggest that they arrived in India around 50,000 years ago. Later when Aryans (we know this is a controversial term, but the reference here is to the Sanskrit term Arya, referencing to the Indo-Aryan nomadic people believed to be from Iran and southern Russia) entered North India, Dravidians were pushed down to the south where they still live and follow many religious and spiritual practices from the earlier times. The Dravidian religion consists of a collection of scriptures chiefly constituting the methods of temple construction, creation of deities, worship means of deities, philosophical doctrines, meditative practices, attainment of sixfold desires (Shama/tranquility, Dama/sense control, Uparati/Satiety, Titiksha/endurance, Shraddha/Intense faith, and Samadhana/mental balance) and four kinds of yoga (Raja yoga, Bhakti yoga, Gnana yoga, and Karma yoga). Dravidian culture contributed a lot to the present worship practices and sacredness of animals and plants in the current Hindu religious practices.
Roughly between 1750 and 850 BCE with the arrival of Aryans, the Vedic religions took shape in India. This religion contained practices of the early Indo-Aryans, which were a collection of four Vedas consisting of hymns or mantras composed in Sanskrit language. Vedic religion is not Hinduism (even though Vedic religion is synonymously referred with Hinduism), but it is a predecessor to Hinduism. There are four vedas -- Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda, and Atharvaveda. The Vedas detailed a diverse set of practices, ideas, and concepts including primitive form of Yoga, and some diverse and complex spiritual philosophies. Six main schools of philosophy emerged from these teachings. These are -Nyaya (logic), Vaiseshika (analyis of the universe), Samkhya (classification of the universe), Yoga (Union with the Divine), Mimansha (ritual interpretation of Vedas), and Vedanta (inquiry into the Self). This slowly let to the development of Hinduism after 850 BCE.
Between 800 and 200 BCE, the classical Hindu religion started to take shape. This time is also referred to as Sharamanic period. During this time, many elements of the Vedic religion were lost and the Sanskrit epics, Upanishads (critique of the vedas) and Puranas (history and stories about gods and kings) were developed which became the philosophical basis of classical Hinduism. Vedic religion was based on rituals and the Brahmanas (priests) served as the gatekeepers of the knowledge and had control over it. During this Sharamanic period, the Upanishads rejected the idea of rituals and focused more on individual introspection. The concepts of Brahman (Ultimate reality) and Atman (soul, self) are the central ideas in all of the Upanishads.
During 700 - 500 BCE, Buddhism and Jainism developed in this region. Upanishads were also said to have a big influence on these religions. Between 500 - 200 BCE, these religions spread across the region and were integrated into the culture and everyday lives of people.
The period between 200 BCE and 500 CE saw the rise of Classical Hinduism. After the 2nd century CE a number of branches of the Vedantic period spawned. Many schools of thoughts and philosophies emerged, some even embracing atheism.
Some evidence suggests that Muslims settled in India as early as 7the Century CE. But, between 1100 - 1500 CE, Turks and Afghans invaded parts of northern India and later the central India and Islam entered India. During this period of Indian cultural renaissance, the resulting Indo-Muslim fusion of culture and religions left lasting syncretic monuments in architecture, music, literature, religion, and clothing. The disintegration of central power in this region also lead to the regionalization of religiosity and religious rivalry. Religious movements had to compete for recognition by the local lords. Local cults and languages were enhanced and the influence of ritualistic Hinduism was diminished. Rural and devotional movements arose with Shaivism, Vaisnavism, Bhakti, and Tantra. During this time, Buddhism lost its position, and began to disappear in India.
Another religion that originated in India is the Sikhism. In the 15th century, Sikhism originated in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent. The fundamental beliefs of Sikhism include faith and meditation on the name of the one creator, unity of all humankind, engaging in selfless service, striving for social justice for the benefit and prosperity of all, and honest conduct. Its founder Guru Nanak summarised the idea behind the religion that "Truth is the highest virtue, but higher still is truthful living."
Jews first arrived as traders from Judea in the city of Kochi, Kerala, in 562 BCE. More jews came as exiles from Israel in the year 70 CE, after the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem by the Babylonians. The Jewish community of India is the fourth largest Asian Jewish community after Israel, Asian Russia, and Iran.
Although the exact origins of Christianity in India remain unclear, the works of scholars and Eastern Christian writings say that Christianity was introduced to India by Thomas the Apostle in 52CE and baptised Kerala's Jewish settlements, who are known as Saint Thomas Christians. Most Christians in India reside in South India and in North-East Indian states. Christianity in India was expanded in the 16th Century by Catholic Portuguese expeditions and by protestant British and American missionaries in the 18th century.
Religious violence is an issue that gets a lot of visibility inside and outside India. In general, religious intolerance includes acts of violence by followers of one religious group against followers and institutions of another religious group. In India, religious violence in recent times involved Hindus and Muslims. As per the statistics published by international human rights organizations, between 2005 - 2009, there has been an average of 0.01 deaths per 100,000 people due to religious violence. Even though the comparision is not completely fair, but to put this into context, the world average of deaths in recent years due to intentional violence has been 7.9 deaths per 100,000. In general, other than a few incidents of religious violence, some triggered by politics, and others due to the way some people resent about the history of invasions and wars in Indian subcontinent, almost all of the country lives in harmony.
That was a short overview of religion in India. We are sure there are many aspect in this blog that some might disagree and might have different conclusions from how history is read and interpreted by them. But this is a small effort by us to open a window for people outside India to understand the basics of how the current religious and spiritual complexity evolved in India.
But, Religion like everything else in India is a very complicated, colourful, and diverse topic. Evidence has been found that religious and spiritual practices have been in existence in Indian region since the pre-historic period. The inclusion of many religions and the complexity and depth of religion and spirituality into everyday life, even to this day, shows in the way people pray, celebrate, and live their lives. A short blog will not give a full picture of the complexity of religion in India, but this is a small effort of ours to open a small window into how religions and spirituality in India evolved over centuries.
To give a brief statistical overview, India has a total population of 1.32 billion people (2016), and is approximately 17% of the world population. Indian region is the birthplace of four major religions in existence today, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Jainism. As per the 2011 census, here are the percentages of people associated with various major religions in India - Hinduism 79.8% (1.05 billion), Islam 14.2% (187 million), Christianity 2.3% (30.36 million), Sikhism 1.7% (22.4 million), Buddhism 0.7% (9.2 million), Jainism 0.4% (5.3 million), and 0.7% of people (9.2 million)) are from other religions, and the rest are unspecified. India has the largest population in the world of people adhering to Zaroastrianism (Parsis and Iranis) and Baha'i faith, even though these religions are not native to India.
Let's go back into history a bit to see how the current religious and spiritual practices developed in India.
Based on the Mesolithic rock paintings discovered in Indian subcontinent, it is believed that some form of spiritual practices and rituals existed in India since the pre-historic period. The rock art at Bhimbetka rock shelters, some of which are as old as 30,000 years old, showed the religious rites and spiritual practices that incorporated notions of an afterlife, and possible ritualistic music.
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| Pre-historic art in Bhimbetka rock shelters, Madhya Pradesh, India (Image: www.tripoco.com) |
Later, evidence was found from Indus Valley Civilization. The evidence of religious practices were found from 5500 BCE. It was a very highly developed civilization in ancient India. The evidence suggests that this civilization had social conditions possibly superior to the contemporary Babylonians and Egyptians. Farming settlements began around 4000 BCE, first signs of urbanization around 3000 BCE and dozens of towns established between 2500 and 2000 BCE. This civilization receives considerable recognition, especially from the point of identifying deities and religious practices of Indian religions that later developed in the area. Since the fact that the Indus script remains undeciphered, the conclusions are partly speculative and largely based on a retrospective view from a much later Hindu perspective. Interpretation by John Marshall (1931) of the archaeological evidence found the existence of a great male god and a mother goddess, deification of animals and plants, symbolic representation of the phallus (linga) and vulva (yoni).
 |
| Collection of Seals from Indus Valley Civilization (Image: www.ancient-origins.net/) |
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| Indus script which is still undeciphered to-date (Image: http://www.crystalinks.com/indus.html ) |
Another religion that existed in south India before the 1750 BCE and in some form exists even today in south India, is the Dravidian religion. Dravidian people in the current India, primarily reside in four states in South India -- Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka. Some theories suggest that they arrived in India around 50,000 years ago. Later when Aryans (we know this is a controversial term, but the reference here is to the Sanskrit term Arya, referencing to the Indo-Aryan nomadic people believed to be from Iran and southern Russia) entered North India, Dravidians were pushed down to the south where they still live and follow many religious and spiritual practices from the earlier times. The Dravidian religion consists of a collection of scriptures chiefly constituting the methods of temple construction, creation of deities, worship means of deities, philosophical doctrines, meditative practices, attainment of sixfold desires (Shama/tranquility, Dama/sense control, Uparati/Satiety, Titiksha/endurance, Shraddha/Intense faith, and Samadhana/mental balance) and four kinds of yoga (Raja yoga, Bhakti yoga, Gnana yoga, and Karma yoga). Dravidian culture contributed a lot to the present worship practices and sacredness of animals and plants in the current Hindu religious practices.
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| Dravidian style Meenakshi temple in Madurai, South India |
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| Dravidian style temple in Kanchipuram, South India |
Roughly between 1750 and 850 BCE with the arrival of Aryans, the Vedic religions took shape in India. This religion contained practices of the early Indo-Aryans, which were a collection of four Vedas consisting of hymns or mantras composed in Sanskrit language. Vedic religion is not Hinduism (even though Vedic religion is synonymously referred with Hinduism), but it is a predecessor to Hinduism. There are four vedas -- Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda, and Atharvaveda. The Vedas detailed a diverse set of practices, ideas, and concepts including primitive form of Yoga, and some diverse and complex spiritual philosophies. Six main schools of philosophy emerged from these teachings. These are -Nyaya (logic), Vaiseshika (analyis of the universe), Samkhya (classification of the universe), Yoga (Union with the Divine), Mimansha (ritual interpretation of Vedas), and Vedanta (inquiry into the Self). This slowly let to the development of Hinduism after 850 BCE.
 |
| A page from Atharvaveda, compiled around 1200 BCE (Image: Wikipedia.com) |
Between 800 and 200 BCE, the classical Hindu religion started to take shape. This time is also referred to as Sharamanic period. During this time, many elements of the Vedic religion were lost and the Sanskrit epics, Upanishads (critique of the vedas) and Puranas (history and stories about gods and kings) were developed which became the philosophical basis of classical Hinduism. Vedic religion was based on rituals and the Brahmanas (priests) served as the gatekeepers of the knowledge and had control over it. During this Sharamanic period, the Upanishads rejected the idea of rituals and focused more on individual introspection. The concepts of Brahman (Ultimate reality) and Atman (soul, self) are the central ideas in all of the Upanishads.
During 700 - 500 BCE, Buddhism and Jainism developed in this region. Upanishads were also said to have a big influence on these religions. Between 500 - 200 BCE, these religions spread across the region and were integrated into the culture and everyday lives of people.
 |
| Buddha Statue in Bodh Gaya, Bihar, India (Image: GettyImages) |
The period between 200 BCE and 500 CE saw the rise of Classical Hinduism. After the 2nd century CE a number of branches of the Vedantic period spawned. Many schools of thoughts and philosophies emerged, some even embracing atheism.
 |
| A scene represented from Bhagavadgita (Image: www.thoughtco.com) |
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| Akshardham, world's largest Hindu temple in India (Image: http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/) |
Some evidence suggests that Muslims settled in India as early as 7the Century CE. But, between 1100 - 1500 CE, Turks and Afghans invaded parts of northern India and later the central India and Islam entered India. During this period of Indian cultural renaissance, the resulting Indo-Muslim fusion of culture and religions left lasting syncretic monuments in architecture, music, literature, religion, and clothing. The disintegration of central power in this region also lead to the regionalization of religiosity and religious rivalry. Religious movements had to compete for recognition by the local lords. Local cults and languages were enhanced and the influence of ritualistic Hinduism was diminished. Rural and devotional movements arose with Shaivism, Vaisnavism, Bhakti, and Tantra. During this time, Buddhism lost its position, and began to disappear in India.
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| Taj Mahal, a famous Mughal structure in India (Image: Indiaonline.com) |
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| Jama Masjid, a famous mosque in Delhi, India (Image: cbc.ca) |
Another religion that originated in India is the Sikhism. In the 15th century, Sikhism originated in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent. The fundamental beliefs of Sikhism include faith and meditation on the name of the one creator, unity of all humankind, engaging in selfless service, striving for social justice for the benefit and prosperity of all, and honest conduct. Its founder Guru Nanak summarised the idea behind the religion that "Truth is the highest virtue, but higher still is truthful living."
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| Golden Temple, the most sacred Sikh temple in India (Image: http://freshtraveldestinations.com/) |
Jews first arrived as traders from Judea in the city of Kochi, Kerala, in 562 BCE. More jews came as exiles from Israel in the year 70 CE, after the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem by the Babylonians. The Jewish community of India is the fourth largest Asian Jewish community after Israel, Asian Russia, and Iran.
 |
| Paradesi Synogogue, Kochi, India (Image: Wikipedia.org) |
Although the exact origins of Christianity in India remain unclear, the works of scholars and Eastern Christian writings say that Christianity was introduced to India by Thomas the Apostle in 52CE and baptised Kerala's Jewish settlements, who are known as Saint Thomas Christians. Most Christians in India reside in South India and in North-East Indian states. Christianity in India was expanded in the 16th Century by Catholic Portuguese expeditions and by protestant British and American missionaries in the 18th century.
 |
| Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health, Tamil Nadu, India (Image: http://www.walkthroughindia.com/) |
Religious violence is an issue that gets a lot of visibility inside and outside India. In general, religious intolerance includes acts of violence by followers of one religious group against followers and institutions of another religious group. In India, religious violence in recent times involved Hindus and Muslims. As per the statistics published by international human rights organizations, between 2005 - 2009, there has been an average of 0.01 deaths per 100,000 people due to religious violence. Even though the comparision is not completely fair, but to put this into context, the world average of deaths in recent years due to intentional violence has been 7.9 deaths per 100,000. In general, other than a few incidents of religious violence, some triggered by politics, and others due to the way some people resent about the history of invasions and wars in Indian subcontinent, almost all of the country lives in harmony.
That was a short overview of religion in India. We are sure there are many aspect in this blog that some might disagree and might have different conclusions from how history is read and interpreted by them. But this is a small effort by us to open a window for people outside India to understand the basics of how the current religious and spiritual complexity evolved in India.
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