India is the birth place of four of the world's major religious traditions; namely Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism andSikhism. [1] Throughout its history, religion has been an important part of the country's culture. Religious diversity and religious tolerance are both established in the country by law and custom. A vast majority of Indians associate themselves with a religion.
According to the 2001 census,[2] Hinduism accounted for 80.5% of the population of India. Islam (13.4%),Christianity (2.3%) and Sikhism (1.9%) are the other major religions followed by the people of India. This diversity of religious belief systems existing in India today is a result of, besides existence and birth of native religions, assimilation and social integration of religions brought to the region by traders, travelers, immigrants, and even invaders and conquerors.
Zoroastrianism and Judaism also have an ancient history in India and each has several thousand Indian adherents. India has the largest population of people adhering to Zoroastrianism and Bahá'í Faith anywhere in the world. [3] [4]Many other world religions also have a relationship with Indian spirituality, like the Baha'i faith which recognizes Lord Buddha and Lord Krishna as manifestations of God Almighty.[citation needed]
Indian diaspora in the West have popularized many aspects of Hindu philosophy like yoga (meditation), Ayurvedic medicine, divination, vegetarianism, karma and reincarnation to a great extent.[5] The influence of Indians abroad in spiritual matters has been significant as several organizations such as the Hare Krishna movement, the Brahma Kumaris, the Ananda Marga and others spread by Indian spiritual figures.
The Muslim population in India is the third largest in the world. The shrines of some of the most famous saints ofSufism like Moinuddin Chishti and Nizamuddin Auliya are in India and attract visitors from all over the world.[6] India is also home to some of the most famous monuments of Islamic architecture like the Taj Mahal and the Qutb Minar. Civil matters related to the community are dealt with by the Muslim Personal Law, and constitutional amendments in 1985 established its primacy in family matters.[7]
The Constitution of India declares the nation to be a secular republic that must uphold the right of citizens to freely worship and propagate any religion or faith (with activities subject to reasonable restrictions for the sake of morality, law and order, etc.).[8][9] The Constitution of India also declares the right to freedom of religion as a fundamental right.
Citizens of India are generally tolerant of each other's religions and retain a secular outlook, although inter-religious marriage is not widely practiced. Inter-community clashes have found little support in the social mainstream, and it is generally perceived that the causes of religious conflicts are political rather than ideological in nature.[10]
"Priest King" ofIndus Valley Civilization
Hinduism is often regarded as the oldest religion in the world,[11] with roots tracing back to prehistoric times,[12] or 5000 years.[13] Evidence attesting to prehistoric religion in the Indian "subcontinent" derives from scattered Mesolithicrock paintings depicting dances and rituals. Neolithic pastoralists inhabiting the Indus River Valley buried their dead in a manner suggestive of spiritual practices that incorporated notions of an afterlife and belief in magic.[14] Other South Asian Stone Age sites, such as the Bhimbetka rock shelters in central Madhya Pradesh and the Kupgal petroglyphs of eastern Karnataka, contain rock art portraying religious rites and evidence of possible ritualised music.[15]
The Harappan people of the Indus Valley Civilization, which lasted from 3300 to 1700 BCE and was centered around theIndus and Ghaggar-Hakra river valleys, may have worshiped an important mother goddess symbolising fertility.[16]Excavations of Indus Valley Civilization sites show seals with animals and "fire‑altars", indicating rituals associated with fire. A linga-yoni of a type similar to that which is now worshiped by Hindus has also been found.
Hinduism's origins include cultural elements of the Indus Valley Civilization, theVedic religion of the Indo-Aryans, and other Indian civilizations. The oldest surviving text of Hinduism is theRigveda, produced during the Vedic period and dated to 1700–1100 BCE.γ[›][17] During the Epic andPuranic periods, the earliest versions of the epic poems Ramayana and Mahabharata were written roughly from 500–100 BCE,[18] although these were orally transmitted for centuries prior to this period.[19]
After 200 CE, several schools of thought were formally codified in Indian philosophy, including Samkhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Purva-Mimamsa and Vedanta.[20]Hinduism, otherwise a highly theistic religion, hosted atheistic schools; the thoroughly materialistic and anti-religious philosophical Cārvāka school that originated in India around the 6th century BCE is probably the most explicitly atheistic school of Indian philosophy. Cārvāka is classified as a nastika("heterodox") system; it is not included among the six schools of Hinduism generally regarded as orthodox. It is noteworthy as evidence of a materialistic movement within Hinduism.[21] Our understanding of Cārvāka philosophy is fragmentary, based largely on criticism of the ideas by other schools, and it is no longer a living tradition.[22] Other Indian philosophies generally regarded as orthodox include Classical Samkhya and Purva Mimamsa.
Mahavira the 24th Jain Tirthankara (599–527 BC, though possibly 549–477 BC), stressed five vows, includingahimsa (non-violence) and asteya (non-stealing). Gautama Buddha, who founded Buddhism, was born to theShakya clan just before Magadha (which lasted from 546–324 BCE) rose to power. Buddha is said to be a descendant of Brahmin Sage Angirasa in many Buddhist texts.[23] His surname was 'Gautama', some scholars like Dr. Eitel connect it to the Brahmin Rishi Gautama.[24] His family was native to the plains of Lumbini, in what is now southern Nepal. Indian Buddhism peaked during the reign of Asoka the Great of the Mauryan Empire, who patronized Buddhism following his conversion and unified the Indian subcontinent in the 3rd century BCE. He sent missionaries abroad, allowing Buddhism to spread across Asia.[25] Indian Buddhism declined following the loss of royal patronage offered by the Kushan Empire and such kingdoms as Magadha and Kosala.
Some scholars think between 400 BCE and 1000 CE, Hinduism expanded as thedecline of Buddhism in India continued.[26] Buddhism subsequently became effectively extinct in India.
Though Islam came to India in the early 7th century with the advent of Arab traders, it started to become a major religion during the Muslim conquest in the Indian subcontinent. Islam's spread in India mostly took place under the Delhi Sultanate (1206–1526) and the Mughal Empire (1526-1858), greatly aided by the mystic Sufitradition.[27]
During the 14-17th centuries, when North India was under Muslim rule, The bhakti movement swept through Central and Northern India, initiated by a loosely associated group of teachers or sants. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Vallabhacharya, Surdas, Meera Bai, Kabir, Tulsidas,Ravidas, Namdeo, Tukaram and other mystics spearheaded the Bhakti movement in the North. They taught that people could cast aside the heavy burdens of ritual and caste, and the subtle complexities of philosophy, and simply express their overwhelming love for God. This period was also characterized by a spate of devotional literature in vernacular prose and poetry in the ethnic languages of the various Indian states or provinces. Bhakti movement spawned into several different movements all across North and South India.
During the Bhakti Movement, many Hindu groups, regarded as outside the traditional Hindu caste system followed Bhakti traditions by worshipping/following saints belonging to their respective communities. For example, Guru Ravidas was a Chura of Uttar Pradesh, Guru Parsuram Ramnami was a Chamar of Chhatisgarh, Maharishi Ram Naval was a Bhangi of Rajasthan. Several of these saints in their lifetime, even went to the extent of fighting conversion from foreign missionaries and only encouraging Hinduism within their communities. For example, in Assam tribals were led by Gurudev Kalicharan Bramha of the Brahmo Samaj, in Nagaland by Kacha Naga, in Tamil Nadu byAyya Vaikundar, in Central India by Birsa Munda, Hanuman Oaron, Jatra Bhagat and Budhu Bhagat.
In North India, Bhakti movement is not differentiable from the Sufi movement of Shia Muslims of the Chisti fame. People of Muslim faith adopted it as a Sufism while Hindus as a stronger force within Vaishnava bhakti.
Guru Nanak (1469–1539) was the founder of Sikhism. The Guru Granth Sahib was first compiled by the fifth Sikh guru, Guru Arjan Dev, from the writings of the first five Sikh gurus and others saints who preached the concept of universal brotherhood, including those of the Hindu and Muslim faith. Before the death of Guru Gobind Singh, the Guru Granth Sahib was declared the eternal guru. Sikhism recognizes all humans as equal before Waheguru,[28] regardless of colour, caste or lineage.[29] Sikhism rejects the beliefs of idol worship and circumcision.
Guru Nanak's preachings were directed with equal force to all humans regardless of their religion. Guru Nanak defines the transformation of man to a permanent union with God as part of his preaching againstcommunalism summarized by the famous phrase, "There is no Hindu and no Muslim".
Christianity was introduced in India in 1st Century by St. Thomas, one of the twelve apostles ofJesus Christ. Christianity is the first foreign religion in India which was introduced to natives after been initially introduced to the Jewish diaspora in Kerala. Christianity in India has different denominations, like Roman Catholicism, oriental Orthodox Christianity and Protestantism.
Roman Catholic is a denomination practiced by over 17.3 million people in India which represents less than 2% of the total population. Most Catholics reside in South India. Goa is home to Roman Catholics. The state known for its Christian population. [30][31][32] Christianity was introduced to Indians twice. Possibly in the 1st century by St. Thomas, and by Europeans. Europeans brought Catholicism in the 13. Century (Portuguese) and Protestantism in the 18. Century (British and American missionaries). It became popular following European colonisation and Protestant missionary efforts. [33]
Communalism has played a key role in shaping the religious history of modern India. As an adverse result of the British Raj's divide and rulepolicy, British India was partitioned along religious lines into two states—the Muslim-majority Dominion of Pakistan (comprising what is now the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the People's Republic of Bangladesh) and the Hindu-majority Union of India (later the Republic of India). The 1947 Partition of India instigated rioting among Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs in Punjab, Bengal, Delhi, and other parts of India; 500,000 died as a result of the violence. The twelve million refugees that moved between the newly founded nations of India and Pakistan composed one of the largest mass migrations in modern history.Δ[›][34] Since its independence, India has periodically witnessed large-scale violence sparked by underlying tensions between sections of its majority Hindu and minority Muslim communities. The Republic of India is secular; its government recognises no official religion.
No comments:
Post a Comment