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India known as the land of
spirituality and philosophy, was the birthplace of some
religions, which even exist today in the world.
The most dominant religion in India
today is Hinduism. About 80% of Indians are Hindus. Hinduism is a
colorful religion with a vast gallery of Gods and Goddesses.
Hinduism is one of the ancient religions in the world. It is
supposed to have developed about 5000 years ago. Later on in
ancient period other religions developed in India.
Around 500 BC two other religions
developed in India, namely, Buddhism and Jainism. Today only
about 0.5% of Indians are Jains and about 0.7% are Buddhist. In
ancient times Jainism and specially Buddhism were very popular in
India. Indians who accepted Buddhist philosophy spread it not
only within the Indian sub-continent but also to kingdoms east
and south of India.
These three ancient religions,
Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, are seen as the molders of the
India philosophy. In 'modern' period new religions were also
established in India.
One comparatively new religion in
India is Sikhism and it was established in the 15th
century. About 2% of Indians are Sikhs. There were other attempts
to create new religions in India but they did not always succeed.
For example, a Moghul emperor, Akbar, who reigned between 1556 -
1605, tried to establish a new religion, Din- E- Elahi, but it
did not survive. There are other religious philosophies whose
believers see themselves as a separate religion, but they do not
always get this recognition. For example Lingayat of south India
see themselves as a different religion, while others see them as
a sect of Hinduism. There are also some tribal communities who
demand to be recognized as separate religion from Hinduism. In the 19th century some Hindu reformers tried to remodel Hinduism to adjust it to modern period.
Along with the religions that
developed in India, there are followers of non- Indian religions.
The largest non-Indian religion is Islam. They are about 12% of
India's population. Christians are more then 2% of India's
population. There are also Zoroastrians who even though make less
then 0.01% of India's population, are known around India. There
are also a few thousand Jews in India. Judaism and Christianity
might have arrived in India before they arrived in Europe.
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