It is impossible to understand India without understanding at least a little about India’s religions.
Religion is one of the most powerful facets of Indian culture, exerting a strong influence on public life.
India’s art, philosophy and architecture have been heavily influenced by its religious traditions. Beautiful temples are located even in small villages, with magnificent temples and shrines scattered throughout the country.
Religious festivals are frequent, colorful and an integral part of life in India. Four of the country’s major religions — Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism — were born in India.
Indian religions spread in ancient times to other parts of Asia. In modern times, the United States and Europe have been increasingly influenced by the religions of India.
Islam, though it originated elsewhere, has been part of India’s culture for several centuries. Today, India has the second largest Muslim population in the world, second only to Indonesia.
Several other religions, including Christianity, Judaism and Baha’ism, have large numbers of followers in India.
The largest by far of the religions in India is Hinduism, practiced by 80 percent of the population.
Hinduism is known for its tolerance and inclusion, believing the purpose of religion is to achieve a close relationship with their god, and that there are many ways to achieve that relationship.
Despite Hinduism’s majority status — perhaps because of the religion’s tolerance for other concepts of the divine — the nation labels itself as a secular state, allowing all forms of religions equal status in the eyes of the law.
But the major sects still do not always coexist peacefully. In 1990, 300 were killed in a dispute over a place of worship.
In 1992, riots led by Hindu activists killed 1,700 people.
Hindu-Muslim tensions
A series of bombs the following year killed 200 people. Early in 2002, 59 Hindu pilgrims were burned to death in a train in Gujarat by a mob suspected of being Muslim. In the clashes that followed, at least 950 people, mostly Muslim, died.
Some analysts believe the violence between Hindus and Muslims is as much a result of secular and economic conditions as religious differences.
Some of the riots have targeted successful Muslims who, according to observers, threaten the social status of high-caste Hindus.
Although mobs have been known to attack native Christian workers, foreigners are rarely targets. There have been a few incidents reported in recent years.
In January 1999, a mob attacked and killed an Australian missionary and his son, and in 2003 an American visitor in Kerala was accused by Hindus of preaching to the locals. The man had a tourist visa.
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