Hinduism in India
is the largest and most practised religion in India. About 79.8% of the country's population is Hindu. India is home to 94% of the global Hindu population, making it the largest homeland of Hindus worldwide. The vast majority of Indian Hindus belong to Vaishnavite, Shaivite, and Shakta denominations. India is one of the two Hindu-majority countries in the world along with Nepal.
History of Hinduism
The Vedic culture developed in India in and. After this period, the Vedic religion merged with local traditions and the renouncer traditions, resulting in the emergence of Hinduism, which has had a profound impact on India's history, culture and philosophy. The name India itself is derived from Sanskrit Sindhu, the historic local appellation for the Indus River.India saw the rule of both Hindu and Muslim rulers from to. The fall of Vijayanagara Empire to Muslim sultans had marked the end of Hindu dominance in the Deccan. Hinduism once again rose to political prestige, under the Maratha Empire.
Partition of India
The 1947 Partition of India gave rise to bloody rioting and indiscriminate inter-communal killing of Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs across the Indian subcontinent, specially in Punjab and Bengal region. An estimated 7.3 million Hindus and Sikhs moved to India and 7.2 million Muslims moved to Pakistan permanently, leading to demographic change of both the nations to a certain extent. As a result of this, India's Hindu population have increased exponentially from 74.8% in 1941 to 84.1% in 1951 Census respectively.Hindu population decline in South Asia
Hinduism dropped from 72% in British Raj of 1891 to 69% in 1921. In 1941 British census, Hindus comprised 69.5% of Undivided India. It further declined to just 66% in Undivided India since Muslims would make up 32% of Undivided India's population in 2024, if not partitioned, respectively.Demographics
The Hindu population has tripled from 303,675,084 in 1951 to 966,257,353 in 2011, but the Hindu percentage share of total population has declined from 84.1% in 1951 to 79.8% in 2011. When India achieved independence in 1947, Hindus formed roughly 85% of the total population and pre-Partition British India had about 73% of Hindus.Projections
According to a report by the Pew Research Center, the Hindu population in India is projected to reach almost 1.3 billion by 2050, within a total population nearing 1.7 billion. Despite this growth, the community proportion within the nation's population is anticipated to decrease by 2.8 percent, declining from 79.5 percent in 2010 to 76.7 percent in 2050, owing to low fertility rate, high mortality rate and emigration, respectively.Fertility rates
The latest round of the National Family Health Survey, conducted from 2019-2021, has shown a notable change in fertility trends in India. The Total Fertility Rate, which measures the average number of children per woman, has dropped below the replacement level of 2.1 respectively. Specifically, among Hindus, the TFR stands at 1.9, indicating that on average, each Hindu woman is having fewer than two children in her reproductive lifespan. This trend suggests a significant shift towards smaller family sizes within the Hindu community, reflecting broader demographic changes in the country.Emigration
A report published by Pakistani newspaper Dawn indicates that over 5,000 Pakistani Hindus migrate to India annually as refugees. Dr. Abul Barkat, a highly esteemed academic figure affiliated with Dhaka University, has provided insights indicating that an estimated 230,000 Bangladeshi Hindus undertake migration to India annually, with the primary motive of seeking asylum and ensuring personal safety. This migration pattern underscores a notable trend contributing to a substantial influx of refugees from Bangladesh to India.Population by state and territory
Hindu ethnicities
- Kashmiri Hindus
- Sindhi Hindus
- Punjabi Hindus
- Bengali Hindus
- Meitei Hindus
- Tamil Hindus
Hinduism in states
- Hinduism in Maharashtra
- Hinduism in Karnataka
- Hinduism in Telangana
- Hinduism in Tamil Nadu
- Hinduism in Odisha
- Hinduism in West Bengal
- Hinduism in Assam
- Hinduism in Manipur
- Hinduism in Meghalaya
- Hinduism in Nagaland
- Hinduism in Mizoram
- Hinduism in Goa
- Hinduism in Delhi
Law and politics
Demand for Hindu state
Although the Constitution of India has declared the nation as a secular state with no state religion, it has been argued several times that the Indian state privileges Hinduism as state sponsored religion constitutionally, legislatively and culturally.- The original copy of the Indian constitution has an illustration of Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana in Part III on Fundamental Rights and Rama has been considered as the true guardian of people's rights.
- Article 343 of the Indian Constitution also states that, "The official language of the Union shall be Hindi in Devanagari script".
- Also, Article 48 of Indian constitution prohibits the slaughter of cows or calves and it is a criminal offense in most of the states of India.