Religions in India

Religions in India - India is a land of diverse religions that exist in harmony and peace. The secularism is one of the most important aspects of the country. The largest section of the population is Hindu that has an established majority in the Nation but this does not deprive followers of other religions for influencing the society. Most of the religions are divided into different sects. Hindus are divided into four castes - Brahmins or the scholars, Kshatriyas or the warriors and kings, Vaishyas or the businessmen and the clergy class and the Shudras or the servant class. There are untouchables or the casteless too. All these castes are further sub-divided into number of other sub-castes. However, the rigid ness of this system has decreased to a much greater level, with the Herculean efforts of various social reformers.

The next religion that has largest number of followers in India is Islam and its followers are known as Muslims. They are further sub-divided into various sects, the most prominent being Shias and Sunnis.

Sikhs were originally Hindus who became followers and disciples of Guru Nanak. Guru Gobind Singh, their tenth Guru gave them their present identity and introduced community service and martial tendencies as their distinctive features so that they can withstand oppression. Christians in India are mainly Catholics and Protestants and follow different Churches as their denominations.

The other significant different religions of India are Buddhism, Jainism, Zoroastrianism and Judaism. Jains are divided into Digambaras and Shwetambaras, Buddhists into Mahayana and Hinayana sects and Jews in various communities. The followers of Zoroastrianism are known as Parsis and have distinctive style and Jews are the followers of Judaism.