MEANING OF RELIGION
Religion is often defined as a set of beliefs that explain the world and the universe; however, for individuals, religion and spirituality are more than just a way of understanding the world. We hope to not only provide practical, and historical information about religions of the world, but to also examine what each religion means to its followers. The history of religion is an interesting one, and we hope that Types of Religion will help make it accessible to a wider audience.
TYPES OF RELIGION IN INDIA
Christianity
With well over two billion followers throughout the world, Christianity is an Abrahamic religion centered on God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. One of the big issues surrounding Christianity is that some people question the existence of the Trinity. Other points of debate are the Christian beliefs in Immaculate Conception, the original sin, the existence of the Devil, and the coming of the apocalypse. Learn more about Christianity and find out how it became the world's largest religion with holidays that are known worldwide.
ISLAM
Islam is the second-most practiced religion in the Republic of India after Hinduism, with more than 13.4% of the country's population (over 138 million as per 2001 census).[2][3]
Islam came to India with the newly Islamised Arab merchants and traders on the Malabar Coast in the 7th century. Islam arrived in north India in the 12th century and has since become a part of India's rich religious and cultural heritage.[4] Over the years, there has been significant integration of Hindu and Muslim cultures across India[5][6] and the Muslims have played a prominent role in India's economic rise and cultural influence.
Matters of jurisdiction involving Muslims in India related to marriage, inheritance and wakf properties are governed by the Muslim Personal Law,[7] and the courts have ruled that Sharia or Muslim law, holds precedence for Muslims over Indian civil law in such matters.
BUDDHISM
Buddhism is a world religion, which arose in and around ancient Magadha, India (modern Bihar), and is based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama (Born in Lumbini, Nepal), who is known as the Buddha (literally the Enlightened One or Awakened One). It spread outside of Magadha starting in the Buddha's lifetime, and with the reign of the Buddhist Mauryan Emperor Asoka, spread across India and became the dominant religion.[2][3] Followers of Buddhism, called Buddhists in English, referred to themselves as Sakyans or Sakyabhiksu in ancient India.[4][5] Buddhist scholar Donald S. Lopez asserts they also used the term Bauddha,[6] although scholar Richard Cohen asserts that that term was used only by outsiders to describe Buddhists.[7]
Buddhism has spread outside of India through two main traditions; Theravada which extended south and east and now has widespread following in Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka, and Mahayana, which diffused first west, then north and later east throughout East Asia. Both traditions have since spread throughout the world, mainly in North America and Europe. The practice of Buddhism as a distinct and organized religion declined from the land of its origin in around 13th century, but not without leaving a significant impact. Hindus continued to absorb Buddhist practices and teachings, such as Ahimsa and the renunciation of the material world. Buddhist practice is most common in Himalayan areas like Ladakh, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim. Buddhism has been reemerging in India since the past century, due to its adoption by many Indian intellectuals, the migration of Buddhist Tibetan exiles, and the mass conversion of hundreds of thousands of Hindu Dalits.[8]
After asceticism and meditation, he discovered the Buddhist Middle Way—a path of moderation away from the extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification.
Siddhartha Gautama attained enlightenment sitting under a pipal tree, now known as the Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya, India. Gautama, from then on, was known as "The Perfectly Self-Awakened One," the Samyaksambuddha.
Buddha found patronage in the ruler of Magadha, emperor Bimbisara. The emperor accepted Buddhism as personal faith and allowed the establishment of many Buddhist "Viharas." This eventually led to the renaming of the entire region as Bihar.[9]
At the Deer Park Water Reservation near Vārāṇasī in northern India, Buddha set in motion the Wheel of Dharma by delivering his first sermon to the group of five companions with whom he had previously sought enlightenment. They, together with the Buddha, formed the first Saṅgha, the company of Buddhist monks, and hence, the first formation of Triple Gem (Buddha, Dharma and Sangha) was completed.
For the remaining years of his life, the Buddha is said to have traveled in the Gangetic Plain of Northeastern India and other regions.
Buddha attained Parinirvana in the abandoned jungles of Kuśināra.
JUDAISM
Religion is often defined as a set of beliefs that explain the world and the universe; however, for individuals, religion and spirituality are more than just a way of understanding the world. We hope to not only provide practical, and historical information about religions of the world, but to also examine what each religion means to its followers. The history of religion is an interesting one, and we hope that Types of Religion will help make it accessible to a wider audience.
TYPES OF RELIGION IN INDIA
Types of Religion: Christianity, Islam, Buddhism & JudaismMajor Religions of the World
Religion adds meaning and purpose to the lives of followers, granting them an appreciation of the past, an understanding of the present, and hope for the future. By definition, a religion is a belief system concerning one or more deities and incorporating rituals, ceremonies, ethical guidelines, and life philosophies. Since the early times of Paganism, religion has diversified and grown to include major monotheistic religions like Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, as well as Indian and Far Eastern religions like Buddhism and Sikhism, Iranic religions like Zoroastrianism and Bahai, and African indigenous-based religions like Santeria. Other belief systems, including Atheism and the Mormon Church, have also developed with time. While religion dictates peace and good will, many battles and divisions have taken place because of religion. Religious belief plays an important role in the history of the world. The people of the world could benefit from learning about the different types of religion.
Christianity 
With well over two billion followers throughout the world, Christianity is an Abrahamic religion centered on God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. One of the big issues surrounding Christianity is that some people question the existence of the Trinity. Other points of debate are the Christian beliefs in Immaculate Conception, the original sin, the existence of the Devil, and the coming of the apocalypse. Learn more about Christianity and find out how it became the world's largest religion with holidays that are known worldwide.ISLAM
Islam is the second-most practiced religion in the Republic of India after Hinduism, with more than 13.4% of the country's population (over 138 million as per 2001 census).[2][3]
Islam came to India with the newly Islamised Arab merchants and traders on the Malabar Coast in the 7th century. Islam arrived in north India in the 12th century and has since become a part of India's rich religious and cultural heritage.[4] Over the years, there has been significant integration of Hindu and Muslim cultures across India[5][6] and the Muslims have played a prominent role in India's economic rise and cultural influence.
Matters of jurisdiction involving Muslims in India related to marriage, inheritance and wakf properties are governed by the Muslim Personal Law,[7] and the courts have ruled that Sharia or Muslim law, holds precedence for Muslims over Indian civil law in such matters.
BUDDHISM
Buddhism is a world religion, which arose in and around ancient Magadha, India (modern Bihar), and is based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama (Born in Lumbini, Nepal), who is known as the Buddha (literally the Enlightened One or Awakened One). It spread outside of Magadha starting in the Buddha's lifetime, and with the reign of the Buddhist Mauryan Emperor Asoka, spread across India and became the dominant religion.[2][3] Followers of Buddhism, called Buddhists in English, referred to themselves as Sakyans or Sakyabhiksu in ancient India.[4][5] Buddhist scholar Donald S. Lopez asserts they also used the term Bauddha,[6] although scholar Richard Cohen asserts that that term was used only by outsiders to describe Buddhists.[7]
Buddhism has spread outside of India through two main traditions; Theravada which extended south and east and now has widespread following in Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka, and Mahayana, which diffused first west, then north and later east throughout East Asia. Both traditions have since spread throughout the world, mainly in North America and Europe. The practice of Buddhism as a distinct and organized religion declined from the land of its origin in around 13th century, but not without leaving a significant impact. Hindus continued to absorb Buddhist practices and teachings, such as Ahimsa and the renunciation of the material world. Buddhist practice is most common in Himalayan areas like Ladakh, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim. Buddhism has been reemerging in India since the past century, due to its adoption by many Indian intellectuals, the migration of Buddhist Tibetan exiles, and the mass conversion of hundreds of thousands of Hindu Dalits.[8]
After asceticism and meditation, he discovered the Buddhist Middle Way—a path of moderation away from the extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification.
Siddhartha Gautama attained enlightenment sitting under a pipal tree, now known as the Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya, India. Gautama, from then on, was known as "The Perfectly Self-Awakened One," the Samyaksambuddha.
Buddha found patronage in the ruler of Magadha, emperor Bimbisara. The emperor accepted Buddhism as personal faith and allowed the establishment of many Buddhist "Viharas." This eventually led to the renaming of the entire region as Bihar.[9]
At the Deer Park Water Reservation near Vārāṇasī in northern India, Buddha set in motion the Wheel of Dharma by delivering his first sermon to the group of five companions with whom he had previously sought enlightenment. They, together with the Buddha, formed the first Saṅgha, the company of Buddhist monks, and hence, the first formation of Triple Gem (Buddha, Dharma and Sangha) was completed.
For the remaining years of his life, the Buddha is said to have traveled in the Gangetic Plain of Northeastern India and other regions.
Buddha attained Parinirvana in the abandoned jungles of Kuśināra.
JUDAISM
Judaism: India is the only country in the world where there has never been an indigenous anti-Semitism. Jews have flourished in India perhaps for 2,000 years, although only around 6,000 remain today.
Indian Jews have been Prime Ministers to the Maharajas, the tutor to the Crown Prince of the Mughals, fabulously wealthy industrialists, international spice merchants, modern India's greatest war hero, film moguls and movie stars, celebrated poets, playwrights, Kabbalists and mystics, an environmentalist zookeeper, medical researchers, a concert violinist and the Court Jeweler to the Nawab of Oudh.
Indian Judaism developed creatively. Indian Jews have been learned and pious, leaving a body of religious poetry, folk songs, legal and mystical treatises, and some of the most striking synagogues in the world.
There have been three major Jewish communities in India.
The Cochin Jews date themselves from the destruction of the Temple in 72 CE. From the eleventh century, they lived as an autonomous community of agriculturalists, spice merchants, shipbuilders and soldiers. The 1568 Cochin Synagogue is not only the most famous in India, it is the oldest in the British Commonwealth and one of the most beautiful in the world. Nowhere else has Jewish culture flourished so long in freedom than here. Their unique tradition blends indigenous Jewish Malabari with Sephardic, Yemeni and Iraqi elements.
The Bene Israel of Bombay and the Konkan Coast were "lost" Jews who were recognized as Jews by either the 12th century David Rahabi, merchant brother of Maimonides, or the 18th century David Ezekiel Rahabi of Cochin's preeminent merchant house (according to Bene Israel and Cochini traditions, respectively). Their "religious evolution," from an anonymous group of rural oil-pressers into an accepted group in world Jewry, is miraculous and inspiring. They have been prominent in the arts, professions and government service not only in Bombay, where the great majority live, but throughout India. They built synagogues in Ahmedabad, Pune and Delhi, too - all of which we'll visit.
The "Baghdadi" Jews were middle eastern merchants, many Iraqi but many also Syrian, Turkish and Persian, who came to India about the same time as did the British. They flourished, and left when the British left - for the most part. But they left their marks, in Calcutta and Pune, but most of all in Bombay, where they built schools, hospitals, libraries, monuments, synagogues, docks and factories. They also left a sense of romance.
Indian Jews have been Prime Ministers to the Maharajas, the tutor to the Crown Prince of the Mughals, fabulously wealthy industrialists, international spice merchants, modern India's greatest war hero, film moguls and movie stars, celebrated poets, playwrights, Kabbalists and mystics, an environmentalist zookeeper, medical researchers, a concert violinist and the Court Jeweler to the Nawab of Oudh.
Indian Judaism developed creatively. Indian Jews have been learned and pious, leaving a body of religious poetry, folk songs, legal and mystical treatises, and some of the most striking synagogues in the world.
There have been three major Jewish communities in India.
The Cochin Jews date themselves from the destruction of the Temple in 72 CE. From the eleventh century, they lived as an autonomous community of agriculturalists, spice merchants, shipbuilders and soldiers. The 1568 Cochin Synagogue is not only the most famous in India, it is the oldest in the British Commonwealth and one of the most beautiful in the world. Nowhere else has Jewish culture flourished so long in freedom than here. Their unique tradition blends indigenous Jewish Malabari with Sephardic, Yemeni and Iraqi elements.
The Bene Israel of Bombay and the Konkan Coast were "lost" Jews who were recognized as Jews by either the 12th century David Rahabi, merchant brother of Maimonides, or the 18th century David Ezekiel Rahabi of Cochin's preeminent merchant house (according to Bene Israel and Cochini traditions, respectively). Their "religious evolution," from an anonymous group of rural oil-pressers into an accepted group in world Jewry, is miraculous and inspiring. They have been prominent in the arts, professions and government service not only in Bombay, where the great majority live, but throughout India. They built synagogues in Ahmedabad, Pune and Delhi, too - all of which we'll visit.
The "Baghdadi" Jews were middle eastern merchants, many Iraqi but many also Syrian, Turkish and Persian, who came to India about the same time as did the British. They flourished, and left when the British left - for the most part. But they left their marks, in Calcutta and Pune, but most of all in Bombay, where they built schools, hospitals, libraries, monuments, synagogues, docks and factories. They also left a sense of romance.
