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Religion in India is characterised by a diversity of religious beliefs and practices. Throughout India's history, religion has been an important part of the country's culture and the Indian subcontinent is the birthplace of four of the world's major religions, namely, Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, and Sikhism, which are collectively known as native Indian religions or Dharmic religions and ...
During the colonial era, the term Hindu had connotations of native religions of India, that is religions other than Christianity and Islam. [113] In early colonial era Anglo-Hindu laws and British India court system, the term Hindu referred to people of all Indian religions as well as two non-Indian religions: Judaism and Zoroastrianism. [113]
Indian religions, sometimes also termed Dharmic religions or Indic religions, are the religions that originated in the Indian subcontinent. These religions, which include Buddhism , Hinduism , Jainism , and Sikhism , [ web 1 ] [ note 1 ] are also classified as Eastern religions .
The religion "defies our desire to define and categorize it". [68] Hinduism has been variously defined as a religion, a religious tradition, a set of religious beliefs, and "a way of life". [69] [note 1] From a Western lexical standpoint, Hinduism, like other faiths, is appropriately referred to as a religion.
Jainism (/ ˈ dʒ eɪ n ɪ z əm / JAY-niz-əm), also known as Jain Dharma, [1] is an Indian religion.Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of Dharma), with the first in the current time cycle being Rishabhadeva, who lived millions of years ago, the twenty-third tirthankara Parshvanatha, whom historians date to the ...
Hinduism is the largest and most practised religion in India. [1] [2] About 80% of the country's population identified as Hindu in the last census. India contains 94% of the global Hindu population. [3] [4] The vast majority of Indian Hindus belong to Shaivite, Vaishnavite and Shakta denominations. [5]
Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for people living in the Indian subcontinent. In the 18th century, European merchants and colonists began to refer to the followers of Indian religions collectively as Hindus until about mid 20th century.
Among its direct roots is the historical Vedic religion of Iron Age India and, as such, Hinduism is often called the "oldest living religion" [8] or the "oldest living major religion" in the world. [9] [10] [11] [12]