Religion is a light of true belief and which focuses on the believers”. The religion is only an essence but approaches are different”.

Still, India practices four different types of religions mainly; they are Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, and Jainism.

As India is a secular country, so according to the Indian constitution the right to freedom of religion is a fundamental right. India gives rise to religious diversity as well as religious tolerance.

HINDUISM

Hinduism,(Sanatan Dharma) is one of the world’s oldest major surviving religions. There are almost a billion of Hindus living on the Earth and they are widely practicing this World’s third-largest religion not only in Sub Continent India but also in Southeast Asia also, such as in Nepal, Mauritius, Bali, and Indonesia. Hinduism is a fusion of different cultures, beliefs, traditions and rooted differently.

HINDU, the word was derived from the Indo-Aryan and the Sanskrit word Sindhu. Hindu means the followers of the ‘Sanatani Dharma’ the way of life. The historians believe Hinduism evolved between 2300 BC and 1500 BC in the Indus valley, presently in Pakistan.

BELIEFS OF THE HINDUISM

  • Truth is Eternal. According to the Veda, the truth is one.

  • Hindus believe in ‘Brahman’, the only one formless, limitless, eternal entity.

  • The Vedas are the ultimate authority.

  • Each human soul is immortal

  • Everyone should struggle vigorously to achieve Dharma.

  • The destination of each soul is moksha (liberation from allusion)

Tapa, Japa (penance) fast, yang (tribute in the fire) worship idols and chanting are the practices of Hinduism. This religion teaches us to be vegetarian, believe in non-violence. 

Life has been divided into 4 parts. First, Brahamacharya—First 25 years of life should be spent to attain knowledge, stay away from sexual and physical attractions. Second is Grihastha 25-50 years, when one person marries and performs all duties towards wife and upbringing children. Third is Vanprastha 50-75 years where person has to slowly get rid of worldly attractions and incline toward God. Fourth and last is Sanyas 75-100 or rest of life. This is the last stage of life when one has to leave completely the worldly and social bonding and move to Jungle or Ashrams.

Most probably 3000 thousand years ago Hinduism had been divided into four castes according to Karma and Dharma. Brahmin-Intellectuals and spirituals. Kshatriyas- protectors and public servants. Vaisyas-the skillful producers. Shudras- unskilled laborers.

Major Pilgrim sites of Hindus

In 8th century Adi Shankaracharya, a great Indian Hindu Philosopher, who consolidated the Hinduism with unifying the currents of thought. After that it has become the title for successive lines. He established Jyotirlingas.

There are 12 Jyotirlingas in India. It is believed that there total 64 Jyotirlingas  but out of which 12 are more important. Every Hindu desire to visit these places in their lifetime. 

JYOTIRLINGAS IN INDIA

  • Somnath Jyotirlinga in Gujrat.

  • Mallikarjuna Jyotirlinga in Andhra Pradesh

  • Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga in Madhya Pradesh

  •   Omkareshwar Jyotirlinga in Madhya Pradesh

  • Vaidyanath Jyotirlinga in Jharkhand

  • Bhimshankar Jyotirlinga in Maharashtra

  • Rameshwaram Jyotirlinga in Tamil Nadu

  • Nageshwar Jyotirlinga in Gujrat

  • Kashi Vishwanath Jyotirlinga in Varanasi

  • Trimbakeshwar Jyotirlinga, Nasik Maharashtra

  • Kedarnath Jyotirlinga, Uttrakhand

  • Ghrishneshwar Jyotirlinga, Aurangabad

OTHER SACRED PLACES WORTH VISIT

  • Kailash Man Sarovar in Tibet

  • Amarnath Gufa (Cave) in J&K

  • Mata Vaishno Devi temple in J&K

  • Badrinath Temple

  • Konark Sun Temple in Odisha

  • Brihadeeswara Temple in Tamil Nadu

  • Sidddhivinayak Temple in Maharashtra

  • Gangotri Temple in Uttrakhand

  • Lord Jagannath Temple in Odisha

  • Yamunotri Temple in Utrakhnad

  • Meenakshi Temple in Tamil Nadu

  • Lingraja Temple in Odisha

  • Tirupati Balaji in Andhra Pradesh

  • Kanchipuram Temples in Tamil Nadu

  • Khajuraho Temples in Madhya Pradesh

  • Virupaksha Temple in Hampi, Karnataka

  • Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Kerala

  • Dwarkadhish Temple in Gujrat

  • Shirdi Sai Baba in Maharashtra

  • Akshardham Temple in Delhi.

BUDDHISM

Prince of Shakya(now in Nepal), Siddhartha Gautama attained enlightenment while meditating under a Bodhi tree in ancient kingdom of  Magadha( in Bihar now) after moving by the sufferings and eternal truths of the World in the 6th century B.C. And rest 45 years of his life, he preached a path of salvation to his followers.

He became known as the Lord Buddha. After his death, his followers organized his teachings and began to spread widely across India.In the 3rd century B.C, the Mauryan (largest empire of the world) king Ashoka made Buddhism the state religion of India. Thus the oldest religion arose in the eastern ancient part of India 2500 years ago.

BELIEF

  • They believe in achieving enlightenment (nirvana), a state of inner peace and wisdom.

  • They believe in four noble truths, suffering, death, rebirth, and nirvana through the path of Buddhahood. Death is not the end of life.

  • They don’t focus on any God but a way of life and achieve enlightenment through meditation, morality, and wisdom.

  • They avoid self-indulgence and self-denial.

  • They embrace the concepts of karma (law of cause and effect) and reincarnation (the continuous cycle of rebirth.)

  • They worship in the temple or home. Buddhist monks follow a strict code of conduct.

FOUR SECTS

Buddhism has been divided into four sects, Traditional Buddhism, Nikaya Buddhism, Mahayana, Vajrayana.

PILGRIMAGE PLACE OF BUDDHISM

Bodhgaya, Nalanda, Rajgir, Saravasti, Kushinagar, Vaishali, Varanasi, Sanchi, Ellora, Ajanta & Patna.

SIKHISM

Sikhism was started by a great saint Guru Nanak Dev Ji in fifteenth century, which is distinct from the practices of Hinduism and Islamism. Sikhism revolves around the essence of respecting everybody equally whether men or women, did not believe in cast system and believed in the concept of sharing with each other. They believed in uplifting the poor people and feed them.

So he with his nine valuable personalities organized a community I.e Sikhism. The people who believed this monotheistic religion called Shikkh. In 1699 the 10th Guru Gobind Singh recreated the Sikhs as a military group of men and women called Khalsa to defend their faith forever. Ten Sikh Gurus are Guru Nanak, Guru Angad, Guru Amar Das, Guru Ram Das, Guru Arjan, Guru Hargobind, Guru Har Rai. Guru Tegh Bahadur, Guru Hari Krishan, Guru Gobind Singh.

HOLY BOOK- Adi Granth or the Guru Granth Sahib.

Khalsa Sikhs wear five symbols –called five ks or panj kakka. They are Kara(Iron Bangle), KACHERA (Long Bermuda), Kirpan (Small knife), Kesh (Long hair)m and  Kanga (Comb).

PILGRIMAGE PLACES OF SIKHISM

  • Gurudwara Hari Mandir Sahib, in Amritsar

  • Gurudwara Atal Sahib

  • Anantpur Baba Sahib

  • Manikaran

  • Paonta Sahib, Himachal

  • Patna Sahib, Bihar

  • Bangala Sahib, Delhi

  • Hemkund Sahib

JAINISM

Jainism originated in the 7th-5th century B,C in the Ganga’s basin of eastern India. The name Jainism derives from Sanskrit verb Ji means to conquer. It is believed that the Jain (monks and nuns) must fight against the passions and bodily senses to attain enlightenment. A thirthankara is not an incarnation of God but an ordinary soul who attains the state of a Thirthankara through penance, meditation, and intense equanimity. They were not the founder but led the people on the way of liberation or moksha crossing over to the safe shores of spiritual purity.

Jainism spread widely but the Tirthankara Mahavira (son of king Siddhartha) in Bardhaman in Northeastern India is only this world’s tirthankara, founder of the modern Jainism in 540 B.C.

Jains are not allowed to take any type of non-veg and the vegetables which grow underground such as potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic as these have bacteria or microorganisms. Jains are not allowed to take food after sunset. Because after the Sunset the temperature dips and the bacteria increase in the air and settles on the food. So, mostly the Jain community tries to call off all social events after Sunset.

PRINCIPLES

5 principles are there-non-violence, not stealing, truthfulness, chastity, not owing things.

JAINISM HAS TWO SECTS:

1. SVETAMBARA- they believe that Tirthankaras may be men or women.
2. DIGAMBARA-they believes women can’t be a Tirthankara.

PILGRIM PLACES OF JAINISM:

  1. Ranakpur Jain Temples in Rajasthan
  2. Gomateshwar Temples, (Shravanabelagola) Karnataka 
  3. Dilwara Temples, Mount Abu in Rajasthan
  4. Sri Digambar Jain Lal Temples in Delhi
  5. Palitana Temples in Bhavnagar in Gujrat
  6. Sonagiri Temples, Datia in Madhya Pradesh
  7. Kolpakji Temple in Telengana
  8. Badami Jain Temples, Karnataka
  9. Ellora Jain Caves, Maharashtra

ISLAM

Indian Muslims form the second-largest Muslim population in the world. According to the recent census, approximately 14.2% or 200 million are the true followers of the Islam.  According to historians, the Islamic religion was originated in Mecca and Medina in the 7th century CE after Christianity. It was believed that at the age of 40 the Islamic prophet Mommad (who was born in 570) began receiving the divine messages through angel Gabriel, which would later form the Quran.

It was also believed that before Prophet Mohammad the original prophets were Jesus, Abraham, Noah, Adam, and David. As the Islamic religion was originated approximately 600 years after Christianity. In the early 7 th century, the Arab traders landed on the coast of Kerala and built the very first mosque, Cheraman Juma mosque in Methala. The immigrant Arab and Persian trading communities began to settle in Gujarat even and built the oldest mosque Barwada in Ghoga, Gujarat. Islam arrived in North India in the 12 th century as the Turkis invaded and since then Islam became an eminent part of India’s religious and cultural heritage. Over the centuries Muslims started to merge into the economics, politics, and culture of India with the Delhi Sultanates, Mughal Empire and Decca Sultanate, the ruling party of the large part of India.

SECT- Muslims have two sects, Sunni and Shia

HOLY BOOK- ‘QURAN’ the sayings of God through the angel Gabriel.

MUSLIM PILGRIM PLACES:

It is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by all adult Muslims who are physically and financially capable, to go to the Mecca, the holiest city in Saudi Arabi for being HAJI.

  1. Dargah Hazratbal in Jammu &Kashmir, 
  2. Dargah of Khwaja  Moin-ud-din Chisti in Ajmer, 
  3. Haji Ali Dargah in Mumbai.
  4. Jama Masjid Delhi, in Agra and in Bhopal
  5. Sheikh Salim Chisti Daragah in Fatehpur Sikri
  6. Char Minar Hyderabad
  7. Hazrat Nizamudin Aulia, Delhi

JUDAISM

Judaism is the ethnic religion of the Jewish people. It is the tenth-largest religion of the world. And it was the first foreign religion arrived in India according to historians. Some of the Jews arrived in India during the time of the kingdom of Judah and others say that they are the Descendents of Israel. According to scholars, there are seven groups of Jews in India.

COCHIN JEWS

A group of Jews arrived in India as far back as biblical times( King Solomon’s era), 970 to 931 B.C.

MUMBAI JEWS

The Jews started to settle in Mumbai during the 18th century due to its Economic opportunities. The Jews from the three distinct communities, Bene Israeli Jews of Konkan, the Baghdadi Jews of Iraq, and the Cochin Jews of Malabar arrived in Bombay. Bagdad Jew Joseph Semah moved to Mumbai from Surat in 1730. The Bene Israeli Jew from Konkan villages settled in Mumbai in 1746, Samuel Ezekiel Divekar established Synagogue in Mumbai. In 1940 the population of the Jews was 30,000. At present only 4000 Jews are in Mumbai.

CHENNAI JEWS

The Spanish, Portugese, Paradesi Jews and British Jews arrived at Chennai in the 16 th century as the traders (Diamonds business people).

NAGERCOIL JEWS

The Syrian Jews and the Arab Jews arrived at the Nagercoil and Kanyakumari district in 52 AD as the merchants.

GOA JEWS

The Portuguese Jews fled to Goa due to inquisition in Portugal.
Bene Israel community resided in Karachi, Lahore, Peshwar of Pakisthan moved to India (particularly in Mumbai) in 1947 after the partition of India.

The Baghdadi Jews moved to Surat from Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan about 250 years ago.

GOD- YHWH, the God of Abraham, Isac, and Jacob (God communicated with the followers of Judaism through these descendants or incarnations of God) and the national God of the Israeli.

HOLY BOOK– TORAH (a part of the larger text, Tanakh or the Hebrew Bible)

Every boy at the age of 13, has to attend the congregations to read the Torah for the first time to understand the religious responsibilities. Every girl at the age of 12 has to attend the congregations for the first time to understand the religious duties by reading Torah. Each of the boy children should be circumcised on the eighth day of their birth.

They believe that God is supreme power and He has created them to repair the world.

FOUNDER OF THE JUDAISM

According to the Jewish belief, God has created a covenant with a Hebrew man named Abraham, an incarnation or descendant of God.

PLACES FOR WORSHIP- Jewish people worship in holy places called Synagogues. The spiritual leaders are called Rabbis.

FOOD– NOT TO EAT- Pork and shellfish.

PILGRIM PLACES IN INDIA

  1. Ohel David Synagogue in Pune 
  2. Magen Abraham Synagogue in Ahmedabad
  3. Magen David Synagogue in Mumbai
  4. Jewish Synagogue in Kochi, Kerala
  5. Magen Synagogue in Kolkatta
  6. Beth El Synagogue in Kolkatta

CHRISTIANITY

Christianity is India’s third-largest religion after Hinduism and Islam. Approximately 28 million followers of Christianity are residing in India. According to some historians ST. Thomas Apostle arrived on the Malabar Coast of India (Kerala) in 52AD and introduced Christianity. Traditional Anglicanism was introduced by the British Missions under the British Empire. And from then only,

two sects formed Catholicism and Protestantism. According to the mythological and modern Historians, Christianity is an Abrahamic Monotheistic religion and it is totally influenced by the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, an incarnation of God (Christian beliefs), a preacher. Jesus Christ was born on the 25th of December in C.4BC IN Bethlehem. Being baptized by John he started to preach at the age of 12. He was born of a virgin mother Mary and father holy spirit. Due to religious persecution, his physical father Joseph had to flee from Galilee Egypt and later came back.

HOLY BOOK: BIBLE

SYMBOL: DOVE, FISH, SHAMROCK, CROSS, BELLS, CRUCIFIED JESUS.

PLACES FOR WORSHIP: CHURCH

BELIEVES

The followers of Christianity believe that their prophet Jesus Christ was the son of God and they believe that Jesus died for humanity, for the sins of the human beings.

Jesus Christ’s resurrection symbolized that Jesus will alive again at the end of time. They believe in Trinity means three parts of God.

  1. God is the father or Creator.
  2. God is the son or Redeemer.
  3. God is the Holy Spirit or sanctifier. Holy spirit is the existence of God in the world or everywhere.

CHRISTIAN FESTIVALS

CHRISTMAS– 25TH OF DECEMBER every year. It is celebrated as the birthday of the JESUS CHRIST to remind the messages of humanity, brotherhood love and charity. This is the day only on which the whole of the world is decorated with lights Christmas trees. All the communities enjoy the holiday as well as the festival. Christians go to church for prayer, wear new clothes, exchange gifts, greeting cards, etc. with varieties of cakes, toffees, and sweets.

GOOD FRIDAY- 10th of April. The Christians keep fast, keep off the meat, wine, and pray for continuous three hours since 3 pm as Jesus was crucified on this day at 3 pm.

EASTER SUNDAY- According to the Christianity the Jesus Christ resurrected from the next Sunday after Jesus’s crucifixion.

Famous Pilgrim Places in India: 

  • Basilica of Bom Jesus in Goa
  • St. Paul Cathedral in Kolkatta
  • Santa Cruz Basilica in Kochi, Kerala
  • Regis Magos Church in Goa
  • Kadamatrom Church in Kerala
  • St. Francis Church in Kerala
  • Velankanni Church in Tamil Nadu
  • Se Catherine Church in Goa
  • Vallarpadam Church in Kerala
  • San Thomas Basilica in Chennai