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Religions in India |
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India known as the land of spirituality and philosophy, was the birthplace of some religions, which even exist today in the world.
The most dominant religion in India today is Hinduism. About 80% of Indians are Hindus. Hinduism is a colourful religion with a vast gallery of Gods and Goddesses. Hinduism is one of the ancient religions in the world. It is supposed to have developed about 5000 years ago. Later on in ancient period other religions developed in India.
Around 500 BC two other religions developed in India, namely, Buddhism and Jainism. Today only about 0.5% of Indians are Jains and about 0.7% are Buddhist. In ancient times Jainism and specially Buddhism were very popular in India. Indians who accepted Buddhist philosophy spread it not only within the Indian sub-continent but also to kingdoms east and south of India.
These three ancient religions, Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, are seen as the moulders of the India philosophy. In 'modern' period new religions were also established in India.
One comparatively new religion in India is Sikhism and it was established in the 15th century. About 2% of Indians are Sikhs. There were other attempts to create new religions in India but they did not always succeed. For example, a Moghul emperor, Akbar, who reigned between 1556 - 1605, tried to establish a new religion, Din- E- Elahi, but it did not survive. There are other religious philosophies whose believers see themselves as a separate religion, but they do not always get this recognition. For example Lingayat of south India see themselves as a different religion, while others see them as a sect of Hinduism. There are also some tribal communities who demand to be recognized as separate religion from Hinduism. In the 19th century some Hindu reformers tried to remodel Hinduism to adjust it to modern period.
Along with the religions that developed in India, there are followers of non- Indian religions. The largest non-Indian religion is Islam. They are about 12% of India's population. Christians are more then 2% of India's population. There are also Zoroastrians who even though make less then 0.01% of India's population, are known around India. There are also a few thousand Jews in India. Judaism and Christianity might have arrived in India before it arrived in Europe.
HINDUISM - about 82% ISLAM - about 12% CHRISTIANITY - about 2.5% SIKHISM - about 2% BUDDHISM - about 0.7% JAINISM - about 0.5% ZOROASTRIANISM - about 0.01% JUDAISM - about 0.0005% Hinduism
Hinduism is a
religion with various Gods and Goddesses. According to Hinduism, three
Gods rule the world. Brahma: the creator; Vishnu: the preserver and
Shiva: the destroyer. Lord Vishnu did his job of preserving the world by
incarnating himself in different forms at times of crisis. The three Lords that rule the world have consorts and they are goddesses too. Consort of Brahma is Sarasvati; goddess of learning. Vishnu's consort is Lakshmi; goddess of wealth and prosperity. Shiva's consort is Parvati who is worshipped as Kali or Durga.
Besides these Gods and Goddesses there are a number of other Gods and
Goddesses. To name a few of them, there is Ganesh; who has an elephant's
head and he is also a son of Shiva and Parvati, Hanuman; who is an ape,
Surya; Lord of sun, Ganga Ma; Goddess of river Ganges; Samundra; Lord of
the sea, Indra; king of the Gods ( but he isn't an important God),
Prithvi; Goddess of earth, Shakti; Goddess of strength. The Hindus call
their Goddesses 'Ma' meaning mother.
Some gods
have more than one name. Shiva is also known as Shankar, Mahadev, Natraj,
Mahesh and many other names. Ganesh is also called Ganpati. God Vishnu
incarnated 9 times to do his job and in his every appearance he had a
different form which are also worshipped as Gods. Among his appearances,
he appeared as Rama, Krishna, Narsimha, Parsuram and Buddha. Krishna
also has different names, Gopal; Kishan; Shyam and other names. He also
has other titles with meanings like 'Basuri Wala' which means the flute
musician and 'Makhan Chor' which means the butter stealer. There are
also Gods who can change their forms, for example: Parvati can change
into Kali or Durga.
Not all of
these Gods are worshiped by all Hindus. Some Hindus worship only Vishnu.
Others worship only Shiva. Others worship only the Goddesses and call
these Goddesses collectively as Shakti meaning strength. Many of these
Goddess worshipers worship Parvati in her images as Kali or Durga.
People who worship Shiva or Vishnu also worship characters and images
connected with these Gods. Vishnu worshipers (Vaishnaites) also worship
his appearances. Shiva's worshipers (Shaivites) also worship images of
bull called Nandi, who was Shiva's carrier and a unique stone design
connected to Shiva. There are also Hindus who worship all the Gods.
There are some Gods who are worshiped all over India like Rama and
Krishna and other Gods who are worshiped more in one region than the
other like Ganesh who is worshiped mainly in west India. Hindus also
worship Gods according to their personal needs. People who engage in
wrestling, body building and other physical sports worship Hanuman, who
in Hindu legends was an ape with lot of physical strength. Businessmen
worship Lakshmi, Goddess of wealth.
Though these
Hindus worship different idols, there are many Hindus who believe in one
God and perceive in these different Gods and Goddesses as different
images of the same one God. According to their beliefs idolatry is the
wrong interpretation of Hinduism.
Hindus
believe in reincarnation. The basic belief is that a person's fate is
determined according to his deeds. These deeds in Hinduism are called
'Karma'. A soul who does good Karma in this life will be awarded with a
better life in the next incarnation. Souls who do bad Karma will be
punished for their sins, if not in this incarnation then in the next
incarnation and will continue to be born in this world again and again.
The good souls will be liberated from the circle of rebirth and get
redemption which is called 'Moksha' meaning freedom. Hindus normally
cremate their dead ones, so that the soul of the dead would go to
heaven, except in a few cases of Hindu saints, who are believed to have
attained 'Moksha'.
The main
Hindu books are the four Vedas. They are Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda
and Atharva Veda. The concluding portions of the Vedas are called
Upanisads. There are also other holy books like Puranas, Ramayana,
Mahabharta etc. The different Gods and Goddesses in the Hindu mythology
are derived from these books. Ramayana and Mahabharta are the most
popular Hindu books. The main story of Ramayana is the story of Lord Rama. Rama was born in a royal family and was suppose to be the king, but because of his step- mother, he was forced to exile from his kingdom for fourteen years. During this period his consort Sita was kidnapped by a demon called Ravan, who was king of Lanka. Rama with the help of his brother, Lakshman, and an army of monkeys under the leadership of Hanuman, rescued Sita. Many Indians believe that the present day Sri Lanka was then the kingdom of Lanka.
In the wars
that occur in the holy books, as in Mahabharta, the different sides had
different war weapons which had characters similar to modern day war
weapons. In some stories the traveling vehicles were normally birds and
animals. But these animals and birds had features similar to modern day
aircrafts. There were even aircrafts with over velocity of light. The
main war weapons were bows and arrows. But these arrows were more like
modern missiles than simple arrows. These arrows were capable of
carrying bombs with destructive power similar to modern day chemical,
biological or even atom bombs. Other arrows could be targeted on
specific human beings. There were even arrows capable of neutralizing
other arrows, similar to modern day anti-missiles.
Hindus have
many holy places. Badrinath, Puri, Dwarkha and Rameshwaram are four
holiest places for the Hindus. Other holy places are Varanasi, Rishikesh,
Nasik, Pushkar, Ujjain and other places. Some rivers are also holy to
them. Among them are Godavri, Yamuna and above all Ganges which the
Indians call Ganga. Another holy river is Sarasvati and it is invisible.
Hindus also worship and respect some animals and birds like cobra, apes,
peacocks and cow. Hindus also respect some trees and bush trees. The
famous and the most respected bush tree is Tulsi.
Some of the
Hindu customs, which exist or existed, do not have their bearing in
Hindu scriptures but became part of Hinduism in different ways and
fashion. For example, the Hindus see in cow a sacred animal. Religiously
there is no reason to see cow as sacred and it is believed that cows
were made 'sacred' to prevent their slaughter during periods of droughts
and hunger. Cobra worship also is not found in Hindu scripts. This
custom became part of Hinduism when some Indian tribes who use to
worship cobra adopted Hinduism. Burning of the widow on the dead
husband's pyre also has no religious justification. This custom,
outlawed in 1829, was probably brought to India by the Scythians
invaders of India. Among the Scythians it was a custom to bury the dead
king with his mistresses or wives, servants and other things so that
they could continue to serve him in the next world. When these Scythians
arrived in India, they adopted the Indian system of funeral, which was
cremating the dead. And so instead of burying their kings and his
servers they started cremating their dead with his surviving lovers. The
Scythians were warrior tribes and they were given a status of warrior
castes in Hindu religious hierarchy. The different castes who claimed
warrior status or higher also adopted this custom.
There are
four castes in Hindu religion arranged in a hierarchy. The highest caste
is Brahman, and they are the priest caste of Hinduism. After them are
the Kshatria, who are the warrior castes. After them are the Vaishya
caste , who are business people. And after them are the Sudra, who are
the common peasants and workers. Below these four castes there are
casteless, the untouchables. The four castes were not allowed to have
any physical contact with the untouchables.
Each caste is
divided into many sub-castes. The religious word for caste is Varna and
for sub-caste Jat or Jati. But sometimes in English the term caste is
used in both cases. Religiously, people are born in a caste and it
cannot be changed. Each caste has some compulsory duties, which its
members must do. Each caste has professional limits which decides what
profession each caste can follow. Each caste members can have social
relations only with its caste members. Religiously this includes
marraige and even eating only with caste members. Please note that
socially the caste system is different from the religious form of caste
system.
How did
Hinduism originated is a difficult question. The accepted theory is that
Hinduism was evolved after the historical meeting between the Aryans and
Dravidians. Some claim that Hinduism is mainly an Aryan culture whereas
the others claim that it is mainly a Dravidian culture. Religiously the
Vedas were given by Brahma. Before Hinduism there existed another religion in India called Brahmanism and its followers were called Brahmans. The Brahmans were the spiritual and moral guides of the Indian society. The members of this religion were a close sect and others could not join it. The Brahmans slowly started accepting others into their religion and so was created Hinduism which included in it the customs which aren't the part of the Vedas. One of the reasons the Brahmans accepted others to their religion was the fear to loose their status as moral guides to priests of a new religion that started in India, namely Buddhism. The Brahmans even accepted Buddha as a Hindu God and part of his teachings and philosophy like non-violence into their religion.
ISLAM in INDIA The Muslims are about 12% of India's population. But their influence on the Indian society was much stronger. The main reason was that there were many Muslims rulers in different parts of India. Most of the Muslim rulers of India were invaders from the west.
Islam was established in Saudi Arabia. But most of Islam's spreaders in India arrived from non-Arab countries. The first spreaders of Islam in India were individuals who saw in spreading Islam as a holy precept. They began coming to India from the 11th century. They arrived in India from Bukhara, Turkey, Iran, Yemen and Afghanistan. The most famous preacher of Islam in India was Khwaja Chishti, who arrived from Iran and his sect is called Sufism. But the accepted assumption in India is that most of India's Muslims were converted to Islam through the sword. Meaning the Indians were given an option between death or adopting Islam. The third option was getting examined in Islam religion along with heavy taxes- Jeziya (poll tax) and Kharaj (property tax).
The process of converting Indians to Islam began in the 8th century, when the Arabs began invading north India and present day Pakistan. After the Arabs other Muslims invaded India. These invasions by Muslims in India were not continuous and not all Muslim invaders were Islamic fanatics. One of the Moghul emperors, Akbar, was very liberal and he even established a new religion, Din E Elahi, which included in it, beliefs from different religions. In some of the monuments built by Akbar symbols of different religions are visible. In contrast with Akbar his great grand son, Aurangazeb, was a fanatic Muslim and during his term the non-Muslims suffered a lot. Many worshipping sites of different religions were destroyed and transformed into mosques.
Most of the Indian Muslims converted to Islam were belonged to the lower classes of the Indian society. Besides these Muslims there are also Muslims who belonged to the ruling families of the different Indian kingdoms. Some of these rulers were Hindus who actually belonged to the warrior castes of the Hindu society and adopted Islam. Others are descendants of Muslim rulers who invaded India. The different Muslim rulers of India also brought to their kingdoms Muslim mercenaries, businessmen and slaves from different parts of the world like Russia; Afghanistan; Turkey; Arab countries and Africa. These people remained in India, married local Indians and converted them to Islam. Because of the different origins as stated and because of other reasons the Muslims of India refer to themselves not only as Muslims but also with other titles.
In general the Muslims of India like the Muslim world is divided into two main sects, Sunni and Shia. And just like in the whole Muslim world there is tension between these two sects. Each sect has many different schools. There are also Muslims who claim to be the descendants from the daughter of Prophet Muhammad and the men in this community add the title Syed before their names. Other claim to be the descendants from the first Muslims and add the title Sheik. Along with these Muslim world divisions, the Indian Muslims also have other divisions.
Different communities who adopted Islam in different ways have different community names. In west India the Bohra and Khoja are Muslim communities who adopted Islam influenced by different Muslim preachers. The Khojas also split into different communities. The leader of the Khoja (Nizari) community is Aga Khan. The Nawait are descendants of Arab and Persian immigrants. In south India in the state of Kerala, the Mophilla community is descendants from Arab merchants. A well known Indian Muslim community is Pathan. The Pathan are Muslims who arrived from Afghanistan. They normally have their surname as Khan. The Pathan have an image of being brave, honest and righteous. Many Indians who adopted Islam adopted the surname Khan and they claim that they are Pathans, which is not always true. The original Pathans claim that they originate from the Tribes of Israel.
In the beginning of the 20th century, some reformist Muslims organizations evolved in India who wanted to adjust Islamic philosophy to the modern world. These organizations wanted to cancel polygamy and were in favor of women education.
Christianity in India
About 2.5% of
India’s population are Christians. Christianity arrived in India almost
about the same period as it arrived in Europe, meaning about 2000 years
ago. Christianity originates in Israel. The first Christians were Jews
and in the beginning Christianity was seen as a Jewish cult. Most of the
Apostles of Christians acted in Europe to convert the Europeans to
Christianity. But one of the Apostles, St. Judas Thomas, arrived in
India and converted Indians to Christianity. St. Thomas was a carpenter
and a disciple of Jesus. He was brought to India by a merchant to build
a temple. St. Thomas arrived in Keralla, in south India in 52 AD. He
succeeded in converting local Indians to Christianity. His converts were
called Syrian Christians. Later on other Christian saints arrived to
India as missioners. But most of the Indian were converted to
Christianity by the missionaries who arrived in India with the European
powers from 15th century. The European powers arrived in India for commercial reasons, especially spices. But they also started converting local Indians to Christianity. Five European countries sent their representatives to India, Great Britain; France; Denmark; Netherlands and Portugal. Of the five European powers the Portuguese were most enthusiast to baptize Indians. The Portuguese were the first European power to arrive in India. Their first ship, under the leadership of Vasco DaGama, arrived in south India in 1498 after it had circled the whole continent of Africa. The Portuguese inspired by the Pope’s order to baptize people around the world not only fought wars against the local Indian rulers, but they even tried to enforced their Roman Catholic prayers on Syrian Christians.
The English
missionaries started acting in India at a much later period. The
British, unlike the Portuguese, didn’t allow the missionaries to enter
their territory in the beginning. The British arrived in India in 1600
and they allowed the missionaries to enter their territory only from
1813. The British allowed different churches to establish missionaries
in their territory. The missionaries didn’t only spread Christianity,
but they also did humanitarian deeds giving the needy basic necessities
of life like food, clothes and shelter. The missionaries also built
schools in India and many of them even today have Christian or European
originated name. The British church missionaries succeeded less than the
Portuguese in converting Indians to Christianity, but unlike the
Portuguese who tried to enforce Christianity, these Protestant converts
were voluntary. The Portuguese were also aware of the Indian custom
according to which the wife followed her husband’s faith and therefore
married their men to Indian women. There are about 30 million Christians in India. The major centers of Christianity in India are Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Goa, Manipur and Mizoram. There is also a big community of Christians in Mumbai. The main division of Christians in India is like in the Christian world, Protestants and Catholic. There are also different denomination among them, Syrian Church, Armenian Church, Anglican Church and others. Most of the India Christians were converted by the Portuguese. There is also an Anglo-Indian community in India.
Sikhism About 2% of India's population are Sikhs. Even so they because of their unique appearance, sometimes stand for India. Traditionally the men keep their hair and do not shave their beard or moustache. They gather their head hair in a turban. Sikhism is comparatively a new religion in India. This religion was established by Guru Nanak. Guru Nanak was born in 1469 in the Punjab region of north India. Guru Nanak was a Hindu and he loved to travel and learn. He developed a new religion and included in it what he thought were the good beliefs of the two dominant religions in the Punjab region, Hinduism and Islam. And Sikhism indeed has beliefs from these two religions. From Islam it adopted the belief in the existence of one invisible God. From Hinduism it adopted the belief in Karma and reincarnation, meaning your actions in this life will decide your fate in the next incarnation. The Sikhs also cremate their dead ones as is done in Hinduism.
The creators of Sikhism tried to abolish some of the Indian customs such as the caste system and Sati - burning of the widow. In Sikhism everyone has equal rights irrespective of caste, creed, color, race, sex or religion. Sikhism rejects pilgrimage, fasting, superstitions and other such rituals. Sikhism does not have a clergy class as it considers this as a gateway to corruption. However they have readers and singers in their temples.
A Sikh place of worship is called Gurdwara. Sikhism does not support pilgrimage to holy sites because according to Sikhism, God is everywhere and not in any certain place. But Sikhism has a few important sites, of which, the Hari Mandir, also known as the 'Golden Temple' in Amritsar in Punjab is the most important site and is considered the holiest shrine of Sikhism.
Sikhism emphasis community services and helping the needy. One of the distinct features of Sikhism is the common kitchen called Langar. In every Gurdwara there is a Langar. Every Sikh is supposed to contribute in preparing the meals in the free kitchen. The meals are served to all and are eaten sitting on the floor and this is to emphasis the point that all are equals. Sikhism does not believe in holding fasts for body is God's present to human being and therefore humans must foster, maintain and preserve it in good sound condition, unless fasting is done to foster the human body like healthy diets.
Guru Nanak who established Sikhism was its first Guru. After him there were nine more Gurus who were the highest religious authority. The last Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, proclaimed that after him the Guru of the Sikhs would be the holy book of Sikhism, Guru Granth Sahib.
Guru Granth Sahib is written in Gurumukhi script. It includes the writings of the Sikh Gurus and the writings of Hindu and Muslims saints. But out of humility Guru Gobind Singh did not include his own writings in the book, which he proclaimed as the permanent Guru of the Sikhs. His writings appear in a separate book called Dasam Granth. Guru Gobind Singh is also the Guru behind the unique appearance of Sikh men.
During Guru Gobind's term as the Guru of the Sikhs and also before him, the ruling empire of Punjab region was the Moghul Empire. The Moghuls were Muslims. Some of the Moghul emperors, like Aurangazeb were fanatic Muslims who harassed the non- Muslims, including the Sikhs. Some of the Guru Sikhs were even executed by the Moghul emperors. In order to stop their persecutions, Guru Gobind decided to make his followers a community of fighters. He changed his surname to Singh, which means lion. His followers also changed their surname to Singh. Since then a ceremony of baptizing was established among the Sikhs in which the boys were given the title Singh and the girls were titled Kaur meaning princess. In those days "Singh" as a surname was very popular among a famous warrior caste of north India, the Rajputs. Some of the first Sikhs were also Rajputs.
In order to make it easier for his followers to recognize each other, Gobind Singh, chose five marks, some of which even today symbolize the Sikhs. The five signs were, uncut hair; comb; sword or dagger; bracelet on the right wrist and shorts. The religious Sikhs dress according to Guru Gobind Singh's order, carrying a sword. Most of the Sikhs even today have uncut hair and gather it in a turban. But some easygoing Sikhs cut their hair or they do not gather their uncut hair in a turban. The emphasis on militant tradition and community service in Sikhism continues even today and many Sikhs serve in the Indian army or police. The Sikhs also have a reputation as experts in steering, from taxis to airplanes.
Buddhism
Buddhism
evolved in India. There were periods in India's past when Buddhism was
dominant in India. Today less then 1% of India's population is Buddhist.
Buddhism has more followers in countries east of India.
Buddhism was
established in about 500 BC. Buddhism began with a prince called
Siddhartha Gautama. Siddhartha belonged to an aristocratic family. As a
prince he had lot of wealth. He never left his palace. At some point
Siddharta began to leave his palace and behold for the first time
poverty, sickness and misery. After seeing this Siddharta lost interest
in his spoiled life and left his palace forever and gave his rich
personal belongings to the needy. He joined a group of ascetics who were
searching for enlightenment. In those days people searching for
enlightenment believed that this could be gained only by people who were
capable of resisting their basic needs. These people almost did not eat
anything and almost starved themselves to death. Siddharta also adopted
this path of searching enlightenment. But at some point he came to a
conclusion that this was neither the way towards enlightenment nor the
spoiled life he had as a prince was the right path towards
enlightenment. According to him the right path was somewhere in the
middle and he called it the 'middle path'.
In order to
focus on his enlightenment search, Buddha sat under a fig tree and after
fighting many temptations he got his enlightenment. In his region
'enlightened' people were called Buddha. And so Siddharta was named
Buddha. According to Buddha's theory life is a long suffering. The
suffering is caused because of the passions people desire to accomplish.
The more one desires and the less he accomplishes the more he suffers.
People who do not accomplish their desirable passions in their lives
will be born again to this life circle which is full of suffering and so
will distant themselves from the world of no suffering - Nirvana.
To get
Nirvana, one has to follow the eight-fold path which are to believe
right, desire right, think right, live right, do the right efforts,
think the right thoughts, behave right and to do the right meditation.
Buddhism
emphasis non- violence. Buddha attacked the Brahmanic custom of animal
slaughtering during religious ceremonies. Religiously the Buddhists are
vegetarians. But many Indians believe that Buddha, died because he ate
a sick animal. Buddhism does not have a God. But many Buddhists keep
images of Buddha. Buddha is not seen as the first prophet of the
religion, but as the fourth prophet of the religion. There are two main doctrines in Buddhism, Mahayana and Hinayana. Mahayana Buddhist believe that the right path of a follower will lead to the redemption of all human beings. The Hinayana believe that each person is responsible for his own fate. Along with these doctrines there are other Buddhist beliefs like 'Zen Buddhism' from Japan and the 'Hindu Tantric Buddhism' from Tibet. Zen Buddhism is a mixture of Buddhism as it arrived from India to Japan and original Japanese beliefs. The Hindu Tantric Buddhism is a mixture of Indian Buddhism and original Tibetian beliefs which existed among the Tibetians before the arrival of Buddhism in Tibet, among it magic, ghosts and tantras (meaningless mystical sentences).
JAINISM
Jainism was
born in India about the same period as Buddhism. It was established by
Mahavira in about 500 B. C. Mahavira like Buddha belonged to the warrior
caste. Mahavira was called ‘Jina’ meaning the big winner and from this
name was derived the name of the religion.
In many
senses Jainism is similar to Buddhism. Jainism like Buddhism, developed
as a dissention to the Brahmanic philosophy that was dominant during
that period in north- east India. Mahavira just like Buddha isn’t the
first prophet of his religion. In Jainism like Buddhism there is a
belief in reincarnation which eventually leads to liberation. Both these
religions don’t center in religious philosophy around Almighty worship.
But Jainism is different than Buddhism in its ascetic beliefs. Both
these religions emphasis on non-violence, but in Jainism non-violence is
its main core.
Jains believe
that every thing has life and this also includes stones, sand, trees and
every other thing. The fact that trees breath came to be known to the
science world only from the 20th century. Mahavira who believed that
every thing has life and also believed in non-violence practically
didn’t eat anything causing his self- starvation to death. Mahavira was
also extremely ascetic and walked around completely naked because of his
renouncement of life.
Mahavira’s
religion followers are less extreme than him in diets. They are
vegetarians. But the religious Jains will do everything possible to
prevent hurting any being. They won’t walk in fields where there are
insects to prevent the possibility of stepping on them. They also cover
their mouth to prevent the possibility of swallowing small invisible
microbes. They mostly do not work in professions where there is a
possibility of killing any living being like in agriculture instead
professions like banking and business. But it is not clear what came
first, businessmen who adopted Jain philosophy because it was easy for
them to follow or Jainish philosophy which convinced the Jains to adopt
non violent professions. There are two Jain philosophies. Shvetember and Digamber. Digamber monks like Mahavira don’t wear any clothes, but normally they don’t walk like that outside their temples. The Digambers include among them only men. The Shvetembers monks wear white clothes and they include women.
ZOROASTRIANISM A small religious community, which exists mostly in Mumbai, is Zoroastrianism. The follower is called Parsi because the religion arrived in India from Persia. This religion was established by Zarathustra in 6th or 7th century BC. The followers of this religion exiled from Iran in the 7th century AD. because of religious persecutions by the Muslims. They arrived in Gujarat region of India. The Parsis believe in the existence of one invisible God. They believe that there is a continuous war between the good forces (forces of light) and the evil forces (forces of darkness). The good forces will win if people will do good deeds think good and speak well. God is represented in their temples through fire, which symbolizes light. The holiest place for them is the village of Udvada in Gujarat, India. The holy language of the Parsis is an ancient language spoken in Iran, Avesta. The Parsis believe that fire, water, air and earth are pure element to be preserved and therefore they do not cremate or bury their dead ones but leave them on high towers, specially built for this purpose, to be eaten by hawks and crows.
The Parsis are less then 0.02% of India's population but their contribution to India is much more than their proportion in India's population. Some Parsis were main figures in establishing the Indian Nationalist movement. They were the pioneers in establishing the modern Indian industry. The rich Parsi families contributed enormously to establish institutions of all kinds in India. Even today some of the bigger finance houses in India belong to followers of this religion.
JEWS IN INDIA The Jews of India aren't one singular community. Among themselves they are divided into different communities. Each community has its own different culture, background and origin. Each community claims its arrival in India in different ways and it is not always clear how they really came to India. The three main Jewish communities of India are: Bene Israel, Cochini and Baghdadi. Besides there were Ashkenazi Jews and a community in east India which claim Israeli origin and call themselves Bne Menashe. The first three communities had some social religious connections with each other but most of the social religious connections of each community were within their own community and they regarded the other as ‘outsiders’.
BENE ISRAEL The largest Jewish community of Indian Jews is that of the Bene Israel. Earlier the Bene Israel lived in the villages of west Maharashtra in the Konkan coast. In the nineteenth century they started moving to the cities, mainly to Bombay (now called Mumbai) and to other cities among them Pune, Ahmadabad and Karachi which is now part of Pakistan. From 1950 onwards they started immigrating to Israel. The Bene Israel community was completely isolated from most of the other Jewish communities of the world. They are known as Bene Israel because that’s how they called themselves. The Bene Israel believe that their forefathers arrived in India before the destruction of the second temple. The accepted version is that their forefathers were sailing in a commercial ship from the Land of Israel to India. The ship wrecked near the coast of Konkan. From the ship survived 14 people, seven men and seven women. They swam towards the land and arrived at the village called Navgaon. All their belongings drowned in the sea. The dead bodies of the others from the ship were buried in the village. The survivors somehow managed to settle in the village and started working in agriculture and oil producing which later on became their main profession. As time passed the descendants of the survivors forgot Hebrew and their religious tradition. But they carried out some of the Israeli tradition.
The Bene Israels observed Sabbath (Saturday) and abstained on this day from any work. They circumcised their sons on the eighth day after birth. They didn’t eat fish which didn’t had fins and scales. They observed a few Israeli festivals and called them by Indian names, but until their association with other Jewish communities they weren’t aware of the Hanukkah festival and the ninth of Ab fast. These two traditions became part of Jewish tradition after the destruction of the second Temple and therefore the belief that the Bene Israels forefathers arrived in India before the destruction of the second temple. On each religious occasion such as marriage; circumcision or death the Bene Israelis used to recite the ‘Shema’ verse.
The Bene Israel community grew and they became a guild or an Indian caste with the profession of oil pressers. They left their first village, Navgaon, and dispersed to other villages and towns in the coast of Konkan becoming the oil producers and oil pressers of their respective villages. From the names of the villages and towns; like Roha, Pen, Pali or Ashtam; they derived their surnames like Rohekar; Penkar; Palkar; Ashtamkar and such others. The Bene Israels used to abstain from any work on Saturday (which wasn’t an acceptable feature in India) and were therefore called ‘Shenwar Teli’ meaning ‘Saturday oil pressers’.
According to Bene Israel tradition, somewhere between 1000 AD to 1400 AD a Jewish merchant, David Rahabi, arrived in west India. The Bene Israels believe that Rahabi was Moses Maimonides (a very respected Jewish scholar also called ‘Rambam’) brother. Rahabi was surprised to find this Bene Israel community which followed some Jewish traditions and festivals. He decided to enlighten them with all the Jewish traditions. He chose three men from the Bene Israel community and taught them Talmud and other Jewish books. These three people became to be known as ‘Kaji’ (meaning judge in Arabic) and were religious and social leaders of the Bene Israel community. And so, it is believed, began the revivification of the Bene Israel Jews towards Judaism. Later on in the eighteenth century Cochini Jews and other Jewish communities also began to associate religiously with the Bene Israel Jews.
A very important non-Jewish community that had an impact on the Bene Israel was the Christian missionaries. In the eighteenth century many Christian missionaries came to India. Some of them had anthropological interest in India. They began with their own theories about the origins of Bene Israel and other researchers including the Bene Israel themselves also began theorizing the origins of the Bene Israel. Different researchers came to different conclusions. Among the theories there were a few which came to conclusion that the Bene Israel’s forefathers arrived in India before the destruction of the second Temple and this is because the Bene Israel (meaning children of Israel) did not call themselves Jews (In the narrow sense the Jews are descendants only from the two of the twelve tribes of Children Of Israel, Yehuda and Benjamin) . For the same reason others concluded that the Indian Bene Israel are from the ‘Lost Tribes’ which are the ten tribes (of the twelve tribes of the Children Of Israel) whom the Assyrians exiled from the Land Of Israel in 800 BC and what happened of them is not known (and are therefore called Lost Tribes) . Others concluded that the Bene Israel originate from the tribes of Zvulun and Asher and that’s because the Bene Israel engaged in the profession of oil pressing which is believed to be the profession popular among the tribes of Zvulun and Asher. Other reasons that support the theory that the Bene Israel Jews are in India for over 2000 years is the fact that they weren’t aware of the main Jewish tradition which evolved in Judaism between 200 BC to 300 AD. Others concluded that the Bene Israel are Jews who came to India from Arab countries at a much later period, somewhere around the seventh century AD. And there are other theories, among them is that the Bene Israel aren’t at all of Israeli origin. With the revival of Judaism among the Bene Israel by David Rahabi, he selected three men to be the religious leaders of the community and called them ‘Kaji’. These Kajis fulfilled all the religious jobs of the community. The Kaji’s profession was hereditary. From the eighteenth century the Bene Israel developed contact and communication with other Jewish communities especially with the ‘Cochini’ Jews who lived in the southern part of India the present state of Kerala and with Jews from Iraq and Yemen. The contacts and communication with the Yemen Jews started when Bene Israels, who were soldiers in the Indian-British army, were posted at Aden in Yemen. The Bene Israel in Aden had their prayer hall in Aden and later on brought Yemenite Jewish cantors to India and so adopting the Yemenite style of praying (Because of the Yemenite way of praying some researchers wrongly presume that the Bene Israel originate from Yemen). In the first synagogues of the Bene Israel Jews the cantors were mainly Yemenite or Iraqi or Cochini. After the cantors, the Bene Israel began to bring to India Jewish circumciser and butchers from Yemen and so the Kajis lost their traditional position as head of the community.
Arrival of Non-Indian religions into India India, well known as the land of spirituality and philosophy, was the birthplace of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism among other religions. Along with the religions that developed in India, there are also followers of religions of non- Indian origins. Among these religions are Islam, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Bahaism and Judaism. The followers of these different religions arrived in India at different times.
The largest religion of non-Indian origin is Islam. They are about 12% of India's population. Muslims who arrived in India converted Indians to Islam. Islam was spread in India through two means, peaceful and sword. The first spreaders of Islam in India were individuals who saw in spreading Islam a holy precept. They used peaceful means to convert to Islam. But most of Indians are believed to have converted to Islam through the sword, which means the Muslim invaders gave the Indians an option to choose between death and Islam. The different Muslim rulers of India also brought into their kingdoms Muslim mercenaries, businessmen and slaves from different parts of the world like Russia, Afghanistan, Turkey, Arab countries and Africa. These people remained in India, married local Indians and converted them to Islam.
Like the Muslims, the Christians, who arrived to India also converted Indians to their religion, Christianity. Christians are about 2.5% of India's population. Most of the Indians were converted to Christianity by the missionaries who arrived in India with the European powers from 15th century. Of the European powers, the Portuguese were most enthusiast to baptize Indians. But Christianity did not arrive in India with the arrival of European missionaries. It reached India almost 2000 years ago.
Christianity originates in Israel. One of the Apostles (the 12 chief disciples of Jesus), St. Judas Thomas, was a carpenter. He was brought to India by a merchant to build a temple. St. Thomas arrived in Kerala, in south India in 52 AD. He succeeded in converting local Indians to Christianity. His converts were called Syrian Christians. One assumption says that some of the Syrian Christians were actually local Jews converted by St. Judas Thomas to Christianity. The disciples of Jesus at first intended to convince the Jews to adopt the philosophy of Jesus as new Judaism. Therefore they arrived to regions where Jews had settled in the world. Among these regions where Jews had settled was India. Two Apostles are believed to have arrived in India for this purpose. St. Judas Thomas arrived in Kerala in south India and St. Bartholomew in western Maharashtra in west India. Judaism is probably the oldest religion of non-Indian origin to arrive in India. Today there are also a few thousand Jews in India. Judaism and Christianity might have arrived in India before they reached Europe.
The different Jewish communities of India, Bene Israel, Cochini, Baghdadi and Bne Menashe claims their arrival in India in different ways and it is not always clear how they really came to India. The Bene Israel, which is the largest Jewish community of India, lived earlier in the villages of west Maharashtra. They are believed to exist in India for over 2000 years. The Cochini Jews in south India also claim that their first forefathers arrived in India over 2000 years ago during King Solomon's rule. The Bne Menashe of East India who claim to origin from the 'Lost Tribes' arrived much later in India. The Bne Menashes arrived in east India from China and Myanmar (Burma). In the late 18th century, Jews from Arab countries and Iran arrived in India because of religious persecutions in their countries. They were called collectively as Baghdadi Jews.
Two other religions that arrived in India because of religious persecutions in their countries were Zoroastrianism and Bahaism. Both of them arrived from Iran.
Zoroastrians, who even though make less then 0.01% of India's population, are well known around India. The followers of this religion are called Parsis because they arrived from Persia (Iran). The followers of this religion exiled from Iran in the 7th century AD. They arrived in Gujarat in west India. In the 20th century followers of the Bahai religion arrived in India because of religious persecution in Iran.
Reaction and rebellion: Jainism and Buddhism
During the Axial Age, enlightened thinkers, throughout the known world, were developing new explanations of existence, and man's place within the order of the universe. In India, the Upanishads redefined the Aryan religious tradition. Led by ksatriya ascetics, this new development rebelled against the ritual superiority of the brahman class proliferated during the Vedic period. This movement gradually led to an integral transformation of Hindu thought. But, while these new thinkers quietly transmuted the Aryan belief system, two other luminaries, not only challenged the ritualism of the former tradition, but openly rejected the rigidity of class distinction, forming new religions.
Similar to the seekers, who reformed Hinduistic thought, the individuals responsible for the growth of these new religions came from the ksatryia caste that sought a release from the brahman's domination of ritual. Also significant, in this quest for change, were the members of the vaishya caste. With the collapse of tribalism, India experienced great material and economic growth from which this class, which included an increasing number of merchants, craftsmen, and professional, benefited. Many of the vaishya, therefore, resented the privileges afforded the upper two castes, which invariably prepared them for religious ferment.
Most prominent of the two individuals seeking answers to the orthodox Vedism, and the injustice of the caste system was Siddhartha Gautama(c. 563 BC-483 BC) who founded the religion known as Buddhism. Although this tradition significantly diminished in the land of its birth, it remained a powerful force in the rest of the world. Central to Buddhist thought are the Four Noble Truths: that all life is suffering (dukkha); the cause of suffering is desire; escape from dukkha can be attained by ending desire; the path to the cessation of desire can be achieved through the Noble Eight-Fold Path comprised by right views, motives, speech, conduct, livelihood, effort, thought and meditation.
Although Buddhism became more important because of its spread outside of India, Jainism, at least within the confines of the subcontinent, gathered equal support. Western scholars frequently list Vardhamana Mahavira (c. 540 BC- 468 BC), as the founder of Jainism. According to Jain legend, however, Mahavira was the last in line of twenty-four Tirthankaras, or those who had successfully crossed the river of suffering and attained enlightenment.
Like Siddhartha Gautama, Mahavira came from the ksatriya caste, and eventually abandoned his family and earthly possessions to become a wandering ascetic in search of spiritual enlightenment. After an extended period of meditation, Mahavira attained full enlightenment and became a kevalin (completed soul), and a jina (conqueror). Mahavira continued his teachings for a number of years accompanied by a band of naked monks. Purportedly he died at the age of seventy-two as a result of starvation.
The codification of Jain religious doctrines did not occur until nearly two hundred years after Mahavira's death, but contained many of his teachings. According to Mahavira, all living things are divided into five categories and are delineated by the number of senses they posses. The highest class, which have five senses include men, gods, and animals with higher intelligence. The second class, with four senses (touch, smell, taste, and sight), include most larger insects. The third classification, supposedly devoid of sight, contains smaller insects such as fleas and ants. Included in the second group, with only touch and taste, are worms, some shellfish, and leeches. The final class of one sensed creatures, not only includes plants, but such inanimate objects such as minerals, fire, and water. In this respect, then, everything in nature contains karmic matter, and karma is the cause of bondage. Thusly, all Jains are instructed to respect all things unconditionally, and to practice ahimsa, or nonviolence, towards all things. Salvation, or enlightenment, according to Jain principles, can only be attained by freeing one's soul from karmic matter to reach a level of purity.
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