India is a secular democracy and is the home to Hinduism, Islam,Christianity, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and many other religions. In India religion is a way of life, an integral part of one's day to day activities, influencing every aspect of life. Common practices through ages had influenced most faiths and many festivals that mark each year with music, dance, and feasting are shared by all communities. Each religion even has its own pilgrimage sites, legends and heros.

Hinduism, one of the world's oldest faiths, originated in India and has the largest followers. Buddhism was founded in about 500 BC. Janism, another religion originated in India, has about 5 million followers in India. Islam arrived in India with Muslim traders and later with Muslim invaders and Mughuls. The Sikhs are another religion originated in India and there are over 18 million Sikhs predominantly in Punjab. Christianity was brought to India by the apostle ST. Thomas when he landed in Southern India. Today there are 30 million Christians in India.

Hinduism

There are festivals and ceremonies associated with gods, goddesses and other forms of worship. The popular Hindu festivals are 'Deepavali', 'Holi', 'Dussehra', 'Ganesh Chathurthi', 'Pongal', 'Janamastami', and 'Shiv Rathri'.

Islam

Muslim Invaders in the 12^th century and Mughals in the 16^th and 17^th centuries helped Islam to spread in India. The mystics of Islam, the Sufi Saints, helped to spread the message of peace and universal love. Now over 12% of the population practices Islam. Eid Milan, Milad-e-Sherif etc. are celebrated Muslim festivals in India.

Buddhism

Buddhism, an offshoot of Hinduism originated in the 5^th century. Buddhism preached non-violence to all living creatures, tolerance and self-discipline. The principles of Buddhism won wide acceptance owing to its simplicity and adaptation of sermons to local languages. Buddha's teachings enlightened millions of people in the Far East and the South East Asia. The influence of the faith decreased gradually and at present there are about 7 million followers in India.

Jainism was a contemporary faith of Buddhism. Mahavira preached the Jain philosophy around same time of Buddhism. Jainism rose against the undesirable practices prevalent in Hinduism at that time. It preaches for the renunciation of worldly desires and self-conquest to perfect wisdom. It focuses on the purification of the souls by right conduct, right faith and right knowledge. The faith also advocates non-violence. Today Jainism has a following of more than 3 million in India.

Sikhism

Guru Nanak founded the Sikh religion in the 16^th century. Born as a Hindu, he was an advocate of pure monotheistic doctrine of the Upanishads. He spent his entire life preaching his gospel of universal tolerances based on all that was good in Hinduism and Islam. While advocating a middle path, Guru Nanak exhorted his followers to discard hypocrisy, selfishness and falsehood. On Baisakhi day of 1699 at Ananthpur, Guru Govind created a new brotherhood called Khalsa (Pure Ones). Sikhism advocates monotheism, denounces caste system and believes in equality of all.

It is believed that Christianity reached India when St. Thomas, one of the apostles of Jesus Christ arrived and spent a few years in South India. Others believe that it was St. Bartholomew who was the first Christian missionary to arrive in India. However, history indicates that Christian missionary activities started with St. Francis Xavier in 1544 followed by many missionaries from different countries. Much of the modern influences in the Indian society can be attributed to Christianity. Christian missionaries helped to build schools and colleges all over India and spread the message of faith and goodwill in the country.

States
Andhra Pradesh
Bihar
Goa
Karnataka
Kerala
Maharashtra
Punjab
Rajasthan
Tamil Nadu
Uttar pradesh