Religious Communities in India | Sociology Optional for UPSC (Notes) PDF Download

Religious Communities in India

• Religion refers to the  most sublime of human aspirations. It  is considered a bulwark of morality, a source of public order and inner individual peace. Human beings live in conditions of perpetual uncertainties. Human being's capacity to control and affect the conditions of her or his life is inherently limited. This generates a need to enter into 'a relationship with the supra empirical aspects of reality, need that is fulfilled by religion.
• Although religion and dharma are normally used interchangeably the connotations and meanings are not exactly same. Whereas 'religion' denotes beliefs and rituals, dharma denotes social duties and the normality order of the cosmos. Dharma is the orientation of the human action towards its fruits. It is the regulation of social life by norms of conduct. In Indic practices, dharma has implications that go beyond religion, as normally understood.
• For Emile Durkheim, A religion is a unified set of beliefs and practice relative to sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and forbidden beliefs and practices which unite into one single moral community called a church to all those who adhere to them. In other words, religion presupposes a classification of all things into two classes or opposed groups, generally designated as sacred and profane.
  India is a land of many religions
• Many sociologists also emphasise another aspect of religion: It serves as a mechanism to help people solve the problem of meaning of life, death, illness, failure, success, happiness etc. It, thus, provides an overall sense of direction and meaning to human life.
  
  Members of different faiths have lived in India for thousands of years
• A religion has three aspects- rituals, beliefs, and organisation. Rituals deal with religious behaviour. Beliefs deal with the sources as well as the patterns of faith. Organisation deals with the mechanism by which religions manage the behaviour, expectations, status and role of the members concerned. India is a multi-religious country. According to 1991 census of India, there are 82 per cent Hindus, 12.12 per cent Muslims; 2.3 per cent Christians, 1.94 percent Sikhs, 0.76 per cent Buddhists, 0.40 per cent Jains; and 0.44 per cent others. The last categories of others include Parsis or Zoroastrians, Jews and Animists groups of tribal origins. In other words, almost every major religious group is represented in India. Traditionally all the groups have lived together respecting the other's beliefs and practices.

The different religions practised in India can be broadly classified into the following two groups

• Religions of Indic Origin: Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism. These are rooted in religious tradition of India.
• Religions of Semitic Religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. These are rooted in prophetic tradition of Adam and Abraham.

No village or town in India is devoid of a religious monument temple, mosque, church and Gurudwara etc. There are two aspects of religion in India, the individual aspect and the collective aspect. It is the latter aspect which is emphasized in India.

Religion, Law and the States in India

• Indian tolerance of beliefs and acceptance of diversity are proverbial. India is a multi religious state in which various faiths are entitled to the protection of their religious laws to an extent. The Indian constitution respects the religious law of different communities under the rubric of personal law 'Personal law' refers to the system of religious rules, customs and practices related with family, marriage and succession, particularly in the case of religious minorities.
• The Indian constitution does not refer to religious pluralism as such, but its overall effect is often described often as 'secular'. It gives equal importance to all religions and this accords well with the tradition of pluralism in India.
• Article 25(1) of the Indian Constitution grants the right to freely profess, practice and propagate one's religion. It is guaranteed to all persons subject to considerations of public order, morality and health.

Religion as a Way of Community Life in India
In Indian society religion is, primarily, associated with communities rather than with individual. The Indian Constitution as well as the Indian traditions recognise the place of individual beliefs and individual attempts to search for the divine. The individual quest is considered spirituality, whereas religion is conceptualised as a collective affair to lead a moral life.
Let us look at the major religious groups in India in brief.

The Hindu Community in India

• A notable dimension of Hinduism is the belief that God is pervasive and easily accessible to the people in one form of the other. Hindu communities do not believe in one God. Hinduism as a way of life is very accommodative regarding beliefs and rituals.
• There are no beliefs or rituals which are common to all Hindus, and which mark them off from others. While the caste system and joint family are fundamental to Hinduism, these are not confined to Hindus alone. By and large, recruitment to Hinduism is by birth into one of the many Hindu castes. Arya Samaj and other modern sects, however, are exceptions. They convert new members into their own variety of Hinduism. In the course of centuries, other groups who came to India often assumed the character of castes and entered the Hindu fold gradually. Although there is too much diversity in Hindu Dharma but the three central tenets of Hinduism at the philosophical level are dharma, karma and moksh. Dharma is the basic moral force that holds the universe together. Karma is a theory which believes that every action of human being bears a definite fruit and a person has to enjoy the fruit- good or bad, depending upon the action performed. There is not escape from Karma. Mostly, a person enjoys the fruit of her Karma within this life. In case death intervenes in between, she or he is bound to take rebirth just to enjoy the fruit of her or his previous Karma. This is called fate or Prarabdh. Fate can be modified to some extent by the present Karma. In this way the present conduct holds a key to future existence.
• Moksha is liberation from karmic bondage, the cessation of cycles of births and deaths. Even in present life one can attain liberation from worldly attachment and achieve mental, peace.
• Varnashramdharm- the most popular example of Hindu social organisation. It is an ideal framework of a moral community and has functioned as the reference point from the time of Rig Veda. It presents a functional division of Hindu society into four categories- Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas and Shudras. The Brahman Varna is a symbolic equivalent of intellectual professions teachers, priests, astrologers and Vaidyas. Kshatriyas are symbolic equivalents of kings, administrators, and managers. Vaisyas are symbolic equivalents of entrepreneurs, traders and merchants. Shudras are service provider groups.
• Such classifications are found in many traditions and societies. What makes the classification of Varna unique are the requisites professional and other duties required to perform dharma of the concerned Varna.
• Ashram is the complementary institution of Varna. If Varna tried to present an ideal principle of social organization, ashram tried to present an ideal principle of the organisation of an individual's life. This concept divides life into four parts (i) Brahamacharya or student life, (ii) Grihasth or family life (iii) Vanaprasth or life of gradual withdrawal as well as social services and (iv) Sanyas or renunciation of the world and transcending the limits of human life.
• The importance of ashram is dependent on the concept of Purusharth. It is believed that an ideal Hindu must give equal importance to dharma (duties), artha (sources of  livelihood),  Kama (desire of  sex),  and Moksha  (liberation from  all types of bondage and attachments). In other words, Hindusbelieve that both material and spiritual aspects are important for a balanced life.
• The classical texts mention sixteen Samskars for an ideal Hindu but only three sacraments are popular: 
  • Initiation sacrament (wearing the sacred thread), 
  • Marriage sacrament, and 
  • Death sacrament. 
• Out of even these three lifecycle rituals, sacred thread is usually given to the male members of the Dwija or socalled twice born castes only. Usually Hindus do not bury the de ad body of the adults.

There are three types of rituals which are performed in Hindu families

• Lifecycle rituals like initiation ritual, marriage ritual, death ritual etc.
• Domestic rituals like Raksha Bandhan or Bhai Duj (performed by sisters for brothers), Teej and Karva Chauth (performed by Wives for husbands), Jitia (performed by mothers for sons), and some others, (c) Annual festivals- Hindus celebrate annual festivals like Diwali, Dushehara, Holi, Onam, Makar Sankranti, Baisakhi etc. Pilgrimage is also a defining feature of community life in India. Most Hindus visit temples situated all over India, take a dip in the sacred rivers, pay homage to their ancestors in sacred places. Varanasi, Haridwar, Prayag, Madurai, Puri,  Dwarka,  Badri  Kedarnath,  Shringeri,  Tirupathi,  Vaishnodevi  and KainarupaKamIdiya etc., are some sacred places of the Hindu.
• Most Hindus give donations and gifts to the needy as well as to the virtuous. However, they believe that philanthropy or charity is virtuous only when it is given secretly. Charity that is publicly given or advertised is usually looked down upon.

The Religious Groups and Sects of Indic Origin

• Hinduism is divided into many sects. Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Shaktism, Lingayats, Kabirpanthis, Ravidas panthis are among the most notable sects within Hinduism.
• There have been interlinkages among these religious groups and the wider Hindu society. Sikhs and some Hindu castes in Punjab were intermarrying among each other until recently. Buddhists and Hindu also have marital relationships. Jains and Hindu Baniyas have very close social and cultural links.
• Buddhism and Jainism were the early religious orders (Sampraday) of India which devalued priestly power and the constraints of caste and status. Buddhism made compassion to all living entities human beings, animals and plants religiously significant. Jainism believes in Ahimsa (non-violence).
• Subsequently, the Bhakti (devotional) sects emerged in South India during sixth to eleventh century AD, and in North India during fourteenth to seventeenth century AD. These sects propagated a liberalism which freed people from rituals and social inhibitions and made them all equal before God. Kabir Panth, Ravidas Panth, Nanak Panth, Lingayat Sampraday etc. are some of the famous devotional sects of Indic origin.
• In the wake of colonial rule, new reformist trends emerged in Indian society. The reformist movements included Brahmo Samaj, Arya Samaj and Ramakrishna Mission, among others. In more recent times, the Anuvrat Andolan, Bhoodan movement and Swadhyay movement have given new dimensions to reform within the Hindu society.

The Muslim Community in India 

• Islam came to India in the late seventh century AD. When some Arab traders migrated to the Malabar coast. The Muslim conquest of Sindh in eighth century A.D. led to the beginning of conversion of Hindu castes to Islam. Between eleventh and eighteenth centuries,  India  faced waves of  Muslim  invasions by Turks, Afghans, Mughals and Persians. Thus, Islam in India is thirteen centuries old. The Muslims from West Asia came as conquerors, settled down, got attuned to native ways and ruled India for seven centuries. Those who came from outside, first as traders then as conquerors or as Sufi Saints, were far less in number than those Indians who converted to Islam. India has the third biggest Muslim population in the world today.
• Islam says that there is one God and submission to Him results in peace. Islam simply means surrender to the will of one God, Allah in Arabic. To be come a Muslim, it is sufficient to bear testimony and accept by heart before two Muslim witnesses that there is not God except Allah and Mohammad is the messenger of Allah. The first testimony asserts the unity of the divine principle and the second testimony establishes Mohammad as the final prophet of the supreme God.
• The Islamic religion is composed of diverge schools arid interpretations that are deeply rooted and united in the principles of the Islamic revelation. All Muslims agree that the Quran is the verbatim revelation of God and they agree about its text and content. Muslims also believe in the reality of the here afterlife. They are united in the main rituals performed, ranging from the Namaz to Roza to making the Haj pilgrimage.
• Muslims in India, as elsewhere, are divided into two major sects, Sunnis and Shias. These two sects separated from each other upon the death of the Prophet on the question of succession. The Sunni Caliphs and the Shiite Imams have never accepted each other's authority.
• In comparison to Shias, Sunnis are in majority in India. The Ahmadiyas, the Dawoodi Bohras, the Ismali Khoja etc. are some other denominations of Muslim in India. There are castelike groups in Indian Muslims, e.g., Syed Sheikh; Khan, Malik and Ansari. etc. These become more significant during matrimonial match making.
• One of the key concepts in Islam is that of the Ummah or the totality of the people who are Muslims and compose the Islamic world. Ummah creates an Islamic brotherhood that goes beyond a single ethnic, racial and cultural group.
• In the Islamic perspective, religion is not seen as a part of life or a special kind of activity along with art, thought, commerce, social interaction, politics, and the like. Rather, it is the matrix and world view within which there and all other human activities, efforts and creations take place or should take place. Islamic religion is a total way of life. Islam does not accept the dichotomy between sacred and profane or spiritual and secular. Islam asserts that nothing can be legitimate outside the realm of religion. The Qur'an, the Prophet, the Hadith, the Shariat and the Tariquat are the foundations of Islam.
• The Qur'an is the central foundation of Islam. It is supposed to contain the revealed words of the God. The God revealed Qur'anic words to Prophet Mohammad through the angel Gabriel. The text of Qur'an is considered divine not only in meaning but also in structure.
• The Prophet Mohammad is the second foundation of Islam. He is the most perfect human being, the perfect creation of the God, the best interpreter of the God's message as well as its faithful transmitter. Islam is based on the Absolute Allah, and not on the messenger, yet, the love of the Prophet lies at the heart of the Islamic piety. The love of the Prophet  embraces all the dimensions of Islam, affecting both those who follow the Shariat and those who walk upon the spiritual path the Tariquat, of which he is the founder and guide.
• The Hadith is the third important foundation of Islam. The Hadith is a book of sayings dictated by the Prophet himself as well as recordings of his Sayings by his companions and followers. The Hadith deals with nearly every question from details of legal significance to the most exalted, moral and spiritual teachings. The Hadith is the indispensable guide for the understanding of God's word as contained in the Qur'an.
• The Shariat or the Divine Law of Islam is the fourth important foundation of Islam. Muslims consider the Shariat to contain the concrete embodiment of the will of the God. The life of a Muslim from the cradle to the grave is governed by the Shariat. The Shariat is the sanctioned path that women and men must follow in this life. The root of the Shariat is found in the Qu'ran and the God is considered as the ultimate legislator.
• The Tariquat or the spiritual path is the fifth important foundation of Islam. It represents the inner dimension of Islam. The Tariquat or the spiritual path was perfected by the Sufi orders in the Sunni sect as well as by the Shia sect.
• Haj is the supreme pilgrimage of Islam and is made to the sacred building of Kaba at Mecca. Muslims believe that the God forgives a human being's sin if she or he performs the Haj with devotion and sincerity.

Islamic Practices and Institutions

• The basic rites of Islam include worship of only one God (Toheed), the Canonical prayers (Namaz), fasting (Roza), the obligatory offering for charity (Zakat) and pilgrimage (Haj). Every Muslim is supposed to perform Namaz five times a day. The Namaz must be performed in the direction of the Kaba in Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
  
  Muslims offering Namaz at a mosque in Rourkela, Odisha
• Obligatory offering made annually under Islamic taw on certain kinds of property' and used for charitable and religious purpose.
• Muslim festivals come from the life of Mohammad and the history of Islam. The lunar Hijra calendar is followed by the Muslims for all religious matters, weddings and celebrations. The Muslim new year starts with the month of Moharram.
• Ramazan, the ninth month is the holiest of all the months. From dawn to dusk, for one month, women and men fast during the hours of daylight as a means of self purification. On the twenty ninth or twenty eighth day of Ramazan when the new moon is sighted in the evening, the festival of Eid-al-fitr is celebrated. Men go to the Eidgah for congregational prayers after which people visit and embrace one another. Muslims other important festivals are Eid-ul-azha, Moharram and Shabe Barat etc. which, are celebrated in India.

The Christian Community in India 

• Jesus Christ as the Prophet, the New Testament as the revealed book, and the Church as the religious organisation are the foundation stones of Christianity. Jesus and his early disciples were all Jews. The New Testament in the present form was accepted in the churches around the fifth century AD. In early years the Old Testament or the Hebrew Bible or the Torah was their only scripture. Christianity and Islam are rooted the revelation of Moses contained in the Old Testament.
• The three constituents of Christians' religious life include 
  • Faith in Jesus Christ as the messenger of the God,
  • Active service and
  • Love to the neighbour.
• Christianity came to India in different phases. According to the Syrian Christian tradition, Apostle Thomas, one of the Jesus' original twelve disciples, came to the vicinity of Cochin in 52 AD. There was a Christian church in India perhaps as early as the end of the second century. Thomas' or 'Syrian' Christians have never shown any great desire to expand beyond their own natural frontiers.
• The second, a Roman Catholic phase of India's Christian history, began in the 1250s with the arrival of the first missionaries of the Franciscan and Dominican orders. After 1500 AD following the Portuguese occupation of parts of Western India, there was fresh infusion of missionaries.
• The third phase of Christian history in India began in July 1706 with the arrival of the first Protestant missionaries from Germany. The fourth phase of Christian expansion started during the British Rule in India. The English Baptist missionary William Carey arrived in India in 1793. He inaugurated the most concentrated phase of Protestant Christian activity in India. Between 1757 and 1813 the East India Company was against Christian missionaries but later its policy changed in favour of the Christian missionaries.
• During the British rule after 1833 there were two dimensions of Christian activity 
  • it was very active in and around colleges and universities at Kolkata, Mumbai and ,Chennai 
  • it was also active in rural and tribal areas especially among the weaker sections.
• During 1920s the fifth phase of Christian activity began in India. The American organisation, Young Men's Christian Association (YMCS), and American Christians like Stanley Jones and Katherine Mayo were influential during this phase. The sixth phase of Christian activity began after 1947. The Church of South India was founded in 1947. It comprised fourteen dioceses and about a million members spread over four language areas. Most notably it did not involve the Roman Catholics or the Lutherans. The Church of North India, founded in 1970, tried to Indianize Christianity at the organisational level.
• Following the second Vatican Council in the mid of 1960s, the Roman Catholic church in India was liberated from many of its earlier restrictions. Many experiments were made to Hinduise the church's liturgy by the introduction of elements from the temple and Bhakti traditions.
• The Indian Census merges Christians into single group, but they belong to different denominations. Catholics form the largest group; nearly 50 per cent are Protestants, 7 per cent are the orthodox Christians (eastern orthodox church) and 6 per cent belong to indigenous sects.
• Catholics are organized according to a well defined hierarchy and they consider Pope as the supreme head in all religious affairs. Protestantism includes many distinct persuasions and churches. Orthodox groups, such as the Syrian Christians, are affiliated to the orthodox churches of Eastern Europe or West Asia or to the churches dependent on these.
• At one point, even today, the boundaries between the Kerala Syrians and Hindus are blurred, as in the rituals of house building or astrology. The ceremonies of marriage and birth arming the Syrian Christians also manifest many similarities with Hindu custom, particularly in the use of ritual substances such as sandalwood paste, milk, flowers, areca, nut and rice. In Tamil Nadu and Goa, Christianity is embedded in the indigenous socioritual order.
• Pilgrimage: Whereas Protestant Christians, with the exception of the Anglicans, do not go on pilgrimages, Catholics and the orthodox visit places of pilgrimage on the occasion of festivals. Owing to their greater Christian population places like Goa, Kerala and Tamil Nadu and cities like Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata have many places. of pilgrimage.
  The Roman Catholics in India regard the Pope their bishop of Rome as their supreme religious leader. Indian Catholics are guided by two cardinals one at Mumbai and the other at Ernakulam. There are over 120 bishops in India. There are thirty five religious orders of Christian priests in India.
• Ceremonies: Seven sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church have to be administered by a priest or bishop.  Baptism- the ritual process of becoming/making a Christian is performed when a child is a few days old. Confirmation is performed when a child is seven years old among Catholics and fifteen year old among Protestants. She or He is taught the main tenets and obligations of the Christian faith for several months by the priest. After this instruction one is ready rites have to be solemnized by a priest in church.
  The Christian masses have castes or caste like groups. Joint family is a dominant institution. They do not have a distinct style of life (except Anglo-Indians) and are usually absorbed into the local regional linguistic communities.

Jainism

• Jainism is one of the oldest religions in India. It is a form of Sanatan Dharma. It has 24 Tirthankaras. The first Tirthankar was Rishabhdev and the twenty fourth Tirthankar was Mahavir. The Jains share some doctrines, rituals and general religious beliefs with early Buddhists and Hindus but they have a religious system of their own. Mahavir is supposed to be senior contemporary of Gautama Buddha. He was a great system builder.
  
  A Svetambara Jain Muni
• The Jain community is divided into two important sects, Svetambar (white clothed), and Digambar (unclothed). Another lesser known sect is called Sthanakvasi. The Sthanakvasis think that Tirthankaras need not be represented in images. The Svetambaras think that Tirthankaras should be represented in images with white robes. The Digambaras think that Tirthankaras should be represented in images without robes or clothes.
• The word 'Jain' is derived from Jin, which means the conqueror. Mahavir (599527 B.C.) said that everything, animate or inanimate, has Jiva (life force). The goal of human endeavour should be to exhaust karma and the way of deliverance is in the three gems or rules of behaviour and right faith, right knowledge and right conduct includes nonviolence, adherence to truth, chastity and the renunciation of worldly possession.
• Jains believe in soul, theory of karma the cycle of birth and death like the Hindus. Jainism has, however more similarities with Buddhism. Jainism along with Buddhism belongs to the shramanic forms of Sanatan dharma. The shramanic traditions as a whole emphasize the renunciation of worldly belongings and pleasures. Their quest is directed at achieving emancipation from worldly existence and the cycle of  birth and death.  Emancipation (Kaivalya) and renunciation (vairagya or Sanyas) are the two themes addressed principally.
• For all Jains, fasting and austerity are considered essential for self purification. They lay stress on mental disciplines to obtain self control, concentration in contemplation and purity of thought. Jainism also stresses that personal spiritual development achieved through penance should be for the benefit of the community. The teaching of Mahavir is that, altruism in individual life source of positive social welfare. The five fold discipline of non violence, truth, honesty, sexual purity and indifference to material gain is not for personal virtue alone but also aims at the social good.
• Jain festivals are meant for the spiritual development of the self through the practice of austerities. Mahavir Jayanti is the most well known festival of Jains.
• The Jains are among the richest community in India. The majority of Jains are engaged in trade and commercial activities.

Buddhism

• Buddhism was one of the new religious movements that arose in India around the sixth century B.C.. It is rooted in the traditional Indian religion called Sanatan Dharma. It is one of the three major form of Indic religions the other two being Hinduism and Jainism. It was founded Buddha.
• The Buddhist profession of faith is known as the Triple Refuge or the Three Jewels the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangh. The Buddha is the enlightened teacher or the prophet. The Dhamma is the doctrine given by the Buddha and the Sangh is the community of believers in the doctrine taught by Buddha.  One formally becomes a Buddhist by reciting the Triple Refuge three times- I go for refuge to the Buddha; I go for refuge to the Dhamma; I go for refuge to the Sangha.
• Dhamma has four meaning 
  • the absolute truth, 
  • right conduct,
  • doctrine, and 
  • the ultimate constituent of experience.
    The first three meaning are found in Hinduism as well but the fourth meaning is specific to Buddhism.
• The Buddhists believe in the four noble truths preached by the Buddha. The first noble truth preached by the Buddha is that there is suffering. The second noble truth says that here is cause of suffering (desire). The third noble truth says that the cause of suffering can be removed. The fourth great truth supplies a detailed blueprint to remove the cause of suffering.
• The Eightfold Path consists of  right view, right aspiration, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right meditation. The Eightfold Path leads to Nirvana, which involves the cessation of all sufferings. The Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path are meant to serve as provisional teaching.
• Vinay Pitak (Book of Discipline), Sutta Pitak (Book of Sermons) and Abhidhannn Pitak (Book of Doctrine) are the basic scriptures of Buddhism: There are four major forms of Buddhism: 
  • Theravada 
  • Mahayana,
  • Vajrayan or Tantra, and 
  • Zen.
    Different forms are predominant in different countries or geographical areas.
• The most important festival of the Buddhists in India is the Buddha Purnima. There are other festivals which 'are celebrated by different sect and denominations. Some Hindu festivals like Diwali, Holi and Makar Sankranti are also celebrated by many Buddhist families.

Sikhism

• Sikhism  emerged as a devotional sect within the Indic religion around the teachings of Guru Nanak (1469 539). The term Sikh has originated from the Sanskrit word Shishya, which means disciple. Nanak travelled all over India, and to Sri Lanka, Mecca and Medina. He sang his hymns wherever he went, spreading his message of love, purity and universal brotherhood.
• There are ten Gurus (religious teachers) of Sikhs. Nanak was the first Guru and Govind Singh was the tenth Guru. Arjun was the fifth Guru who compiled the Guru Granth Sahib (holy book of the Sikhs). The Guru Granth contains hymns composed by the devotional saints as well as the writings of the Sikh Gurus. Guru Arjun infused great vigour into Sikhism. He made Amritsar his headquarters where he built a Gurudwara (temple of the Guru). From the time of Guru Arjun, Sikhism gradually became a militant organisation.
• Govind Singh (16751708), the tenth Guru converted the Sikhs into a militant community called the khalsa (the pure). He gave the Sikhs a distinct individuality in 1699 by initiating five of his followers. He enjoined them, among other admonitions, never to cut never to cut their hair, always to wear a comb, a pair of short drawers, a bangle and a kirpan (dagger). These are called five `K's Kesha, Kangha, Kachha, Kada and Kirpan. The Sikh community life is centred around Gurudwara (gateway or temple of the Guru). The central object of worship in the Gurudwara is the Granth Sahib.
• The Sikhs are primarily divided into two broader groups
  • The Sanatani Sikhs, and
  • The Khalsa Sikhs.
    The Sanatani Sikhs are the followers of Guru Nanak and his son Srichand.
• The Sanatani Sikhs do not stress separate religious identity of Sikhs, rather they consider themselves as an offshoot of a broadly defined Hinduism. The Khalsa Sikhs or Tat Khalsa is based on the radical interpretation of the teachings of Guru Govind Singh; It claims to represent `true' Sikhism, stripped  of the popular customs of Hinduism: It separated Sikhism from the broader rubric of Hinduism. They emphasised that Sikhism is an independent new religion based on three foundations Guru Grorith and Gurudwara.
• In 1925 the Gurudwara Act was passed. It led to the emergence of Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC), as the supreme body of Sikhs in Punjab. It manages the religious affairs of Sikhs and the Gurudwaras.
• Sikhs still participate in some of the festivals celebrated by the Hindus like Basant Panchami, Holi and Diwali. Their own festivals include Baisakhi and the birthdays of Sikh Gurus of Guru like Nanak and Govind Singh and the Martyrdom of Guru Arjun, Guru Teg Bahadur and the two sons of Govind Singh. They also celebrate the founding of the Khalsa and Hola Mohalla.
• Sikhs, too are a prosperous community in India. They are engaged in diverse professions in both villages and cities. Although Sikhism does not believe in caste, there are castes like groups among the Sikhs as well.

Other Religious Groups 

Zoroastrians Or The Parsis

Parsis are a microscopic but powerful community: Tatas, Wadias, Shapoorji Pallonji Group & Godrejs are top business houses

• The word Parsi means Persians and refers to those Persians who migrated to India from Iran in the tenth century AD. They had migrated to India from their Iranian (Persian) homeland. The Parsi community recognizes Zoroaster or Zarathustra as their Prophet. Therefore, they are also known as Zoroastrians.
• Zoroastrianism is one of the oldest Prophetic religions of the world. Zoroaster lived in the Northeast of Iran on the Asian steppes around 6,000 B.C.. He inherited much of the Indo-Iranian tradition so that Zoroastrianism and Hinduism have something of common parentage. This results in a number of similarities between the two: as the place of fire in ancient texts- the Vedas of Hindus and the Avesta of the Parsis and certain purity laws and attitudes toward the priests.
• The Prophet's teachings are preserved in hymn form in Gothic Avestan language which has strong links with Vedic Sanskrit. Zoroastrianism was the state religion of Iran until the Muslim Arab invasion of the seventh century AD. By the ninth century, the persecution of Zoroastrians in Iran became unbearable so that they decided to migrate to different places in India and other countries.
• Most Parsis in India are city dwellers. They are settled in Mumbai and different places in Gujarat. They are one of the most prosperous communities of India. Among the minority communities they are also one of the most integrated communities to the mainstream of modern India. Dadabhai Naoroji, Pherozeshah Mehta and the family of Tatas have played significant role in the building of modern India. They have been pioneers in modern trades and industrial enterprises. They have also played important roles in building the various institutions of Mumbai.
• Parsis usually spend little time in theological study. To most Parsis, theirs religion is tied up with their identity. Their identity is maintained by the performance of lifecycle rituals and observances of moral practices in daily life. The ideas of purity and pollution are very important among the Parsis. Their daily prayer is called navjote. There are only two religious duties for Parsis, the daily prayers and the observance of the seasonal festivals, the gahambars.
• Zoroastrianism was originally a religion of Nature Worship. Natural objects like fire, air, the sun, and water were considered sacred. Today they are primarily fire worshippers. At Udwada, the centre of pilgrimage for Parsis, there is one `permanently burning fire' shrine. There are two types of fire temples which are distinguished from each other by the grade of fire which burns within them, one is called the 'Royal Bahrain' or victorious fire and the other is called the `Dar i o r the ordinary fire.
• The Parsis are known for their philanthropy. The many sided philanthropy of the Parsis has  established through their Panchayat, a remarkable social  security system for the community. Its members make their contributions to the local anjuman fund or community chest which constitutes the foundation of the system. The community has many trusts and foundations, benefiting non Parsis as well. The Parsis have laid claim to no territory and to no special right for themselves. They emphasise the moral and civic sense and philanthropy over philosophical doctrines.

Judaism

• The Jews or the followers of Judaism are perhaps the smallest religious community in India. According to Indian Census of 1991 there were about 5000 Jew's in India. They were classified by census authorities of India along with Zoroastrians and Animist tribals as part of a miscellaneous category called other religious groups.
• The Jews in India comprise three main communities the Bene Israel, Kerala Jews and Baghdadi Jews. Some Jews came to India before the beginning of the Christian era. The oldest communities have been the Bene Israel who are settled mainly in the coastal areas of Maharashtra. The other groups settled in Kerala near Cochin. The third group came from the Middle East (Baghdad) and settled in Mumbai, Kolkata, Pune, Surat and Chennai. A large number of them have migrated from India to Israel in 1948.
• Judaism is the original Hebrew or Semitic religion. It is based on the revelation of Moses. The Hebrew Bible or the Torah is their sacred religious text. Their temple is known as synagogue. Led by Abraham, they settled in Israel, originally called Canaan and later Palestine. In 63 B.C. Palestine came under Roman Rule and between 70 AD to 1948 the Jews lived in different places as scattered groups. In 1948 they reestablished Israel as their holy nationstate and Jews came, back to their homeland in large numbers from different countries.
• Jews in India began to integrate themselves increasingly with their surroundings. They adopted the customs, dress, characteristics and day to day practices of the people of the region. They are a very homogeneous group and strictly adhere to their religious beliefs. Unlike Christianity and Islam, Judaism is not open for non Jews. They do not convert.

Animism