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RELIGION
India is a country where you will find people of various religion. However the majority are Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Muslims etc.
Following are a little details about some of them:
HINDUISM
Hinduism is the name given to a family of religions and cultures that began and still
flourish in India.
Like other Eastern religions, it doesn't fit comfortably into the same box as Western
religions like Christianity.
Hindus do not separate religion from other aspects of life.
For Hindus in India, Hinduism is an inextricable part of their existence, a complete approach
to life that involves social class, earning a living, family, politics, diet, etc., in addition
to the things Westerners view as religious.
The word "Hindu" comes from the name of the river Indus, which flows 1800 miles from Tibet
through Kashmir and Pakistan to the sea. Originally the name referred to people living in a
particular region of the world, regardless of their faith; so in the 18th century someone could
quite sensibly be described as a "Hindu Muslim".
There are 750 million Hindus in the world, and most of them live in India. In the UK there are
400,000 Hindus, 160,000 of whom are active in their faith.
Hinduism includes a very wide range of beliefs and practices, so there aren't many things that
are common to all Hindu groups. However they all have a "family resemblance" to each other.
Hinduism has no founder, no creed, and no single source of authority.
The things most often common to Hindus are a belief in a single Divinity or supreme God that
is present in everything, belief in other gods who are aspects of that supreme God, belief that
the soul repeatedly goes through a cycle of being born into a body, dying, and rebirth, belief
in Karma, a force that determines the quality of each life, depending on how well one behaved
in a past life.
Most Hindus worship at home and have a shrine there. Hindu temples are the focus of religious
life, but there is not a strong tradition of corporate congregational worship.
Hinduism has not had a significant tradition of seeking to convert people, although some modern
Hindu sects now do seek converts.
SHIKHISM
Sikhism is the youngest of the world's four great monotheistic religions. It was founded in the 15th Century by Guru Nanak.
The view that Sikhism is a variety of Hinduism is completely wrong, and gives great offence to Sikhs.
There are 18-20 million Sikhs in the world, and 80% of them live in the Punjab state in Northwest India, where the faith began.
There are 500,000 Sikhs in Britain, 80% of whom are active in their faith. 39% of UK Sikhs attend a religious service at a
Gurdwara (temple) once a week.
Other countries with large Sikh communities are Canada (225,000) and the USA (100,000).
The word "Sikh" is Punjabi for "disciple" and Sikhs are disciples of the Gurus.
Sikh men are particularly easy to identify because they all have a full beard, and wear their hair uncut and contained
in a turban.
The Sikh place of worship is called a Gurdwara or temple.
Sikhism does not have priests, but most gurdwaras will have a Granthi. A Granthi is a learned Sikh who is skilled in
reading the scriptures, however, a Granthi has no special religious status.
The principle Sikh scripture is the Adi Granth, often called the Guru Granth Sahib.
Sikhs believe that the words of these scriptures are the present day embodiment of the Sikh Guru and they treat the
book with the respect and devotion that they would have given to a human Guru.
Sikhism does not actively look for converts, but it is thoroughly welcoming to those who do want to convert.
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