Indian religions

Indian religions, sometimes also termed Dharmic religions or Indic religions, are the <a href="/facts/Religion/cxntrD0R">religions</a> that originated in the <a href="/facts/Indian_subcontinent/0XUWGXpx">Indian subcontinent</a>. These religions, which include <a href="/facts/Buddhism/G0wsjrSl">Buddhism</a>, <a href="/facts/Hinduism/oxV9YvQh">Hinduism</a>, <a href="/facts/Jainism/h0glxhjH">Jainism</a>, and <a href="/facts/Sikhism/obh7aQIr">Sikhism</a>, are also classified as <a href="/facts/Eastern_religions/eC2l8CSo">Eastern religions</a>. Although Indian religions are connected through the <a href="/facts/History_of_India/ntYkAYDQ">history of India</a>, they constitute a wide range of religious communities, and are not confined to the Indian subcontinent.

Indian religions by number of followers (2020 survey)<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4">4</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5">5</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6">6</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7">7</a><table><tbody><tr><th>Religion</th><th>Population</th></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Hindus/8pBQgghs">Hindus</a> </td><td>1.25 billion</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Buddhists/G0wsjrSl">Buddhists</a> </td><td>520 million</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Sikhs/V7yh2L8b">Sikhs</a> </td><td>30 million</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Jains/h0glxhjH">Jains</a></td><td>6 million</td></tr><tr><td>Others</td><td>4 million</td></tr><tr><td>Total</td><td>1.81 billion</td></tr></tbody></table>
Evidence attesting to <a href="/facts/Prehistoric_religion/Y6V3agtm">prehistoric religion</a> in the Indian subcontinent derives from scattered <a href="/facts/Mesolithic/XTNS0x3r">Mesolithic</a> rock paintings. The <a href="/facts/Harappa/bKWEUjH0">Harappan</a> people of the <a href="/facts/Indus_Valley_civilisation/6xM4aK23">Indus Valley civilisation</a>, which lasted from 3300 to 1300 BCE (mature period 2600–1900 BCE), had an early urbanized culture which predates the Vedic religion.[better source needed]
The documented history of Indian religions begins with the <a href="/facts/Historical_Vedic_religion/CLhJ6Au6">historical Vedic religion</a>, the religious practices of the early <a href="/facts/Indo-Aryan_peoples/Tjrybz3d">Indo-Aryan peoples</a>, which were collected and later <a href="/facts/Shakha/yyaIUSvc">redacted</a> into the <a href="/facts/Vedas/yQgc8B2x">Vedas</a>, as well as the <a href="/facts/Agama_(Hinduism)/xUhop43y">Agamas</a> of <a href="/facts/Dravidian_peoples/jbMyQt9g">Dravidian</a> origin. The period of the composition, redaction, and commentary of these texts is known as the <a href="/facts/Vedic_period/B357Bokz">Vedic period</a>, which lasted from roughly 1750 to 500 BCE. The philosophical portions of the Vedas were summarized in <a href="/facts/Upanishads/hr64Hhdn">Upanishads</a>, which are commonly referred to as <a href="/facts/Ved%25C4%2581nta/CIeFg7fC">Vedānta</a>, variously interpreted to mean either the "last chapters, parts of the Veda" or "the object, the highest purpose of the Veda". The early Upanishads all predate the Common Era, five of the eleven <a href="/facts/Principal_Upanishads/RuQ77GfW">principal Upanishads</a> were composed in all likelihood before the 6th century BCE, and contain the earliest mentions of <a href="/facts/Yoga/9chp89lL">yoga</a> and <a href="/facts/Moksha/b3uuA7jI">moksha</a>.
The <a href="/facts/%25C5%259Arama%25E1%25B9%2587a/ka4nb2ve">śramaṇa</a> period between 800 and 200 BCE marks a "turning point between the Vedic Hinduism and Puranic Hinduism". The Shramana movement, an ancient Indian religious movement parallel to but separate from Vedic tradition, often defied many of the Vedic and Upanishadic concepts of soul (Atman) and the ultimate reality (Brahman). In the 6th century BCE, the Shramnic movement matured into Jainism and Buddhism and was responsible for the schism of Indian religions into two main philosophical branches of astika, which venerates Veda (e.g., six orthodox schools of Hinduism) and <a href="/facts/Nastika/Hc14oDK2">nastika</a> (e.g., Buddhism, Jainism, Charvaka, etc.). However, both branches shared the related concepts of yoga, <a href="/facts/Sa%25E1%25B9%2583s%25C4%2581ra/Iwy5Ukmq">saṃsāra</a> (the cycle of birth and death) and moksha (liberation from that cycle).
The Puranic Period (200 BCE – 500 CE) and early medieval period (500–1100 CE) gave rise to new configurations of Hinduism, especially <a href="/facts/Bhakti/HXpPYMEf">bhakti</a> and <a href="/facts/Shaivism/aVXXNj6v">Shaivism</a>, <a href="/facts/Shaktism/2RbDctAE">Shaktism</a>, <a href="/facts/Vaishnavism/zUBtPcla">Vaishnavism</a>, <a href="/facts/Smarta/xdF0aWUd">Smarta</a>, and smaller groups like the conservative <a href="/facts/Shrauta/FAyutcVy">Shrauta</a>.
The early Islamic period (1100–1500 CE) also gave rise to new movements. Sikhism was founded in the 15th century on the teachings of <a href="/facts/Guru_Nanak/WlaxsDrN">Guru Nanak</a> and the nine successive <a href="/facts/Sikh_Gurus/G8UIrbYC">Sikh Gurus</a> in <a href="/facts/Northern_India/tIUqMm15">Northern India</a>. The vast majority of its adherents originate in the <a href="/facts/Punjab_region/gyyuKVSp">Punjab region</a>. During the period of <a href="/facts/British_rule_in_India/hBe6wvPS">British rule in India</a>, a <a href="/facts/Neo-Vedanta/ULPCyyWw">reinterpretation and synthesis of Hinduism</a> arose, which aided the <a href="/facts/Indian_independence_movement/0n35LRk8">Indian independence movement</a>.

Indian religions open-in-new

Indian religions