Religion in India

People have asked about Indian religions. This may be a little boring for some of you, and it's long, so you've been warned. I'm hardly an expert on Indian religions, so I will talk about only those things with which we have direct experience.

If you just want to see the photos, click here.

Religion is everywhere in India. It's in politics, in the paper, on the street, in the clothes, even in the air. There are Hindus, Muslims, Jains, Sikhs, Buddhists, Christians and Jews. If there are any atheists, they're the smallest minority.

Hinduism is the dominant religion in India. It is polytheistic, with thousands or millions of deities. It is not a centralized religion and there is no orthodoxy, so you can't commit heresy. Hindus are perfectly happy to include Jesus and Mohammad and the god of Abraham in their pantheon.

Hindus practice their faith daily in the home and in their life. Hindus have small shrines in the home where they offer small gifts (usually flowers) on a daily basis. Our housekeeper has a shrine in the kitchen to the elephant god, Ganesha.




At the entrance to our apartment complex is another shrine to Ganesha that is tended daily and touched in passing by dozens of people on their way to work. When they dress, women in particular, show their faith. They put bindi marks on their forehead in special ways that indicate various things about their faith.

Hindus do not go to temples on a particular day of the week; instead they may go every day on the way to work, or on festival days, or when on pilgrimage to another city. There they make offerings of food, flowers or money.

They will "brush" the warm air of a flame into their face or take a teaspoon of holy water from a priest and put it on their heads. Inside the innermost room of the temple (in the holy-of -holies) is a statue of a god. Only the priests go into that room but the visitors can see into it. They then process around the outside of the holy-of-holies (but still inside the temple), going clockwise, and always an odd number of times. Before leaving, they pause, perhaps by sitting on the ground for a few moments, to reflect for a little while before returning to the bustle of the street. (We have been in a number of Hindu temples, including some with a Hindu friend.)

Hindus celebrate many festivals throughout the year. In addition, they often fast. For example, followers of Hanuman, the monkey god fast every Tuesday, while followers of Shiva, the Destroyer, fast on Mondays. Others fast twice a month and others for the ten-day festival of Rama's birth. The particulars of fasting vary by individual.

For the photos, click here.

Jainism is a religion that began in India in the 6th century BC and it has often been confused with Hinduism. We had a personal tour of a Jain temple by the friend of a friend, and really enjoyed learning about it. They believe that liberation from the cycle of rebirth can only be acheived by letting go of all material things. They acknowledge that this is very difficult, and acheivable by only a few in a lifetime. (That's one advantage of reincarnation: you get many chances to try again.) These few give up home and family and go on pilgrimage for the rest of their lives, studying and meditating. They receive food only when others share it with them (never as a gift, only when shared) and only enough for the day. A very few Jains give up even clothes, going around "sky-clad". Those who cannot let go of everything remain part of the outside world and have been quite successful in business.

The most notable part of their faith is absolute non-violence (ahimsa) and an absolute respect for all life. Some of the most devoted carry a broom to sweep in front of them lest they accidentally step on an insect, and wear a mask over their face to prevent them from breathing in an insect. We've heard that some will not eat potatos because there is (or might be) a fungus on them that would die.


Islam is a newcomer to India, having been founded in the 7th century AD. With the division of India into Pakistan and India in 1948, many Muslims left India. Those that remained have integrated into the community pretty well. From our apartment, we can hear the call to prayer from three different mosques. Our driver is Muslim and we've met a few others.




There are quite a few Muslim women on the street wearing full burkas. (It must be very hard to cover yourself in black with the temperature is over 90 degrees.) A few even have (thin) cloth covering their eyes. Most wear sandals or sneakers underneath. Some seem to flaunt the rules by braiding their hair and letting it hang outside. When Ann has seem them in restrooms, they are invariably dressed to the nines, with lots of jewelry and makeup. Men are a little less obvious.

Christianity came to India, it is said, when St. Thomas arrived in the first century AD. While it may have arrived later, it has taken firm root, especially along the west coast (Kerala) where the Portugese, Dutch and English influence remains. We were amazed at how many Christians there were in Kerala. I stopped by a Roman Catholic basilica at dawn (looking for early morning pictures) and found the 5:45 AM service "sold out." There was standing room only. An hour later, the second service was the same. I don't know what language was used, because most Christian churches serve multiple languages communities. (One has services in six languages every Sunday.)

Sadly, my most disheartening religious experience has come from a visit to a Roman Catholic church. It is a shrine to the Infant Jesus. The statue in the shrine is of a white infant who says "The more you honour Me, the more I will bless you." (As a Lutheran, that rubs me the wrong way. It sounds like "the more that you donate to me, the richer I will make you.") All of the maxims on the walls in the church are in English, the stained glass windows and altar hanging are all western European style. When I said to my friend that it seemed odd that everyone is portrayed as white and not Indian, he said (not in exactly these words) that Jesus was white.

Additionally, the history of the church is that a priest resolved to buy a rose garden "at any cost" and build the church. He prayed to the "Infant Jesus of Prague for two months...and his prayers were immediately answered" and they bought the land for a "windfall price." Through the "powerful and miraculous intervention of the Infant Jesus" the church received approval to build. "Since all the events occured on Thursday, the day was dedicated to Infant Jesus." There are now standing-room only services all day on Thursdays. (Click here for the source.)

It is a round church and quite interesting, but it smacks too much of colonialism, where western Europe brought enlightenment to the savages. But it is clearly filling a need here in Bangalore.

For the photos, click here.

Sikhism was founded as a reaction to the caste system in the 15th century AD. It prescribes a strict code of conduct. We have Sikh friends, but have not met any in India. It is more prevalent northern India.

Buddhism was started in India in the 6th century BC, but had almost died out by the turn of the 20th century. It saw a significant revival in the 1950s among Dalits (formerly known as Untouchables) who saw it as a way to escape the caste system. It also benefited from the influx of refugees from Tibet. We expect to see many Buddhist temples in the north during our last week in India.

Judaism came to India in the 3rd century AD as part of the diaspora of the Jews following the destruction of the Temple in the first century. They found a welcoming home on the west coast of India (Kerala) and established a thriving community. It is virtually gone, now. The synagogue, dating from the 17th century, is a tourist attraction. Interestingly, they ask that people remove their shoes before entering. I interpret that as a way to let Hindus, Jains and Muslims know that this temple is to be respected the same way that they treat their temples. I think that's a pretty sharp notion.

A few other notes:

This is the temple of the International Society of Krishna Consciousness (Hare Krishnas.) In India, the Hare Krishnas are just another sect of Hinduism who worship Krishna. They have built the most ostentatious temple anywhere. They are also the most aggressive in soliciting donations, but they don't have the bad reputation they do in the US.

And finally, on Sunday we heard a band coming down the street after dark. Curious, we went outside to find a procession coming towards us. It was a truck with a lighted display of flowers on top. Two priests sat there while a band and other revelers went in front. Behind the truck a man pushed a generator to power the lights.

The truck stopped frequently and people lifted up offerings to the priests. The priests blessed the food, took a portion, and returned the food.

We asked our neighbors what was going on. It was the end of a ten-day celebration of the birth of the god Krishna. The local temple sponsored this rolling festival every year. People were ready with trays of coconuts to offer. As Ann has said, "if anyone needs their coconuts set on fire, they give them to the priests."

These two photos aren't very clear, but the video that follows is pretty good. We don't understand exactly what the priests are doing, but they are blessing the food offering. At the end you can see the woman put her hand over the flame and touch her face and hair, as I described above.