For a majority of Indians, religion plays a vital role in their lives. The country is famous for being the birthplace of four major religions – Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. Worshipping their respective deity, taking part in rituals and other religious activities is of high importance to the average Indian.
The major religions in India are - Hinduism (80.5%), Islam (13.4%), Sikhism (1.9%), Christianity (2.3%), Buddhism (0.8%), Jainism (0.4%) as well as others.
Devout Hindus observe a number of religious rituals at home, though the kind and type of rituals vary from region to region. Worshipping fire, lighting a lamp in front of the deities and offering them foods, recitation of religious scripts is commonly seen activity amongst the Hindus. Hindus believe in the performing charity and believe that the good that they perform shall accumulate over time and will thereby reduce their suffering in the next world.
Devout Muslims (those who practice Islam) offer prayers five times every day at specific times. Before praying they ritually clean themselves by washing those parts of the body which have maximum exposure to dust and dirt.
Interestingly, dietary habits of most Indians depend upon the religion that they practice. For example most Hindus, Jains and Buddhists are vegetarian while the concept of vegetarianism is almost non-existant for Muslims, Christians and Sikhs. Also most Muslims do not consume pork as Islam forbids it.
Due to the importance attached to religion, going on pilgrimages to sites considered pious and holy is a major practice too. Its significance can be seen in the fact that the MahaKumbh Mela, held in Prayag in 2001, attracted an astounding 70 million Hindus and is considered to be the largest religious gathering in the world. Hindus also consider the towns of Allahbad, Hardwar, Varanasi, Ujjain, Puri etc. to be holy cities.
For Muslims the Dargah Shareef in Ajmer is a major site for pilgrimage. Other places such as Tomb of Sheikh Salim Chisthi in Fatehpur Sikri, Jama Mazjid in Delhi, Haji Ali in Mumbai are extremely important places of worship for Muslims.
The Harimandir Sahib in Amritsar, famously known as The Golden Temple, is the most sacred place of worship for Sikhs and attracts a large number of followers as well as tourists from around the world.
Marmon Convention which is the largest annual gathering of Christian in Asia is organised by the Mar Thomas Church.
Out of the Eight Great Places of Buddhism, seven are located in India. The most important events in the life of Gautama Buddha are said to have taken place in the Indian cities of Bodh Gaya, Sarnath and Kushinagar.
There are hundreds of more religious sites in every nook and corner of the country which just goes on to show time and again how much Indians value their religion.
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