Tribal religions in India
Roughly 8.6 per cent of
Scheduled Tribes" (STs), traditional tribal communities. In India those who are not Christians, Muslims, Jews or Zoroastrians are identified as Hindus. The reason being varied beliefs and practices allowed in Hindusim and according of Hindusim as a geographical identity than merely Religious ones. Though, many of the Scheduled Tribes have modes of worship not typical to mainstream Hindusim but ontologically form part of the cultural practices of the land, as Nature or ancestral worship, with varying degrees of syncretism
.
Numbers
According to the 2011 census of
Zoroastrians, Jews, and various specified and unspecified tribal religions separately under the header "Other Religions and Persuasions".[1]
Of these religious census groupings, the most numerous are
Sanamahi (222,000) and Khasi (139,000), with all other religions numbering less than 100,000 respondents, including 18,000 for "tribal religion", 5,600 for "nature religion", and 4,100 "animists".[1]
Customs
The tribal people observe their festivals, which have no direct conflict with any religion, and they conduct marriage among them according to their tribal custom. They have their own way of life to maintain all privileges in matters connected with marriage and succession, according to their customary tribal faith.[ancestor worship or worship of spirits of natural features.[2]
The various tribes can be categorised into different major linguistic groupings, such as Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, Austroasiatic, Tibeto-Burman, and Andamanese.[3]
About 25% of the
Oraon people, and 60% of the Kharia people of Bihar (population about 130,000), are Christian. Altogether, 43% of Kharia population is Hindu while 46% is Christian. However, almost two-thirds (63%) of the Santhal, over 40% of Munda and Ho tribal population are Hindus. Tribal groups in the Himalayas were similarly affected by both Hinduism and Buddhism in the late 20th century. The small hunting-and-gathering groups in the union territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands have been under severe pressure of cultural assimilation.[4]
Recognition
According to the Indian legal system, all the native or
Jew".[5]
List of Tribal Religions in India
- Northeast India
- Donyi-Polo
- Sanamahi
- Songsarek
- Ka Niam Khasi
- Niamtre
- Rangfrah
- Heraka
- Donyi-Polo
- Wancho Religion
- Nocte Religion
- Tiwa Religion
- Ahom religion
- Keoliya
- Daikhoism
- Aronban
- Lokhimon
- Sat Sang
- Honghari
- Cumulang
- Dyaoism
- Siangsawn Pasian
- Krama Religion
- East India
- Central India
- Koyapunem
See also
- Dravidian folk religion
- Folk Hinduism
- Indian religions
- Kalashism and Kafirism
- Bon
References
- ^ a b "C-01 Appendix: Details of religious community shown under 'Other religions and persuasions' in main table C01 - 2011" (xlsx). Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. 21 January 2021. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
- ^ National Council of Educational Research and Training. "Social and Political Life - III". Publication Department, NCERT, 2009, p.83.
- ^ "Tribal Languages in India – Introduction (1/4)". 2019-09-24. Archived from the original on 2019-09-24. Retrieved 2023-08-26.
- ^ "The Green Revolution in India". U.S. Library of Congress (released in public domain). Library of Congress Country Studies. Retrieved 2007-10-06.
- ^ Cavanaugh, William T. (2009), The Myth of Religious Violence : Secular Ideology and the Roots of Modern Conflict: Secular Ideology and the Roots of Modern Conflict, Oxford University Press, p. 88