Jainism in India

Jainism is India's sixth-largest religion and is practiced throughout India.[2][3] Per the 2011 census, there are 4,451,753 Jains in the 1.35 billion population of India, the majority living in Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, however, the influence of Jainism has been far greater on the Indian population than these numbers suggest. Jains can be found in every states and union territories, varying from large societies to smaller. The state of Jharkhand, with a population of 16,301 Jains also contains the holy pilgrimage centre of Sammed Shikharji. Jains can be found throughout India and in many other countries throughout the world.

Indian Jains
Flag for Indian Jains
Ranakpur Jain temple
Total population
Increase 4,451,753 (2011)[1]
0.40% (of the total population of India)
Regions with significant populations
Maharashtra1,400,349
Rajasthan622,023
Gujarat579,654
Madhya Pradesh567,028
Karnataka440,280
Uttar Pradesh213,267
Delhi166,231
Religions
Jainism
Languages
Languages of India

History
Main article: History of Jainism

Jain doctrine teaches that Jainism has always existed and will always exist.[4][5][6][7][8] Like most ancient Indian religions, Jainism has its roots from the Indus Valley civilization, reflecting native spirituality prior to the Indo-Aryan migration into India.[9][10][11] Other scholars suggested the Shramana traditions were separate and contemporaneous with Indo-Aryan religious practices of the historical Vedic religion.[12] In August 2005, the Supreme Court of India ruled that Jainism, Sikhism (and Buddhism) are distinct religions, but are inter-connected and inter-related to Hinduism, so these three are part of wider broader Hindu religion, based on the historic background on how the Constitution had come into existence after.[13][14] However, in the 2006 verdict, Supreme Court of India found that the "Jain Religion is indisputably not a part of the Hindu Religion".[15][16]

Status in India

On January 20, 2014, the Government of India awarded the minority status to the Jain community in India, as per Section 2(c) of the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) Act (NCM), 1992. This made the Jain community, which makes for 9.5 million or 0.72 percent of the population as per 2011 census, the sixth community to be designated this status as a "national minority", after Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, and Parsis.[17] Though Jains already had minority status in 11 states of India including Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, in 2005 a petition was filed with Supreme Court of India, by community representatives, which was also backed by the National Minorities Commission. In its judgement the court left the decision to the Central government.[18][19]

Jainism by state

Jainism as a religion exists throughout India. Jainism also varies from state to state, but the core values are the same.

Census of India, 2011
District wise Jain population percentage India census 2011
Jain population in India by State (2011)[1]
State Jains
Maharashtra
 
 1,400,349
Rajasthan
 
 622,023
Gujarat
 
 579,654
Madhya Pradesh
 
 567,028
Karnataka
 
 440,280
Uttar Pradesh
 
 213,267
Delhi
 
 166,231
Tamil Nadu
 
 89,265
Chhattisgarh
 
 61,510
West Bengal
 
 60,141
Andhra Pradesh
 
 53,849
Haryana
 
 52,613
Punjab
 
 45,040
Assam
 
 25,949
Bihar
 
 18,914
Jharkhand
 
 14,974
Other states
 
 40,666
Indian districts having more than 1% Jains in 2011 Census[20]
DistrictStateJain Population (approximate)Total populationJain Percentage (%)
Mumbai City district Maharashtra 166,000 3,085,411 5.38%
Kolhapur district 154,882 3,876,001 4.00%
Mumbai Suburban district 343,639 9,356,962 3.67%
Sangli district 87,453 2,822,143 3.10%
Thane district 172,052 11,060,148 1.56%
Pune district 127,786 9,429,408 1.36%
Udaipur district Rajasthan 78,647 3,068,420 2.56%
Ajmer district 45,614 2,583,052 1.77%
Chittorgarh district 25,843 1,544,338 1.67%
Tonk district 22,458 1,421,326 1.58%
Bhilwara district 35,149 2,408,523 1.46%
Kota district 25,742 1,951,014 1.32%
Barmer district 34,010 2,603,751 1.31%
Bikaner district 30,850 2,363,937 1.31%
Rajsamand district 14,966 1,156,597 1.29%
Banswara district 22,613 1,797,485 1.26%
Jaipur district 81,079 6,626,178 1.22%
Bundi district 13,455 1,110,906 1.21%
Dungarpur district 16,141 1,388,552 1.16%
Ahmedabad district Gujarat 209,287 7,214,225 2.90%
Surat district 112,835 6,081,322 1.86%
Surendranagar district 22,992 1,585,268 1.31%
Kutch district 25,312 2,092,371 1.21%
Navsari district 13,386 1,329,672 1.01%
Sagar district Madhya Pradesh 62,992 2,378,458 2.65%
Indore district 71,667 3,276,697 2.19%
Ratlam district 29,353 1,455,069 2.02%
Damoh district 25,005 1,264,219 1.98%
Ashoknagar district 15,094 845,071 1.79%
Neemuch district 14,165 826,067 1.71%
Mandsaur district 19,029 1,340,411 1.42%
Jabalpur district 33,728 2,463,289 1.37%
Vidisha district 18,490 1,458,875 1.27%
Ujjain district 24,622 1,986,864 1.24%
Bhind district 19,950 1,703,005 1.17%
Bhopal district 25,950 2,371,061 1.09%
Guna district 13,474 1,241,519 1.09%
Tikamgarh district 15,569 1,445,166 1.08%
Belagavi district Karnataka 178,310 4,779,661 3.73%
Dharwad district 29,037 1,847,023 1.57%
Bagalkot district 25,198 1,889,752 1.33%
Lalitpur district Uttar Pradesh 20,390 1,221,592 1.67%
Bagpat district 16,139 1,303,048 1.24%
East Delhi Delhi 46,927 1,709,346 2.75%
North Delhi 13,049 887,978 1.47%
North West Delhi 43,460 3,656,539 1.19%
North East Delhi 24,673 2,241,624 1.10%
Central Delhi 5,886 582,320 1.01%
Chennai district Tamil Nadu 51,708 4,646,732 1.11%
Literacy in India by religion[21]
ReligionLiteracy Rate
Jain94.9
Christian84.5
Buddhist81.3
Sikh75.4
Hindu73.3
Muslim68.5

See also

Notes
  1. "Population by religion community – 2011". Census of India, 2011. The Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Archived from the original on 25 August 2015.
  2. "National minority status for Jains". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 24 January 2014.
  3. "Jains become sixth minority community". DNAIndia.com. 21 January 2014.
  4. Glasenapp 1999, p. 15.
  5. Dundas 2002, p. 12.
  6. Varni, Jinendra; Ed. Prof. Sagarmal Jain, Translated Justice T.K. Tukol and Dr. Narendra Bhandari. Samaṇ Suttaṁ. New Delhi: Bhagwan Mahavir memorial Samiti. "The Historians have so far fully recognized the truth that Tirthankara Mahavira was not the founder of the religion. He was preceded by many tirthankaras. He merely reiterated and rejuvenated that religion. It is correct that history has not been able to trace the origin of the Jaina religion; but historical evidence now available and the result of dispassionate researches in literature have established that Jainism is undoubtedly an ancient religion." Pp. xii – xiii of introduction by Justice T. K.Tutkol and Dr. K. K. Dixit.
  7. Glasenapp 1999, p. 24.
  8. Dundas 2002, p. 17.
  9. Larson, Gerald James (1995); India’s Agony Over Religion; SUNY Press; p. 27; ISBN 0-7914-2412-X. "There is some evidence that Jain traditions may be even older than the Buddhist traditions, possibly going back to the time of the Indus valley civilization, and that Vardhamana rather than being a 'founder' per se was, rather, simply a primary spokesman for much older tradition."
  10. Beversluis, Joel Diederik (2000); in: Sourcebook of the World's Religions: An Interfaith Guide to Religion and Spirituality; Novato, California: New World Library; ISBN 1577311213 Originating on the Indian sub-continent, Jainism is one of the oldest religion of its homeland and indeed the world, having pre-historic origins before 3000 BC and the propagation of Indo-Aryan culture.... p. 81
  11. Jainism by Mrs. N.R. Guseva p.44
  12. Long, Jeffrey D. (2009). Jainism: An Introduction. New York: I. B. Tauris. pp. 45–56. ISBN 9781845116262.
  13. Negi, S. S. (11 August 2005). "Jains, Sikhs part of broader Hindu religion, says SC". Tribune. Retrieved 11 August 2005.
  14. "CASE NO.:Appeal (civil) 4730 of 1999 PETITIONER:Bal Patil & Anr. RESPONDENT:Union of India & Ors. DATE OF JUDGMENT: 08/08/2005". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  15. "Supreme Court of India Committee of Management Kanya ... vs Sachiv, U. P. Basic Shiksha ... on 21 August, 2006. Author: D. Bhandari Bench: S. B. Sinha, Dalveer Bhandari".
  16. para 25, Committee of Management Kanya Junior High School Bal Vidya Mandir, Etah, Uttar Pradesh v. Sachiv, U.P. Basic Shiksha Parishad, Allahabad, U.P. and Ors., Per Dalveer Bhandari J., Civil Appeal No. 9595 of 2003, decided On: 21.08.2006, Supreme Court of India
  17. "Govt grants minority status to Jain community". livemint.com/. 20 January 2014.
  18. "Jains granted minority status". The Hindu. 21 January 2014. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
  19. "Eye on votes, UPA gives Jain community minority status". Hindustan Times. 20 January 2014. Archived from the original on 20 January 2014. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
  20. "Census of India : C-1 Population by Religious Community". Archived from the original on 27 August 2015. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
  21. "Jains most literate in North, Muslims the least". Hindustan Times. 4 January 2016. Retrieved 16 May 2021.

References
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