Origin: 2. Islam: It was founded by Prodhet Mohammed in 628 A.D, he is born in the city of Mecca. It is strictly monotheistic. It is based on the Holy Quran which is a collection of the sayings of the prophet. Islam literally means ‘submission or total surrender to God, who is absolutely unique, omnipotent, omniscient and merciful. Today it is the second largest religion of the world after Christianity and has its follower Adherents/believers population: 1309 million Globalized practiced: 209 countries. Five articles of faith/trust are: 1. Belief in God, 2. Belief in Angeles, 3. Belief in the Holy Quran, 4. Belief in the Prophet and 5. Belief in the Day of Judgment. Main Groups: Its two main group are – A. Shia (Shiite) and The Shias sect commands 10-15% of the total world Muslim population. B. Sunni: The Sunni sect commands 85-90% of the total world Muslim population of 1,155 million (1999). Concentration of the Muslims in the World: The largest concentration of the Muslims is in the South- West Asia, Central Asia, South-Asia and South –East Asia (nearly 66%) followed by North Africa (27%) and Europe (2%) and other countries (5%).
Geography (U.G), SEM- II, Paper – C3T: Human Geography (Cultural Region: Religion) Holiest city: Mecca is a first holiest city of Islam, the birth place of the Idealist and the highest goal of every Muslim is to perform Haj. The second holy city of the Islam is Medina where the first Muslim Mosque was constructed and which also protects Prophet Mohammad’s grave. Holiest Books: Quran - Serif Culture: The Muslims remember their dead but is South West Asia sometimes cemeteries (tomb) in public parks are used for the purpose. Islam has undertaken some modifications in different countries per their cross cultural contacts. In India the Hindu caste system has left its impress on the followers of Islam. Its popular appeal has led to its wide cultural diffusion. It has an international organization of Islamic countries.
Geography (U.G), SEM- II, Paper – C3T: Human Geography (Cultural Region: Religion) 3. Hinduism: Origin: It is the oldest religion of the world and was founded about 3,000 B.C. in India. Adherents/believers population: 860 million Globalized practiced: 114 countries with regional concentration in India and Nepal. Concentration of the Hinduism in the World: In fact Nepal is the only Hindu Rashtra in the world as India believes in secularism and has no state religion. Nearly 99% of the total Hindu population is concentrated in Asia – India, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia and Singapore significantly other countries like Mauritius, Fiji and Guyana. Hinduism is essentially a way of life. It has no religious organization and there are no views or practices common to all Hindus. It believes in religion, at man which is present in all human beings. It is polytheistic religion as it believes in many Gods and Goddesses – all of whom, however, are regarded as manifestations of the one divine spirit. It believes in spiritual peace and happiness and universal group.
Geography (U.G), SEM- II, Paper – C3T: Human Geography (Cultural Region: Religion) Famous religious Holiest Books: Its holy books include the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Epics of the Ramayan and the Mahabarat and the Bhagvad Gita. Hindu philosophy: Hinduism is grounded in philosophy. Its cosmology regards of the periodic evolution and closure of the universe, of the idea of creative forces (Prakriti and Purush) and the relationship of body and nature. Creation in Hindu mythology is always recreation in an endless cycle of birth and death. It believes in the troi of Brahma (Creator), Vishnu (Sustainer) and Shiva (Destroyer) whose espouses are Saraswati, Lakshmi and Parvati, the most important goddesses. Pilgrimage/Holistic centers: The concept of holiness of place is visible in the site and location of the tirthas. There is a chain of journey centers in different parts of the country: Dwarks (Gujarat), Puri (Orissa), Badrinath (Uttaranchal) and Rameshwaram (Tamil Nadu) are the Shaktipeeths headed by Shankaracharayas. Payag is called Tirthraj. Other important holistic contras is amaranth, Hardwar, Tirupati, Kamakhya, Deoghar, Mathura, Ayodhya and Kasha. The bane of the Hindu society is its hierarchical order of caste system which has been instrumental for conversion of the lowest Scheduled Castes to Christianity Islam and Buddhism.
Geography (U.G), SEM- II, Paper – C3T: Human Geography (Cultural Region: Religious) 4. Buddhism:
Buddhism is one of the oldest religion of India. It was founded by Gautam Buddha around 525 B.C. It spread widely in several Asian countries due to its liberal philosophy. According to Kroeber, “Like Christianity, However, Buddhism found no permanent favor among the people and in the land of its origin. It grown in India for a time, but was rarely looked upon as more than a division……. Its place in India was taken by the various accumulation of cults, all theoretically recognizing Brahman domination, that in the aggregate constitute what is known as Hinduism” Adherents/believers population: 379 million Globalized practiced: Over 10 countries Concentration of the Buddhism in the World: Its largest concentration is in Asia (over 99%) – Sri Lanka, Tibet (China), Myanmar, Mongolia, Korea, China, Japan and South-East Asia. Buddhism has greatly suffered at the hands of the communist regimes due to anti-religious campaigns.
Geography (U.G), SEM- II, Paper – C3T: Human Geography (Cultural Region: Religion) Basic beliefs of Buddhism rests on four basic truths:
1. The world is full of suffering and sadness;
2. Suffering is the result of one’s desires;
3. The refusal of wish is the path of deliverance; and
4. Salvation can be achieved by following the eight-fold path of – a. Right Speech (Samma Vaca) , b. Right Action (Sdamma Kammo), c. Right Awareness (Samma Sati), d. Right incomes of livelihood (Samma Ajivo), e. Right Concentration (Samma Samadhi), f. Right Exertion or effort (Samma Vayamo), g. Right Aspiration (Samma Sankappo), and h. Ritht Understanding (Samma ditthi).
The emotion of the above eight-fold path is the Middle Path lying between the excessive extras and the extreme severity practiced by Jainism.
Its stress is on universal brotherhood and it rejects the hierarchical caste system.
It has also no faith in ceremonies and sacrifices.
Buddha advised his followers to lead an honest and disciplined life and practice ahimsa (one-violence).
Main Groups: Its two main group are –
1. Hinayana: who followed strictly the eight – fold message of Buddha and did not accept him as God
2. Mahayana: founded by Nagarjuna and Asang at the Fourth Buddhist Council during the reign of Kaniska, believed that Buddha was an alive of God and accordingly love Buddha and Bodhisatva.
Literary contribution or Holiest Books :
Tripitaka (three baskets) includes the Vinaiyapitaka, the Sutrapitaka and the Abhidhammapitaka, while the jatakas are the stories relating to Buddha’s birth and life.
They established ministries as centers of education. Their temples are called the pagodas.
Nirvana: Goal is to reach NIRVANA – a condition of wanting nothing, a calmness, great insight & happiness. Two types of Buddhists - one believes Buddha is a teacher and one believes he is a God.
Geography (U.G), SEM- II, Paper – C3T: Human Geography (Cultural Region: Religion) 5. Jainism:
Like Buddhism, Jainism was also born in India as a reaction to orthodox Hinduism. Today its followers are mostly in India accounting for hardly 0.4% of the country’s population. It is believed that Jainism was founded by Lord Mahabir. Doctrines/rules: No belief in God or sacrifices and ceremonies; moksha (salvation) through an serious lije ajnd faith in ahimsa and universal brotherhood. Its five promises include i. ahmisa, ii truthfulness, iii. No robbery, iv. No property, and v. brahma Charta. It had great impact on political, social and religious life of the times, but it failed to acquire popularity and could not be spread in foreign countries like Buddhism.
Geography (U.G), SEM- II, Paper – C3T: Human Geography (Cultural Region: Religion) 6. Judaism/Jewish religion:
Judaism is the oldest monotheistic faith. It is regarded as ‘the parent of Christianity’ and is also related to Islam. It originated about 4,000 years ago in the eastern part of the Fertile Crescent’. It has remained an ethnic religion throughout its life history and has not attempted conversions. Concentration of the Judaism in the World: 50% Jews live in U.S.A., another 30% in Europe and the remaining 20% in Asia. In the U.S.A. and Europe most of the Jews live in larger urban centers. Israel is the national homeland of the Jews, where they have a majority.
Geography (U.G), SEM- II, Paper – C3T: Human Geography (Cultural Region: Religion) 7. Baha’ism This is the religion that is situating on the seventh position on the planet. The standards and the protests of the plans of creating requests reflect the perspective of the Islamic complement on the all inclusive community with the perfect flexibility in the entire world. About 5 million people worldwide adhere to the Baha’i faith, according to Patheos.com., but other sources say there are as many as 7 million around the world. The religion officially formed in 1863 , but a Shiite Muslim man in Ian began paving the way in 1844 by announcing a new prophet was to come – after Muhammad. This man called himself the Bab meaning “the Gate” in Arabic. This angered the Shiite Government, and the Bab was executed in 1850.
A fundamental belief of the Baha’i faith is that all peoples and religions will unite into one – the Baha’i religion. Believing in the oneness of humanity and the pursuit of world peace in foundational. Baha’i teaches this world peace is possible through the “abolition of all form of prejudice….(and) the extremes of wealth and poverty,” Baha’i is believe their faith is the culmination of all religions. The Baha’i faith is popular among papuan tribes Bahais are more comfortable with their continuing traditional customs than are some Christian missionaries.
“In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things and through whom he made the universe. 1. Baha’i believes their prophet is a manifestation of God who is greater than Jesus Christ. 2. Baha’i teaches Buddha, Jesus Christ, Muhammad, and others were each messengers an manifestations of God. 3. Baha’i denies fundamental truths of Christianity.
Geography (U.G), SEM- II, Paper – C3T: Human Geography (Cultural Region: Religion) 8. Sikhism: It is an branch of Hinduism and was established in the 15th century A.D. by Guru Nanak (1469-1539). It attempted to create social harmony by rejecting the Hindu caste system and widow re-marriage. But for long it remained confined to Punjab and has accepted Gurumukhi as its language. Sikhism is a monotheistic religion and believes in only one God wh9 is without form or gender Everyone has direct access to God. In Sikhism all are considered equal before God and there is emphasis on social and sexual equality. It stresses on the importance of doing good actins rather than merely carrying out rituals. Sikhs believe that the way to lead a good life is to keep God in the heart and mind at all times live honestly an dwork hard. The sikh place of worship is called a Gurdwara meaning gateway to the Guru. The Sikh scripture is a book called the Guru Granth Sahib. The khalsa is the community of men an women who have been initiated into the Sikh faith. At present they have spread in all parts of the country and have acquired international presence in U.K., Canada, the U.S.A., Hong Kong and other countries. In India they account for only 2.32% of its population, ranking fourth after the Hindu, Muslim and Christian.
Geography (U.G), SEM- II, Paper – C3T: Human Geography (Cultural Region: Religion) 9. Confucianism Confucianism was founded by Kong Qiu (K’ung Ch’iu) in 600 BC. Just like Shintoism, Confucianism is a Taoist religion and consist of the most of the population from South East Asia. The followers are known as Confucius and Confucians. There are four major books of this religion and five classic books which are Holy books of Confucianism. With over 7 million followers all across the world, Confucianism is the eighth biggest religion in the world. A part of the Chinese social surface furthermore the best way to deal with life is the certified declaring of the Confucians. In standard every day presence the field of religion has become to be more notable however there are people who don’t know how to deal with those thoughts. In this manner, the establishment of the Chinese religion and culture has been the right sort of opinions and discoursed have unfaithfully been the subject of trade for any faithful follower of the perspective.
Geography (U.G), SEM- II, Paper – C3T: Human Geography (Cultural Region: Religion) 10. Shintoism
Japanese religion of the outdated times was addressed through the religion of Shintoism. It started around 1000 B.C. the fans of this religion assumed that the supernatural powers existed in the trademark world. a Japanese religion. It concentrates on custom practices to be completed steadily, to build up an association between present-day Japan and its antiquated past. Shinto practices were initially recorded and classified in the composed chronicled records of the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki in the eighth century. Still, these most punctual Japanese compositions don’t refer to a brought together “Shinto religion”, however rather to a gathering of local convictions and mythology.
Geography (U.G), SEM- II, Paper – C3T: Human Geography (Cultural Region: Religion) 11. Parsi:
Parsi (or Parsee) is one of two Zoroastrian communities (the other being Iranis) majorly located in India and few in Pakistan. According to the Qissa-i Sanjan, Parsis migrated from Greater Iran to Sindh and Gujarat, where they were given refuge, between the 8th and 10th century CE to avoid persecution following the Arab conquest of Persia.
Geography (U.G), SEM- II, Paper – C3T: Human Geography (Cultural Region: Religion) Geography (U.G), SEM- II, Paper – C3T: Human Geography (Cultural Region: Religion) State Religion Percent Estimated Majority All Religion 100.00 % 121 Crores 35 Hindu 79.80 % 96.62 Crores 28
Muslim 14.23 % 17.22 Crores 2
Christian 2.30 % 2.78 Crores 4 Sikh 1.72 % 2.08 Crores 1 Buddhist 0.70 % 84.43 Lakhs - Jain 0.37 % 44.52 Lakhs - Other 0.66 % 79.38 Lakhs - Religion Not Stated 0.24 % 28.67 Lakhs -
Geography (U.G), SEM- II, Paper – C3T: Human Geography (Cultural Region: Religious)