Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam are the dominant religions in South Asia. Hinduism and Buddhism, in addition to Sikhism and Jainism, originated in South Asia. Hinduism and Buddhism both originated in northern India and are the world's third- and fourth-largest religions, respectively.
Hindus and Buddhists use some of the same basic vocabularies and incorporate similar symbolism and practices. However, there are substantial differences. For example, Hindus do not have a single founder; they worship deities and have the concept of a soul (Buddhists do not). Buddhists show reverence and devotion to the Buddha rather than recognize a god. They also renounce the caste system.
Different variations of Buddhism developed as it spread from northern India according to geography, the teachings communities followed, and how monks were ordained. The northern branch, Vajrayana Buddhism, is often called Tibetan Buddhism. The southern branch, Theravada Buddhism, is sometimes called Southern Buddhism. The eastern branch, Mahayana Buddhism, is often referred to as East Asian Buddhism.
Read this text. Notice that Figure 8.8 illustrates the distribution of these branches of Buddhism. Regardless of the focus of each branch, all hold to the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path taught by the Buddha.
South Asia is a diverse region in terms of its ethnic landscape, culture, and religious beliefs. As shown in Figure 8.7, in the northern portion of the region, the Indo-European languages like Hindi dominate as a result of the Aryan invasion. Along the Himalayas, languages in the Sino-Tibetan family dominate. In southern India, however, most groups speak a language in the Dravidian family, comprised of the indigenous languages of South Asia that were present before the arrival of the Aryans. These language families reflect broader differences in culture and ethnicity, including particular religious practices and food customs. Thus the label "Indian cuisine" actually encompasses a diverse array of regional and traditional specialties.
Figure 8.7: Map of the South Asian Language Regions (© Filpro, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)
South
Asia is a hearth area for several of the world's great religions. Out
of the Aryan invasion of northern India came a religious belief system
known as Vedism. The religious texts of Vedism, known as the Vedas,
combined with local religious beliefs developed into the modern-day
religion of Hinduism by around 500 BCE. Hinduism is a polytheistic
religion with a wide variety of individual beliefs and practices.
Hinduism is a highly regional and individual religion and its
polytheistic nature reflects this open understanding of belief. Of
Hinduism's over 1 billion followers, 95 percent live in India.
Buddhism diffused across Asia, though never taking a strong hold in India (see Figure 8.8). The Maurya Emperor Ashoka, in particular, was responsible for the widespread diffusion of Buddhism in the 3rd century BCE. The religion has three primary branches, each with a distinct regional concentration. The oldest branch, Theravada, is primarily practiced in Southeast Asia, in places like Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand and is also the majority religion on the South Asian island of Sri Lanka. Mahayana is practiced by most Buddhists worldwide, particularly in places like China and Japan. Vajrayana Buddhism, which is sometimes considered a subset of Mahayana Buddhism, is practiced in the Himalayas and Tibetan Buddhism is a notable example. Buddhism has around 500 million followers worldwide.
Figure 8.8: Map of Buddhism (© Javierfv1212, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0)
Although Buddhism and Hinduism are the most widely practiced, South Asia was also a hearth area for the Jain and Sikh religions. Jainism emerged
in India in the first century BCE and emphasizes ahimsa, nonviolence
toward all living beings. Even insects found in the home are gently
ushered out rather than killed. Jains also seek to break free from
attachments and inner passions, and aim to keep an open mind toward
different perspectives. The teachings of Jainism were influential for
Gandhi and his emphasis on nonviolent resistance.
Sikhism emerged in the Punjab region of northwestern India and northern Pakistan in the 15th century. It is a monotheistic religion founded on the teachings of Guru Nanak that combines elements of both Hinduism and Islam. Like Hindus, Sikhs believe in reincarnation and karma. But unlike Hinduism, Sikhism prohibits the worship of idols, images, or icons. Sikhs believe God has 99 names, an adaptation of Hindu polytheistic belief. Sri Harmandir Sahib, commonly called the "Golden Temple," in Amritsar, India is the holiest Sikh temple, which are called gurdwara (see Figure 8.9). However, the building is open to everyone and every visitor is offered a free meal. Over 100,000 people visit the site every day.
Figure 8.9: Harmandir Sahib, Amritsar, Punjab, India (© Oleg Yunakov, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0)
These religions, along with other minority religions like Christianity and indigenous belief systems, have not always coexisted peacefully in South Asia. Although India is officially secular, having no official religion, regional religious conflicts have often occurred throughout history. The difficulty is that in this region, very few people actually are secular, with no attachment to religion. Governments have thus struggled to find ways of accommodating minority religious groups while not offending the majority.
Source: Caitlin Finlayson, https://worldgeo.pressbooks.com/chapter/south-asia/#chapter-293-section-3
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 License.