India being a secular state, people of all faiths live here. But a great majority, about 80% are the Hindus. Hinduism is rather a way of life for the Hindus here. Believers in Hindusim have many gods and goddessed. The Mahabharata, the Hindu epic, puts their number at 33,333 but other source say the number is much higher.
There are thousands of temples all over India dedicated to the Indian deities. Some of these belong to the ancient Indian period and arer a fine example of Indian architecture. There are several festivals connected with gods and temples. Dussehra,Diwali and Holi are some of such Hindu festivals.
India has the third largest population of the Muslims. A large part of India was ruled by the Muslim rulers during the medieval period in history, These rulers made several palaces and mosques and other holy places during their regime.These holy places are some of the finest examples of the Muslim architecture.
Sikhism began in India in the fifteenth century. The religion was started by Guru Nanak. The holy book of the Sikhs is the Guru Granth Sahib. the ten Gurus of the Sikhs promoted the faith among their followers.Guru Arjun Dev built the holiest Sikh shrine at Amritsar known as Harimandir, in the middle of a lake. There are many other famous gurudwaras all over India.
People believing in many other faiths can be found in different parts of India. They include the Buddhists, the Christians and the Parsees. Religious places of these faiths can be found in several places. goa, which has a substantial Christian population, has a number of famous old churches.
Similarly, the Buddhists have their monasteries in bihar and Sikkim. The Parsees are mainly concentrated in mumbai.Monuments belonging to all periods of history can be seen in India. There are some even from the prehistorical period.
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