Hinduism in Assam

Hinduism in Assam
অসমত হিন্দু ধৰ্ম
Kamakhya Temple in Guwahati, Assam.
Total population
19,180,759 (2011 census) Increase[1][2]
(61.47% of population)Decrease
Languages
Majority
Assamese
Minority
Bengali, Bodo, Karbi, Dimasa, Hindi, Manipuri, Sadri, Mising, Deori, Nepali and others
Religion
Hinduism
Related ethnic groups
Assamese Muslims and Assamese Christians

Hinduism is the dominant religion practised in the state of Assam. According to some scholars, it is home to some of the most complex and poorly understood traditions in Hinduism.[3] People follow traditions belonging to Shaivism, Shaktism, Tantra, and an indigenous form of Vaishnavism called Ekasarana Dharma; taken together the practitioners constitute around 61% of the state population as per the 2011 Census.[1] Hindus form a majority in 17 out of the 29 districts of Assam. By region, there is a significant diversity among the ethnic groups that profess the Hindu faith, traditions, and customs. As per as 2011 Census, In Brahmaputra valley of Assam, Hindus constitute 62% of the population, the majority being ethnic Assamese.[4][5] In the autonomous Bodoland region of Assam, Hindus constitute 71.3% of the region's population, most being of the Bodo tribe.[6] In the Barak valley region of southern Assam, Hindus constitute 50% of the region's population, most being ethnic Bengalis.[7][8][9] The Hill Tribes of Assam, particularly the Karbi people of Karbi Anglong and Dimasa people of Dima Hasao, are mainly Animists.[10]

  1. ^ a b "Assam Population 2021".
  2. ^ "Population by religion community – 2011". Census of India, 2012. The Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Archived from the original on 25 August 2015.
  3. ^ "Assam – the remote and hilly region in the northeast corner of India, tucked between Bhutan, Bangladesh, and Myanmar – is home to some of the most complex and poorly understood Hindu traditions of South Asia."(Urban 2016:11)
  4. ^ "C-16 POPULATION BY MOTHER TONGUE". censusindia.gov.in. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  5. ^ "Battleground Assam a tale of two valleys and the CAA quandary Assam bengal polls 2021 | Opinion News – India TV". 18 February 2021.
  6. ^ "Home | Government of India". censusindia.gov.in.
  7. ^ "Push for Bengali language in Barak | Guwahati News". The Times of India. 11 December 2021.
  8. ^ "In Assam's Barak Valley, Muslims fear the new citizenship bill will disempower them politically". 22 June 2018.
  9. ^ "Assam Assembly Election 2021: In Barak Valley, Congress battles religious fault lines; local factors bother BJP". April 2021.
  10. ^ "ST-14 Scheduled Tribe Population By Religious Community – Assam". census.gov.in. Retrieved 7 February 2020.